Here is the DEAL about relocating to Florida (Cape Coral, Fort Myers: home, transfer)

[tommy-105]

Originally Posted by movetoflorida

Naples and down town Ft Myers were pleasant but not the ride through ghetto to get to Ft Myers. I was not impressed with Cape Coral and did not get a chance to see Lehigh Acres.

Thanks movetoflorida, It's always interesting to hear about the area from a newcomer's perspective. In defense of Cape Coral, if you came across the bridge from downtown Ft. Myers to get to the Cape by way of North Ft. Myers, you weren't seeing the Cape at it's best.
I hope you got to see some of the SW Cape.

What was your impression of the area around Alva? (aside from the boating) Would you still want to move there?

[KathyA11]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

A humid climate like Florida is not good for arthritis.

I beg to differ. Cold and damp weatehr causes horrible pain for arthritis sufferers, but warm humid weather is heaven for arthritis, and the application of moist heat is a common treatment.

I have no pain in the summer here in NJ when it's hot and humid -- and now, with the temps in the high 40s, I can barely bend my knees.

[kristin4]

Originally Posted by KathyA11

I beg to differ. Cold and damp weatehr causes horrible pain for arthritis sufferers, but warm humid weather is heaven for arthritis, and the application of moist heat is a common treatment.

I have no pain in the summer here in NJ when it's hot and humid -- and now, with the temps in the high 40s, I can barely bend my knees.

I agree! I have severe arthritis and moving to Naples has helped me a lot! It is not only the cold dampness of the north east that add to arthritis pain, but the low pressure systems that rapidly pass a few times a week, even in the summer.

I noticed the pain relief when I would vacation in SWF and stay at my parents for extended periods.
Now, I am not completely pain free, but WOW! what a difference warm humid weather makes!

[movetoflorida]

Originally Posted by tommy-105

Thanks movetoflorida, It's always interesting to hear about the area from a newcomer's perspective. In defense of Cape Coral, if you came across the bridge from downtown Ft. Myers to get to the Cape by way of North Ft. Myers, you weren't seeing the Cape at it's best.
I hope you got to see some of the SW Cape.

What was your impression of the area around Alva? (aside from the boating) Would you still want to move there?

Alva and surrounding area is nice but it is a small community with not many homes to pick from. We found one but it might sell b4 we are ready to buy. We should be renting some b4 buying anyway. Just seems that the houses we like sell and the rest don't. We have also considered North Naples and Bonita Springs area. We came into Cape Coral from the NE and left from SW but didn't see central or SE. From arial and what I have seen from the ground, there seems to be a lot of close quarter homes with lack of vegetation and an immense system of canals. There are obviously many people that like that but we like being in the country with vegetation and nature even if we have to drive some at the end of the day to get back to it. My neighbor down there that rented the house to us commented that Cape Coral would tie up a lot of time traveling from one home to the next because of the canals I would have to go around to get from one job to the next. That is a concern, because unlike some service companies, I will be covering most of Lee and Collier counties. I will be traveling south to Collier one day and north to Lee the next until my company can grow and hire help. I do the same here but with a much less dense population and no canals to go around, just a couple of rivers. I schedule by zip code, so I have a chart I need to work on now.

As far a boating and fishing goes, I will still have to trailer my boat to Lovers Key or Marco Island for some serious salt water fishing at times but the river is nice for the family. Some people swim and ski in the river but not us. We had fun chasing gators with the boat!

BTW, it looks like Ebarq is the primary phone service and yellow pages. Would that be correct? Here it is Verizon. Verizon wireless did not have good signal in the country there. I should have checked, but does Verizon have good signal in the rest of the area?

[Surf137]

Hello,
I am new to this board and have found some very interesting information. Weloveflorida2009 - i love your post, and for all your reasons I am looking forward to relocating there someday when I don't have to worry about what time of year it is and I can still do the things I love to do. My theory is this, when it's hot out I can go in the house and cool off and still go out and do the things I enjoy, here(Indidna), when it's cold out I go in the house and I am still cold. I hate it, really.

I have been looking at property on line now for about a year, I am attracted to the Cape Coral area cause of the canals that can get me to the gulf by boat. After the new year we are planning a trip to the area to look around. My Question is as far as the gulf accessible canals, what area might be better than others. I like the thought of the most south east side by the marinas, but seams the taxes get awfully high the closer to the gulf you get. And some of those channels look like quite a trip just to get to the river. Are there speed limits on the channel ways?

Any tips or thoughts would be appreciated, and for a person with knee arthritis as well as being a new hip replacement recipient, I have to believe a bad day in the summer heat would out weigh a bad day in the freezing cold.

Thanks

[nhkev]

http://www.virtuallyparadise.com/ima...ral_Canals.jpg

This is a map of all the canals. The dark blue are gulf access and the light blue are fresh water.. it really helps when you're looking at addresses that say waterfront. all canals are not created equal. But they are all no wake zones, idle speed only. What you want to be concerned with is bridges and distance from open water. Mostly all of the access in southeast section is close to the river. Mostly all of northwest is close to matlacha pass as long as you stay below kismet parkway. the southwest is where most of the long distances from the river are and seem to have a lot of bridges and narrow canals, and also have a loch system. The northwest use to have a boat lift but it was removed and the latest is that they do not plan on putting it back or building a loch system. What I would suggest is map out sections of each part and only search for homes in those areas. There is not a big differences in the prices now but the ones that will be worth the most eventually will be proximity to open water, no bridges, wide canals, on intersecting or long length views, with no lifts or lochs.

[KathyA11]

Originally Posted by kristin4

I agree! I have severe arthritis and moving to Naples has helped me a lot! It is not only the cold dampness of the north east that add to arthritis pain, but the low pressure systems that rapidly pass a few times a week, even in the summer.

I noticed the pain relief when I would vacation in SWF and stay at my parents for extended periods.
Now, I am not completely pain free, but WOW! what a difference warm humid weather makes!

It helps you loosen up -- that's why baseball pitchers love the hot and humid weather of the summer, because is helps them stay loose during a game.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by movetoflorida

Alva and surrounding area is nice but it is a small community with not many homes to pick from. We found one but it might sell b4 we are ready to buy. We should be renting some b4 buying anyway. Just seems that the houses we like sell and the rest don't. We have also considered North Naples and Bonita Springs area. We came into Cape Coral from the NE and left from SW but didn't see central or SE. From arial and what I have seen from the ground, there seems to be a lot of close quarter homes with lack of vegetation and an immense system of canals. There are obviously many people that like that but we like being in the country with vegetation and nature even if we have to drive some at the end of the day to get back to it. My neighbor down there that rented the house to us commented that Cape Coral would tie up a lot of time traveling from one home to the next because of the canals I would have to go around to get from one job to the next. That is a concern, because unlike some service companies, I will be covering most of Lee and Collier counties. I will be traveling south to Collier one day and north to Lee the next until my company can grow and hire help. I do the same here but with a much less dense population and no canals to go around, just a couple of rivers. I schedule by zip code, so I have a chart I need to work on now.

As far a boating and fishing goes, I will still have to trailer my boat to Lovers Key or Marco Island for some serious salt water fishing at times but the river is nice for the family. Some people swim and ski in the river but not us. We had fun chasing gators with the boat!

BTW, it looks like Ebarq is the primary phone service and yellow pages. Would that be correct? Here it is Verizon. Verizon wireless did not have good signal in the country there. I should have checked, but does Verizon have good signal in the rest of the area?

I strongly suggest Estero. I don't remember. Did you get a look at the area?

Bonita Springs is fine, but Estero is slightly less congested. Even on the other side of I-75 there are some developments. I'm getting the feeling you don't like being packed in like sardines. Neither do I. I think you'll like that area. I did. There are some good deals over there, right now. They are not rock-bottom, but you get what you pay for. But they are good deals.

As for some of you (not you, movetoflorida) I can see that you've lived in some crappy places so I can see why swFlorida is a big step up. That explains a lot of the rudeness in the area, too. I've really had an epiphany.

[tommy-105]

Originally Posted by movetoflorida

We came into Cape Coral from the NE and left from SW but didn't see central or SE. From arial and what I have seen from the ground, there seems to be a lot of close quarter homes with lack of vegetation and an immense system of canals. There are obviously many people that like that but we like being in the country with vegetation and nature even if we have to drive some at the end of the day to get back to it. My neighbor down there that rented the house to us commented that Cape Coral would tie up a lot of time traveling from one home to the next because of the canals I would have to go around to get from one job to the next.

movetoflorida,
I wasn't trying to "sell" you on the Cape. I already figured it would be too congested for you from your other posts. I should have been clearer.
I was only out to the Alva area once, everything seemed to be spread out with a lot of room from what I remember. Just seems a little out of the way to me. If your "home base" for the business is going to be located at an office somewhere closer to I-75, then I guess that wouldn't matter.

[nhkev]

For those looking at gulf access in the northwest, or already own, this agreement has many implications for you. The northwest spreader is a way to limit polluted water from fresh water canals from getting into matlacha pass. Instead of stopping dirty water from getting in they decided to clean up the water going into it. The agreement means the city will now be mandated by the state to install utilities and assessments, so the politicians won't have to look like the bad guys. Now being a vacant gulf access landowner, I actually favor utilities being brought to the area, and also favor not reinstalling the boat lift. There may be a little pain for some in the short term, but for the long term this is something that will definately add value to the property.
Guest opinion: The North Spreader Ecosytem Management Agreement - It's a win for the environment of Southwest Florida - cape-coral-daily-breeze.com | News, sports, community info. - Cape Coral Daily Breeze