Collier Co. Annual Beach Pass Question (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: violent crime, credit, homes)

[Tripower455]

Originally Posted by hardluk1

Marc Most any where would be better than living and working in or close to Orlando now

I live pretty close to Orlando now, and our lives here are light years better than Naples in just about every way.

After being my home for 32 years, I seriously thought I'd miss Naples, but after a year here, I can honestly say that there is very little about Naples that I miss, other than friends. Like you, most everything I loved about Naples disappeared years ago.

Even taking my commute out of the equation, we would never move back down there now.

In retrospect, I can't believe I didn't punch out sooner.

[Marc Middleton]

Originally Posted by hardluk1

Oh You only work in Miami but would not live there !

Yes, I moved to paradise..see above

[hardluk1]

Tripower455 I get it and my wife and I discussed making a move moved 5 years earlier but back then even a blind man could see where the market was heading and development was going to run wild so staying those extra 5 years sure did make the profit line on our house sale far better .

marc I don't care about your perception of the area today as I know it for what it was before , something you will never understand but its been fun messing with you .

[DestinationNaples]

Originally Posted by hardluk1

marc I don't care about your perception of the area today as I know it for what it was before , something you will never understand but its been fun messing with you .

You both are right. Marc's paradise is hardluk1's hell. Hardluk1 is nostalgic for the Naples of the 70s and 80s when it was rural, undeveloped and a haven for hunting, fishing and off-roading. I believe that marc does, in fact, understand hardluk1's point of view, but marc just does not happen to agree with it. Different strokes for different folks.

Since, December of 2017 when I retired, each year I have spent the summer and fall in Ohio and the winter and spring in Naples. I have no interest at all in engaging in the activities that hardluk1 fondly remembers. Naples of today has what I am looking for: reliably warm winters, upscale, safe communities, beautiful scenery and ample shopping and dining opportunities. Naples is my idea of paradise and I consider it to be my reward for working very hard before I retired.

I am amused when people who have left the Naples area because of some grievance then obsessively and repeatedly return to this Naples forum to complain about it. They have found someplace else to live that makes them happy (except for Sweetbottoms who may never be happy about anything) but seem to have some need to evangelize to those of us who have chosen to remain behind about the folly of our choice.

[hardluk1]

A short timers review , sure you love collier county speically if your from a larger market area , what more can be expected from a new be to any new home that they picked . I started off commenting on my last trip down to help move a family member with one last stop by the pier and only stated what I saw and heard .

You dislike were you spent your life until retirement then sure collier county may be your wonderland like many find all along warm area's in the south. Glad for ya .

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by hardluk1

A short timers review , sure you love collier county speically if your from a larger market area , what more can be expected from a new be to any new home that they picked . I started off commenting on my last trip down to help move a family member with one last stop by the pier and only stated what I saw and heard .

You dislike were you spent your life until retirement then sure collier county may be your wonderland like many find all along warm area's in the south. Glad for ya .

I think that’s a bit harsh - but I do agree that if someone is retired, Naples can seem like a permanent Disney for people from the north.

All of Naples’ challenges aren’t exposed to someone who doesn’t have to work or who doesn’t have younger children. If all you do is play golf, shop, dine out and socialize with fellow seniors Naples is perfection.

[Marc Middleton]

Originally Posted by DestinationNaples

I am amused when people who have left the Naples area because of some grievance then obsessively and repeatedly return to this Naples forum to complain about it. They have found someplace else to live that makes them happy (except for Sweetbottoms who may never be happy about anything) but seem to have some need to evangelize to those of us who have chosen to remain behind about the folly of our choice.

That's been exactly my point, thank you for that.

They want to do the typical 'what about' and pretend they know what I do for a living or where I live/work. Bottom line, they moved and can't let go. Same thing the Miami haters do on the other board.

'Move on, find a new show'

[Tripower455]

Originally Posted by Marc Middleton

That's been exactly my point, thank you for that.

They want to do the typical 'what about' and pretend they know what I do for a living or where I live/work. Bottom line, they moved and can't let go. Same thing the Miami haters do on the other board.

'Move on, find a new show'

What's worse?

Longtime (or recently ex longtime) residents commenting from personal experience on how Naples has changed, and will continue to change for the worse.

Or.......

Someone who has never even lived in Naples and has only been in the nearby area a short time, criticizing us for it.

You don't see me on social media in my new city browbeating long time residents, or ex residents, about their experiences here.

You know why?

Because, like you are to SWFL, I am new here and don't have the perspective of long time residents.

I hear the exact same arguments and gripes I have about my new area that I make about Naples, and although the overdevelopment issue is not even close to that of Naples (yet), they're not wrong.

The difference is that I am not giving them a hard time about it, because I realize that perspective is everything in life.

I predict we're at least 10 years behind SWFL in the Orange and Villages-ization of our county, but I'll be retired by then and won't care.

FWIW, soon after moving here, the wife and I, along with our neighbors, jumped into local politics with 2 feet in an attempt to stop the rezoning and city annexation of some lakefront property adjacent to our neighborhood. They needed to rezone it so it could be developed Broward style, with 4-5 units per acre. With very few exceptions, every existing lot on our lake is 1U density, with a few 2Us. We got it shot down (for now).

My point in many of my posts is that incessant overdevelopment is turning SW FL into exactly what you escaped when you left Miami.

Given your profession, surely you can see that adding tens of thousands of homes every few square miles, with next to zero improvement in infrastructure, might, negatively impact quality of life for those already living there. If you can't, I'll give you a spoiler for the future. It does.

You are, however, gonna experience it. Depending on how long this C virus nonsense goes, you might get a stay of execution (so to speak) for a few years, like we got after the 2008 housing crash. Afterwards, overdevelopment will come back with a vengeance. Where are you gonna go next?

[blueherons]

Originally Posted by Marc Middleton

That's hilarious since we just moved from Miami last year. Comparing Naples to South Beach is like comparing Paris France and Paris hotel in Las Vegas.


Oh and who cares if the music playing is Cuban? Its a beach, have a good time.

Wow! I didn't realize you had moved to Naples. What made y'all make the jump. We moved to FLL from SWF (Sarasota) eight years ago or so and couldn't be happier. Full disclosure we are empty nesters.

Originally Posted by Tripower455

LOL....

Whatever....

We voted with our feet and punched out of Broward West, errrr, Collier, and couldn't be happier.

Our only regret is that we didn't do it a few years sooner. .....

Collier is NOTHING like Broward. The two have absolutely nothing in common except that they are both counties in Florida.

I spent weeks here and there working in Naples last winter and didn't enjoy it at all. I love visiting but could not live there.

[Tripower455]

Originally Posted by blueherons

Collier is NOTHING like Broward. The two have absolutely nothing in common except that they are both counties in Florida.

Give it a few more years. If you can't see the similarities and where Collier is headed, then I am envious of you.

I spent weeks here and there working in Naples last winter and didn't enjoy it at all. I love visiting but could not live there.

I could never live in Broward again either, which is why I left Naples after 32 years.