Monday, April 04, 2011

Fort Myers

Ft. Myers is a complex area, even more than the rest of Florida, because it encompasses such a wide variety of towns and natural areas. Even first impressions depend on where you are. Let’s say you fly into Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW), which serves Naples-Marco Island as well as Greater Ft. Myers. RSW is a beautiful, modern, busy facility, excelently sited at the intersection of I-75 and Ft. Myers’ Daniels Parkway. From here it’s but a short drive to anywhere in Southwest Florida. Downtown Ft. Myers is a half hour away; Sanibel-Captiva or Bonita Springs about 30-40 minutes; and Naples about 50 minutes. Your first impressions will be how easy everything is. Infrastructure appears to be excelent, even though you realize you’re in at least a medium-sized metropolitan area. It’s no problem finding your way around, it’s clean, streets are wide and well-groomed. There seem to be parks everywhere.

And in fact, to hear some people, you’ve just stumbled onto the perfect city. Though summers can be hot, the rest of the year is mild, warm, and sunny; and much of the year it hardly rains, other than late afternoons (a Florida standard). There are lots of beaches serving the public’s need to escape, there are lots of canals for those buyers who want to live waterside, and there’s lots of green spaces and watery preserves in the Big Cypress area that defines the inland section beyond residential LeHigh Acres.

Ft. Myers, an early fort and commercial center in colonial Florida, has emerged as one of the State’s foremost centers, with a proud array of financial, educational, cultural, and medical facilities that have made it a favorite for both retirees and an increasingly youthful population. And housing ranges from old Florida through every kind of modern; there is something for everybody.

The greater Ft. Myers region consists of several distinct areas: Ft. Myers itself; Sanibel and Captiva Islands; Ft. Myers Beach; Bonita Springs and its beaches; Cape Coral and adjacent Pine Island; and nearby, more rural areas extending north (Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, and up towards Arcadia; and east along Rte 80 and the Coloosahatchee River towards La Belle). Here’s a few of them:

Quick statistics-2005

Population-530,000
Ft Meyers pop-58,000
Ft Myers beach-6900
Average home price $281,000 (June 2005)
Price index-100.25 or 10th in the state (100 is average statewide and nationally)
About Ft Myers:

Fort Meyers and its neighboring areas offer up a great mix of culture, business, and lifestyles. Enjoy water sports, museums, walks on the beach, loys of sun, golfing, tennis, shopping till you drop, baseball spring training, restaurants, world class resorts and much more-almost too much to list.

From the modern business environment of Fort Meyers, to the laid back atmosphere of Sanibel or the neighboring Pine Island (reminiscent of small fishing villages in New England) to the incredibly fast expanding Cape Coral area, there is something here for every lifestyle and pocketbook.

A few endorsements

Inc Magazine ranked Fort Meyers 9th among the top 25 medium metropolitan cities for entrepreneurs.(2005
US Housing markets ranked Ft Meyers Cape Coral as the number one housing market in a metropolitan market in the US for the 2nd year in a row. (2004)
Expansion magazine named Lee County a four-star community in its annual quality of life scorecard for 2003.
Money magazine ranked Fort Myers-Cape Coral as one of the "Best Place to Live in America."
Self magazine ranked the Fort Myers-Cape Coral metropolitan area "No. 1 in the nation for working women." (2003)
Forbes magazine ranked the Fort Myers-Cape Coral metro area 37th among the top 200 best metro areas for business and careers
There’s definitely a reason this area is expanding and booming.. and the reason is simple---people want to live here!

So, If you think palm trees, sun and beaches should be in your future, you have to check Ft Meyers/Lee County out.

1 comment:

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