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So I thought it may be helpful for some if I post about my three-year mark in Naples Florida. Overall I would rate the experience a seven. I really enjoy the weather, not really even that bothered by the rainy season as the rain is usually a welcome break from the heat. It is very humid and if you aren't used to that type of climate it is an adjustment. Thankfully being from St. Louis where we have incredible humidity it wasn't too much of a transition. I do find that there is plenty to do. I take art classes, sewing classes, go shelling, hit the beach, and mainly hang out at my pool in my backyard. There are plenty of great restaurants everywhere. And there's every type of shopping you could imagine.
Now for the negatives. There is almost no middle class. The problem with that is that you have a lot of trouble finding good skilled workers such as mechanics, tradesmen of any sort. There seems to be a big gaping hole between upper-class and below middle class. Now I realize that there are some people that will fall into that middle-class range such as hospital workers however as a person who does have A chronic illness that does send me to the hospital unfortunately every now and again, I have been absolutely astonished at how poor the healthcare is, in my opinion. I met with four doctors before I found anyone who seemed caringand concerned about health and not just money. It is also very transient here. You tend to not see the same workers every season which creates a huge loss of sense of neighborhood. Also, and this may seem silly, but everyone is rooting for a different team! Now I'm not the biggest of sports fans but again it speaks to the sense of neighborhood. My 2 children who came with me that are in their 20s have done fine. However one of them has already left. Both of them found work right away and the one who left, left because she found the man of her dreams and he was from Boston but otherwise she would have stayed.
I hope this helps giving an update to people who are not sure if they want to make this their permanent home. We do still consider buying a place back in St. Louis to visit family during the off-season. If. Ever I end up leaving here permanently, I can say that it will be based solely on poor health care. That is super important to me and we just have not found it here. I hope this post is helpful to some.
Question - are you retired? This might be useful information to those who are relocating based upon retirement or for work.
I haven't been here as long as you but I do agree that it is hard to find "good" people and places, especially those who aren't just catering to people in season.
As I'm not retired and I have young children I have a few other observations:
1) Great experience with schools in Collier County. Whether it's because they have a better attitude or are better run I don't know, but I'm coming from Long Island schools which are very highly rated. I can't speak to other school districts in FL.
2) Challenging to find quality after-school care, and in-home nannies are really tough to find. This aligns with your first negative.
3) I have lined up one independent mechanic for one of my vehicles that comes highly recommended, but I use the dealer for the others and my experience there has been excellent. This is Naples Audi - can't speak for other dealers or cities.
4) Sports are irrelevant to me, except potentially HS sports if my kids decide to pursue them. Naples is not a big college town, and as you noted, there are a lot of transients here. I think that's not a "Naples" issue, it's more of a Florida vs. Missouri thing where a lot of the people here are transplants. My golf game has improved since arriving as I can now play year-round. Golf is probably more important to Naples than all of the other sports combined.
5) I haven't experienced the same thing as you with respect to healthcare, but I haven't had to take advantage of much of it yet. I'm also on a private employer health care plan - most retirees I suspect would be on Medicare so there might be a difference there. I am still trying to get all of my permanent doctors lined up but the urgent care places here have been excellent.
6) Everything about restaurants and shopping is incredible off season - you can walk into a restaurant on a Friday night and get a table. In season? Obviously a different experience. Hint: use Opentable rather than call the restaurant. In many cases I've been able to reserve a table even though the restaurant said they were all booked up on the phone. I think that's also because most retirees aren't tech savvy.
7) Commuting off season is trivial. It's a bit longer during season, but still better than many areas. 41 gets jammed and all of the feeder roads to 41 in North Naples (Vanderbilt, Immokalee, Pine Ridge, etc).
8) Most snowbirds are great people. There are a few that seem to have a sense of entitlement when they are here. Perhaps that's because many are upper middle class or above and look down on others. People are people though, so I don't think this is a Naples thing either, but perhaps the fact that Naples is wealthy so wealthy people come here, and the nouveaux riche feel they are entitled. The general feeling from a lot of long-time people here is that their presence is greatly appreciated, but just when it seems to be too much season is over and they're gone.
It's too early for me to give Naples a numerical rating, but I've been pleased so far with my life here.
Thank you both for your updates on life full time in Naples.
Markjames: DH and I are also from Long Island and retiring to move full time to Naples hopefully this Spring. Your experience give us a good idea on what to expect.
I am not retired. Im 47 years old and my husband is 49. Truthfully, my first year here I felt like it was paradise -- Second year when real life really started to set in, I felt a little differently. You are lucky to not have to go to the Dr often. I have found there are "seasonal" Drs and nurses which is really weird to me. Also, if you see one DR and decide to give another one a shot, ecpect to be grilled and or turned down entirely. Especially in the specialty fields.
Im much more of a positive person than negative and I think a 7 is a pretty good rating. There are just some things you really should know when moving here. I also find it to be very expensive -- for example registering your car is $500 which if more than 10 times what it is in many other states. That was very surprising. Food is also very high in my opinion and Ive been all over the country. Also, this is NOT a dog friendly community. Many restrictions on dog weights and breeds. Like I said, just things to know and factor in.
I am not retired. Im 47 years old and my husband is 49. Truthfully, my first year here I felt like it was paradise -- Second year when real life really started to set in, I felt a little differently. You are lucky to not have to go to the Dr often. I have found there are "seasonal" Drs and nurses which is really weird to me. Also, if you see one DR and decide to give another one a shot, ecpect to be grilled and or turned down entirely. Especially in the specialty fields.
Im much more of a positive person than negative and I think a 7 is a pretty good rating. There are just some things you really should know when moving here. I also find it to be very expensive -- for example registering your car is $500 which if more than 10 times what it is in many other states. That was very surprising. Food is also very high in my opinion and Ive been all over the country. Also, this is NOT a dog friendly community. Many restrictions on dog weights and breeds. Like I said, just things to know and factor in.
Good feedback and you and I are in a similar age range, just my kids are much younger than yours.
Seasonal doctors make sense because the population of the Naples area triples during season. Without it you would either have too many doctors off season or not enough during.
The car registration expense is a Florida thing, one which is a trade off for no income taxes. After you register it the annual fees are reasonable. As long as you've had it for 6 months you're not taxed again bringing it to FL. The annual registration cost in NY is higher. Then you have the annual inspection fees which are really just a cash grab for a newer car.
Food might be a bit more than what I'm used to on LI but partly this is probably due to Publix being dominant here. I shop a lot at Trader Joe's and Costco and prices are on par there.
Curious about the dog restrictions...are you a renter or an owner? I have a dog and my community has no restrictions as long as it's a 'domestic pet' (i.e. no pigs, cows or goats). Not too many dog parks in Naples but I do look forward to checking out the dog beach north of here at some point.
Thank you both for your updates on life full time in Naples.
Markjames: DH and I are also from Long Island and retiring to move full time to Naples hopefully this Spring. Your experience give us a good idea on what to expect.
Babs
Babs - feel free to message me if I can give you any additional feedback or insight. I am not a LI native but spent 15 years living in Suffolk. As long as you're not hung up on pizza, bagels and your local Italian restaurant you should do fine
I think that your statement about everyone rooting for a different team is a Florida thing. I don't like it much either, but that is an accurate statement none the less. I figured it would work differently, but it seems that most people (nearly everyone) keeps their roots somewhere else when they come to Florida. Because Florida is so transient and doesn't have it's own sense of place (my opinion) this is just how it goes. When I lived in New Mexico, a place w/ a strong identity, I rooted for the home teams. Here in Florida, as well as in Hawaii, I kept my old allegiances. Except I do root for the Fish!
We have been full time Naples residents for 4 years, residing in North Naples. We are not retirees; both of us work full time. We are very much "middle class."
As for locating tradespeople, we have had very good luck going with word of mouth recommendations. For routine auto repair, we go to Dealer's Choice in Bonita. We had one not-so-great experience with a repair at DeVoe Buick and would steer clear of them in the future. For home repairs, we located a good painter, plumber, and electrician via a neighbor who does home watching, and a church friend who is a professional contractor and knows who to call for these services.
We've adapted easily to the weather. My husband is an avid outdoor exerciser, and during the hottest months he heads out very early in the morning to avoid the heat and humidity. Me? I go the air conditioned gym! The summer rains are fascinating in that the systems are fast moving and very localized - and never have I seen so many rainbows. Winter weather with the lowered humidity is fantastic.
Probably the only complaint we have relates to some of our snowbird neighbors, who I believe just don't hear very well. They sit on the lanai and talk on the phone....LOUDLY. Like "I can hear you 3 houses away" loudly!
As for pet restrictions, these are part of the covenants for many neighborhoods especially condos. Usually the restrictions are on weight of pets and total number of pets allowed. My husband sits on our condo board and believe me, it's helpful to have these things spelled out in black and white. Those who wish to have farm type animals enjoy the Golden Gate Estates area, where homes are situated on acreage.
We love the services that Naples/Collier provides, including twice weekly garbage pickup (we hadn't experienced twice a week pickup up north in PA or MI), mosquito abatement, and good schools. (Well, pretty good schools - it's Florida - but that's another topic!).
We based our health care at Physician's Regional and indeed have seen a turnover in a number of docs. However, they have not been "seasonal" doctors but instead took other opportunities such as relocating closer to family, retirement, etc. We are blessed with good health so far, but right now I am working with a new primary care physician. At least all our records stay in one spot at Physicians! And a friend who had a serious health emergency received excellent care at the Pine Ridge location.
I have a great dentist in Bonita.
We have two of the best beaches in America right here - Delnor Wiggins and Barefoot Beach.
Our neighborhood is a mix of families and snowbirds. We live close to Gulf Coast HS and enjoy having the school as a neighbor. We love Halloween in Naples - it's like a block party with everyone outdoors passing out candy. We head downtown for the December tree lighting, New Years Eve and 4th of July fireworks, and the New Years Art Show.
Cost of living is about the same as other places we have lived, overall. Electric bills are lower. I'm a prudent food shopper and we stick with Costco, Trader Joe's and Walmart. Publix has a following, but their prices tend to run high on many items. By the way, the Naples Costco is the 2nd busiest in the nation and I avoid it during season - it's worth the drive to go to Estero rather than get caught up in the crowds and traffic!
Yes, dining options abound. I wish there was a bit more of an "artsy" feel to the community, especially a writers' community or indie theater or independent bookstore (yes, we do have Sunshine Books on Marco but that's it). We were disappointed when the "Rockin BY The Bay" free concerts were terminated because of resident complaints - but that gives a little picture of how Naples does things in just one certain way, and doesn't adapt all that well to change. You can have Dixieland every week at Cambier park....but nothing that runs till 9 pm on a Friday night. Go figure. Varied entertainment is available around town, largely during season. Artis Naples ticket prices are pretty high - I prefer the Barbara Mann lineup in Fort Myers, Naples Players, and Gulfshore Playhouse - but we sample a bit of everything I guess. And we love movies at the Silverspot - best movie theater anywhere.
Snowbird traffic is heavy, and defensive driving takes on a whole new meaning during season. I just allow plenty of time to get where I'm going and drive carefully.
Babs - feel free to message me if I can give you any additional feedback or insight. I am not a LI native but spent 15 years living in Suffolk. As long as you're not hung up on pizza, bagels and your local Italian restaurant you should do fine
Funny we rarely eat bagels and pizza. LOL We've been to our condo in Naples about four times a year for the past 6 years, usually off season in the summer - sometimes in season. We rent it out to snowbirds in season, cha ching! LOL We've found the food in Naples to be wonderful at every price point. Whether it's Italian or whatever.... We currently live on LI on the North Shore in Eastern Suffolk.
We really like Naples in the summer! We enjoy the warm gulf waters and getting into all the restaurants with no problems. We also occassionaly golf in the mornings at some of the public courses. Naples feels like home to us.
As my other posts have mentioned, we're now on the hunt for our retirement house. So much to think about! From what I understand, the prices of homes go up just before season for all the snowbirds to buy. Lately I've been noticing some price reductions on single family homes specifically in Island Walk, Village Walk and Long Shore Lakes. Looks like the houses that have sold are the ones that have reduced their price. I was wondering if all these new housing communties are hurting the older established communities? It would be great for us if the prices go done on the resales. A new house is certainly wonderful, but we're leaning towards an established community in North Naples. Time will tell!
My wife and I spent a few weeks and made 3 trips to Naples for the express purpose of moving there. We actually bought a house but cancelled the deal when we found out 125 sex offenders lived in a 5 mile radius. We seriously considered a new house and looked at all the developments in our price range 350-500K and concluded our best value was an existing home. Any decent home with what we were looking for (gated, pool, community center, water view) was minimum 525K and up. In the end we decided to look elsewhere. Naples is great in a lot of ways, it is very clean, low crime in most areas, a high end feel to the downtown, nice beaches, pier. I think it is great for a winter retreat of 3-4 months if you live elsewhere. This way you can avoid the negatives of scorching summer heat, less than optimal health care and not enough to do to sustain a full time move there. We decided we would get bored and there is little to do for active 20 somethings (our kids) to do vs a city like Miami or Tampa. I love Naples and its great for a visit but living there full time would not be for us. The prices for housing is crazy high compared to other areas and ripe for a correction IMHO. We can get everything we want for 350K in other areas. Naples is an enclave for wealthy and wealthy retired people. I will always enjoy a visit and if I win the Lottery (unlikely since I never play it) I would consider it but realistically its not for us.
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