Discussion of SWF FAQ Sticky (Tampa, Orlando: real estate, apartment, condo)

[stahltkd]

With James Browder stepping down and adding Larry Tihen as interim Superintendent to the Cape Coral School board, it should be interesting to see how things progress or not progress.

Only time will tell.

[faithfulFrank]

Folks,
I think there is a danger here of trying to get so specific as to unemployment rates, etc. Every survey, statistic is different, different ways of doing things.
The simple point that needs to be made SIMPLY is that there is a very high unemployment rate here, and it may be even harder for those NEW to the area to find a job that pays a sustainable wage.

Basically, the good and bad of the area......helpful hints.......like how the schools work.......the problems with questionable neighborhoods, foreclosures, etc......Chinese drywall.......etc.

Also the good things......weather, beaches, lowest housing costs in years....free snow removal, etc,etc.......

Remember the kiss method. Keep it simple If folks have more specific questions, etc, they can be answered specifically. I think the goal here is to answer the more frequent questions, so we do not need to keep doing it.

Frank

[hiknapster]

They ask about jobs. Saying things are "bad" is not very helpful. How bad? Worse than where you are coming from? How worse?

And the beauty of that link is it is always up to date. Click on it a year from now and it will tell you the latest stats and how they compare to your current area.

To me, there is no point without that link. We are back to going around and around about how much worse. How many times has someone said, "Well, things are bad all over. Where I live, right now, it is very, very bad. You have no idea?" Then I pull out the link and Lee County is 6 points higher in unemployment. That is a HUGE difference and happens all the time.

Is this going to be a really helpful sticky or is it going to be another Chamber of Commerce job where the family can get excited about the "things to do" and assume that availability of jobs, pay and quality of schools is the same. Because, deep-down, most people think that things are pretty much the same all over. They are not. I don't want to be responsible for a family moving down there and losing everything.

How many times have we read "I didn't think things were that bad" or "I thought I would get a job. I thought people down there didn't want to work." I think that needs to be said. People that live there are trying to find jobs. They are not "lazy Southerners." They are Northerners that can't find jobs.

DANGEROUS THINGS TO DO: FEEDING the ALLIGATORS. Don't do it.

Originally Posted by faithfulFrank

Folks,
I think there is a danger here of trying to get so specific as to unemployment rates, etc. Every survey, statistic is different, different ways of doing things.
The simple point that needs to be made SIMPLY is that there is a very high unemployment rate here, and it may be even harder for those NEW to the area to find a job that pays a sustainable wage.

Basically, the good and bad of the area......helpful hints.......like how the schools work.......the problems with questionable neighborhoods, foreclosures, etc......Chinese drywall.......etc.

Also the good things......weather, beaches, lowest housing costs in years....free snow removal, etc,etc.......

Remember the kiss method. Keep it simple If folks have more specific questions, etc, they can be answered specifically. I think the goal here is to answer the more frequent questions, so we do not need to keep doing it.

Frank

[faithfulFrank]

The link is fine.......all one really needs is to compare where they are to where they are thinking of going. As long as they compare from the same site, there should be some kind of accuracy.

not feeding the gators is a good one.....

Frank

[rikoshaprl]

Originally Posted by kroeran

hah! I get to listen to a wide range of opinions and try to come up with documents that everyone agrees to...more or less

if you post some links in this thread to some of these great posts, I will summarize and incorporate them, as well as incorporate opinions on those postings as we go along...if that works

step one is to try to come to some sort of agreement on headings...like

maybe it should be called



LEE COUNTY FAQ
(Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Springs, Sanibel)


...start off with subject that interests everyone
WEATHER

FUN THINGS TO DO IN LEE COUNTY

BEACHES

BOATING

GOLFING

NATURE

CULTURE

SHOPPING

OTHER

DANGEROUS THINGS TO DO IN LEE COUNTY


TOURISM/HOTELS

VACATION HOMES

SNOWBIRDING

MOVING TO LEE COUNTY

NON-CITIZENS

PROPERTY TAXES

INSURANCE

JOBS

SCHOOLING

HOSPITALS

CAPE CORAL

FORT MYERS

FORT MYERS BEACH

BONITA SPRINGS

SANIBEL

UNINCORPORATED NEIGHBOURHOODS

LINKS


anything missing? anything that does not belong as a heading?

if someone wants to volunteer to develop some paragraphs under one or more of these headings...that would be great

Things to do in SW Florida:
https://www.city-data.com/forum/fort-...l#post13826691

[kroeran]

shouldn't this forum be renamed to cover all the incorporated towns in the area (Lee County)

Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Springs, Sanibel

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by kroeran

shouldn't this forum be renamed to cover all the incorporated towns in the area (Lee County)

Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Springs, Sanibel

Hmmm. Whole other can of worms. But I don't think people looking for that info can't figure it out.

The Naples forum gets most of the Bonita questions. That area is in Lee County but it feels more like the Naples area. When we lived there we tended to hang out in Naples. Our daughter was even born in the Naples hospital.

Fort Myers Beach should be obvious and most people on this forum don't ask about Sanibel and Captiva. If they can afford to live there they usually have the wherewithal to know it is part of Lee County.

[kroeran]

perhaps we could have a forum war and reclaim Bonita! ; - )

I checked the population figures and I now understand more how large the Cape is relative to the other areas.

Interestingly, discovered that most of Daniels Corridor is not actually part of Fort Myers, if I am reading the map correctly...but Paseo is....just barely.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by kroeran

perhaps we could have a forum war and reclaim Bonita! ; - )

I like that! We could probably fight for Naples, too. I knew that was going to be a dumb move. They should have put the name "Naples" in with Fort Myers-Cape Coral and called it a day.

I checked the population figures and I now understand more how large the Cape is relative to the other areas.

Interestingly, discovered that most of Daniels Corridor is not actually part of Fort Myers, if I am reading the map correctly...but Paseo is....just barely.

It's all part of Fort Myers. They are just not in the city limits, like you. And you should be happy about that. Fort Myers cops are much better than Lee County cops. By about a mile, actually.

But it is still considered "Fort Myers."

[Samiamnh]

[quote=faithfulFrank;16019479]Folks,
I think there is a danger here of trying to get so specific as to unemployment rates, etc. Every survey, statistic is different, different ways of doing things.
The simple point that needs to be made SIMPLY is that there is a very high unemployment rate here, and it may be even harder for those NEW to the area to find a job that pays a sustainable wage.

Basically, the good and bad of the area......helpful hints.......like how the schools work.......the problems with questionable neighborhoods, foreclosures, etc......Chinese drywall.......etc.

Also the good things......weather, beaches, lowest housing costs in years....free snow removal, etc,etc.......

Remember the kiss method. Keep it simple If folks have more specific questions, etc, they can be answered specifically. I think the goal here is to answer the more frequent questions, so we do not need to keep doing it.

Great point.I hope that newcomers can see through the posters that are always negative and sort through both the good and bad.This is a great area to live in.....cost of living is way cheaper than most other areas and there's lots to do.True that you have to research carefully for jobs and schools but it's worth a try.