The Ups and Down of Living in Fort Myers Florida -Best Places to Live

[@vinnyjacobs]

Fort Myers now is nothing like it was when I grew up there. The “river district” -we called it downtown- has improved. The overall area though has way too many people. I left in 2007 and it was getting bad then now it’s ridiculous. And the beach was a great place for nightlife and had so much character with private owned places. Now it’s mostly corporate. Of course ian changed that more.

[@LivinginSouthwestFlorida_]

Yeah, I’ve heard downtown was rough back then. They rebranded it after the market crash as they were working to revitalize it and it’s really nice now. The population of the area also went down quite a bit during that 2007-2010 timeframe. It’s back up above 2007 now though. The beach is being rebuilt with many similar places but there are still quite a few local spots. It’s not all corporate.

[@lawrenceurbano9174]

Please list your 2 favorite SoCal/Phoenix style Mexican restaurants.

[@LivinginSouthwestFlorida_]

My long time favorite in Fort Myers has been La Casita on McGregor just north of Gladiolus. It’s not 100% but is pretty close. And the one I just found a couple weeks ago that was really good is Takote on San Carlos Blvd just south of Summerlin on the way to FMB.

[@frankiemionetto]

RSW is a very nice airport!

[@LivinginSouthwestFlorida_]

I agree! Can’t wait to see the upgrades finished!!

[@frankiemionetto]

The new Margaritaville will really help Fort Myers Beach

[@LivinginSouthwestFlorida_]

Do you like Margaritaville?

[@frankiemionetto]

Only when "I'm wasting away!"

[@kreese316]

Are there any safe areas within 45 min to beach that have 500K homes on 1/2 acre lots? When I search for this criteria, it takes me to Lehigh Acres, but scoping that area out on KZbin, some people say that they overbuilt Lehigh and parts were abandoned and have higher crime. It is weird because looking at the homes on maps and pictures, they seem nice. Which is true?

[@LivinginSouthwestFlorida_]

Well, short answer, no. It’s the $500k price limit and 1/2 acre lot combination that is the problem. Not the safety problem. There are not many 1/2 acre lots within 45 mins of the beach and the ones that are tend to be significantly more than $500k. If you are open to larger than 1/4 but smaller than 1/2 then you have many options. I wouldn’t tell you that any part of Lehigh is within 45 mins to the beach. 😂 Maybe at 2am with no traffic but in regular everyday traffic at typically times people would go to the beach it’s at least an hour. If you are open to that drive time, I don’t personally feel Lehigh is not safe, however that is subjective. I’ve worked with many clients who live and/or work in Lehigh and I’ve never had anyone who spends time there tell me they feel unsafe there. However there are many people who have likely never even driven through Lehigh that will tell you it’s very dangerous. There are parts of Lehigh that do have higher crime rates than Fort Myers but does that make it unsafe? It depends on what you consider unsafe. Give me a call or text at 239-201-9583 so we can discuss more detail on what you are looking for and we will see if we can find you the right place.

[@frankiemionetto]

Try La Casita in South Fort Myers for Good Mex.

[@LivinginSouthwestFlorida_]

This has been my long time favorite in FM. Unfortunately it has always been far from everywhere I have always lived since I’ve been in the FM area so didn’t get there as often as I’d like.

[@rodcoulter997]

Think BRUTAL heat…100% baffles me why ANYONE would retire and move to the Florida Gulf Coast. Miserable except for about 90 days per year.

[@LivinginSouthwestFlorida_]

I can see some feeling that way. I grew up in Phoenix AZ so also a place some would say is brutal heat and I would personally probably not move back there and then lived in Atlanta GA before moving down to FM and I feel like the higher heat and similar humidity in ATL is worse. It definitely is warm though.