Breathe SB

Is Fort Myers the right place for you?

Fort Myers is a city located in Southwest Florida on the Gulf of Mexico and is known for its beaches, fishing, and wildlife preserves. It is just a couple of hours from Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and three and a half hours from Orlando. In the last 20 years Fort Myers has grown tremendously. Based on the latest 2022 data from the US census, the current population of Fort Myers is 92,245 – this makes Fort Myers the 370th largest city in the US.

Update July 2023: After 20 years in Fort Myers, I have relocated to Central California, but I still recommend Fort Myers, FL as a great place to live!

Coming from a big city twenty years ago, Fort Myers had too much of a small town feel for me, but the city has grown 77% since 2000 and keeps growing quickly; it is growing faster than 86% of similarly sized cities since 2000, according to biggestuscities.com. The city of Fort Myers is also home to the winter estates of American inventor and businessman, Thomas Edison and automotive pioneer, Henry Ford. I have been residing in Fort Myers for almost two decades and in my opinion, these are five things one should consider before moving to this area.

The weather

You have to accept that this is Florida and we pretty much live in summer weather all year long. Keep in mind bugs are part of our subtropical climate and humid weather as well as many insects and wildlife that live here all year round.  Many people move here and find out that they struggle with the weather, because it can get too hot and humid, but me particularly, I love the heat and I can put up with the bugs with a good bug repellent. During the winter, Fort Myers can reach 40º degrees Fahrenheit or a little below that. In fact, we just had one of the coldest winters in years, but this is a rare event and it usually lasts for a week or two. One thing is for certain, you won’t have to worry about shoveling snow in Fort Myers.

A city geared towards family

Fort Myers is a family friendly city. As a mom, I can’t deny that I feel very safe living in Fort Myers. The crime rate is low, and the Fort Myers Police Department and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office work very hard to keep this a safe place to live. In fact, the city has the reputation for having one of the best police departments in the state of Florida. Fort Myers is ranked as one of the safest cities by U.S. News & World Report. There are several activities for kids to have fun such as the IMAG History and Science Center, GameTime, Headpinz, Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium, The Shell Factory, Fort Myers Skatium, Lakes Regional Park, farms, year-round fairs and more.

Get more for your housing

Despite the crazy housing market that we have been going through over the past few years, here in Fort Myers as well as Cape Coral which is the city next door, you can find more house for your money than other growing cities in the state of Florida. The cost of living in Fort Myers is below average, but keep in mind that salaries range between 32,000 to 53,000 thousand dollars annually, according to zip recruiter. However, salaries will vary depending on your occupation, experience, and many other factors.

Beautiful beaches and beautiful preservation areas

Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel and Captiva islands have made the top US beaches list several times on Trip Advisor and many other rating sites. Despite the devastation that Hurricane Ian brought, the efforts to restore our beautiful beach communities is in the works and reopening the beaches is expected for the coming weeks. The Fort Myers community is known for its resiliency and SWFL residents are proud to call this area home. Although beaches are being rebuilt currently, you will find fishing charter companies, and water-related activity companies already operating. Beach related activities as well as the hospitality industry in Fort Myers account for a large portion of money coming into our region.

 

Growth opportunity

Once you know you’re in a good area, with beautiful weather and amazing neighbors, all that is left to do is find is a job.  Here in Fort Myers you can find several developing industries for any career, and if you’re an investor or an entrepreneur, the city of Fort Myers welcomes everyone who wants to be a part of its growth. Do you have a startup  and want to base here? There’s plenty of room and opportunities. You’re going to find big companies and headquarters here like Chicos, Arthrex, Hertz, Gartner. There are also sports and entertainment venues such as the Hammond Stadium, Jet Blue Stadium, Alico Arena, Hertz Arena, Suncoast Credit Union Arena, as well as the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, a big performance arts facility with almost 2000 seats that presents National Touring Broadway musicals such as: The Phantom of the Opera, Disney’s The Lion King, Wicked, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring The Rockettes, The Book of Mormon and many other concerts and performances.

Fort Myers is a great place to retire and live in a not so fast-paced environment. However, Fort Myers is larger than a lot of cities here in the southwest of Florida and traffic can become a little tedious during tourist season. We have a beautiful downtown area that overlooks the Caloosahatchee River, a good amount of bars, restaurants, local art and historic landmarks. Fort Myers is also home to great colleges like Florida Southwestern State College, Florida Gulf Coast University, Hodges University and Southern Technical College.

Overall, Fort Myers is a great place to set roots and begin a new journey. I can honestly say that I’ve found opportunity on every single thing I wanted to do since the day I moved to this lovely city. 

Do you see yourself moving here?