Naples

Residents, whether full- or part-time, enjoy shopping in elegant stores and boutiques, fishing from sleek vessels, golfing on manicured greens; but they also choose to shop for bargains, canoe along inland waterways, ride swamp buggies through the mud or travel by airboat over the river of grass. It's an area of contrasts. What it lacks--urban life with its hustle and bussle--its residents don't miss.

Home Sweet Home

Affluent is an apt description of the Naples area. Not only is it one of the state's wealthiest areas, where homes range from $80,000 to $10 or even $15 million, but it's also a region of sustained high growth, according to the Naples Area Board of Realtors and Association of Real Estate Professionals, Inc. Because most of the land in Collier County is part of the Everglades National Park, most housing is located along its western edge, close to or on the coast. Home building is big business here; yet existing homes remain in demand. The median sales price for existing single-family homes was $201,300 in 1999; for that price a buyer might acquire a 1,500 to 2,000 square foot, three-bedroom, two-bath older inland home without pool on a standard lot.

Many homeowners are retirees or wealthy people whose Naples' house may be a second--or even third--home. About half the properties on the market are single-family detached, but the other 50 percent are condominiums. Some are on the water, but be prepared to invest $150-$300 per square foot for waterfront property. An especially desirable lot zoned for a single-family home might be priced at $1 to $2 million or more. Golf-course lots range from $150,000 to $1 million. Although pricey, golf-course property is definitely more affordable than prime waterfront.

Single-family homes still offer the best real estate value in Naples. On the other hand, there's "a glut" of older two-bedroom, two-bath condos on the market. Although not literally "a dime a dozen," inland they're quite reasonable--available perhaps for as little as $50,000-$60,000 in some locations--but resale can take awhile. At a time and in a place where villas are in vogue, buyers search for three- or four-bedroom villa-style homes with volume ceilings. Such configurations are often a good buy, and offer strong resale potential.

Marco Island, a few miles southwest of town but also in Collier County, is a lovely, laid-back neighbor of Naples, connected by State Road 951 and a causeway with the mainland. Here, too, buyers often purchase second homes. "Property values continue to increase," says the Marco Island Area Association of Realtors. "Marco Island waterfront is all developed or spoken for," they add. And that says a lot about Marco Island's popularity because a map of the island shows almost as much water (inlets, canals, bays, etc.) as land. Condominiums experience a rapid turnover and outnumber single-family homes; about 60 percent condos and 40 percent single-family represents the typical housing inventory. The median sales price for the entire Naples Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) was $201,300 in 1999, up 15 percent from 1998. Vacant land on the water might cost $50,000 and up for a standard lot; vacant properties not on the water cost perhaps $25,000--half the price. Shanahan advises that a condo on the beach is probably the island's best housing buy because it offers quicker appreciation and resale than other properties here.

Vital Stats

Naples Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is Collier County

Population: 200,024
Median age: 44.6
New citizens: 6,420 yearly
New job creation: 2.6 percent (1999)
Unemployment: 5.8 percent August, 1999
Cost of living:102.25 percent (U.S. average=100 percent)
Per capita income: $34,830
Median household effective buying income: $38,303

Rain & Shine

The living is easy, even in the summertime when temperatures average 82 degrees Fahrenheit. During the winter, temperatures average about 65 degrees Fahrenheit and the yearly average is an ideal 75 degrees. Climate is one of the region's big draws. It rains a lot during the summer months; but that's OK. Rain brings breezes and showers--and sometimes thunderstorms--to temper the heat. Average annual rainfall is 51.4 inches.

Job Market

Thirty-two thousand jobs are in the services sector; another 22,000 are retail or trade related. Some service and retail jobs owe their existence to tourism and part-time residents. About 5,500 non-farm agricultural jobs involving packing and distributing fruits and vegetables are centered in the county's northern segment near Immokalee. Although the county doesn't host a foreign trade zone, it does boast 18 industrial parks.

Major private employers include Naples Community Hospital (1,800); Publix Super Markets (1,755); Marriott Corporation (860); Winn-Dixie Stores (760); Ritz-Carlton (758); Registry Resort (600); Collier Enterprises (500); Boran Craig Barber Construction (384); Wal-Mart (374); and Barron Collier Corporation (350).

Class Notes

Extensive information about the schools in this area is online at the state's Department of Education (http://www.firn.edu/doe/doehome.htm). There you'll discover everything you'll need to know about Florida schools -- in general and in particular. All you need is the name of your county and the names of the schools students from your neighborhood attend.

Use links from the DOE home page for general information about entrance requirements, immunizations and so forth.

For the nitty-gritty details that really matter, click on the logo for the "Florida School Indicators Report."

Getting Around

The closest major airport is Southwest International Airport is south of Fort Myers. Farther away, travelers find the Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport. Naples Regional Airport is nearby, but serves executive and private aircraft; it can't accommodate the big jets. Interstate 75 and U.S. Highway 41 travel through Collier County. Both come from the north but turn east toward Miami while within the county. U.S. 41, a.k.a. the Tamiami Trais, bisects east and west naples on 9th Street before angling southeast, then east. Farther from the coast, I-75 runs southbetween The Vineyards and Golden Gate on the east and North Naples and East Naples on the west before turning sharply east on its way across the Everglades to Fort Lauderdale and Miami. After its sharp left turn, I-75 is also called the Everglades Parkway or Alligator Alley.

Great Outdoors

Collier County's wilderness areas are wild, wonderful, enormous. The Conservancy sponsors a Critter Care Project for wildlife rehabilitation and a Sea Turtle Rescue Project. Its Briggs Nature Center offers an interpretive center, a butterfly garden and a boardwalk that leads visitors through Rookery Bay ecosystems. Pontoon boats, canoes or kayaks carry nature lovers on naturalist-guided tours. And the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge is in Naples. Everglades City, considered the entrance to the Everglades, is between the Ten Thousand Islands area on the west and on the east, Everglades National Park, a 1.5 million acre preserve with 1.2 million acres of wilderness. Prairies and mangrove forests shelter abundant wildlife, including plenty of alligators and exotic birds. Fishing, boating, hunting, hiking or airboat tours provide visitors with access to nature's bounty. Anhinga Trail and Gumbo Limbo Trail take patient travelers willing to walk into a vast wonderland that shelters 1,000 plant varieties and perhaps as many at 600 species of birds and animals.This is also where you'll find the Big Cypress National Preserve in the Big Cypress Swamp, 2,400 square miles of wildlife and wilderness about 20 miles east of Ochopee. Twenty-one miles of the Florida National Scenic Trail lead hardy hikers into Big Cypress. Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve in southeastern Collier County shelters a rare virgin cypress strand. A boardwalk through part of the strand is accessible from Jane's Memorial Scenic Drive east of Copeland.

Closer to Naples, but also southeast of town, nature lovers enjoy Royal Palm Hammock and Collier-Seminole State Park, where numerous endangered or threatened species of wildlife are sighted. North of town there's the awesome Corkscrew Swamp, managed,maintained and protected by theNational Audubon Society. Corkscrew is reputed to shelter the world's largest remaining strand of old-growth bald cypress. Shelling is still good on Marco Island, where Southwest Florida's highest spot rests on an enormous shell mound left by Native Americans. Just south of Marco Island, Florida's Ten Thousand Islands area beckons brave and hardy boaters, canoeists and fishermen to explore its waters.

If you prefer quiet beaches to cypress swamps, the Naples area provides plenty of the former. Incredible sunsets give the 1,000-foot Naples Pier great popularity with locals and visitors, who use its planks as a platform for sunbathing, fishing or simply sitting. Other public beaches worth a visit include Barefoot Beach, Barefoot Beach State Recreation Area, Clam Pass Park, Lovers Key State Recreation Area and the Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Recreation Area. On Marco Island, two beaches are reserved for residents. Although parking costs $3 per car, Tigertail Beach on Marco is open to the public; cars stay in the parking lot, however, and aren't allowed on the beach itself.

Good Sports

Golf Digest christened Naples the "Golf Capital of the World" because it offers more golf holes per capita than any place on the globe. Many courses are private or semi-private, but several are open to the public. Longtime and full-time residents who love the sport think they live in paradise; yet they'd like to improve on its one slight imperfection--not enough public golf courses. In the quieter summer months greens fees are less costly and early tee times are easier to get.

Fishing it great here. Charter boats are everywhere, and group rates of about $300 for four hours or $500 for eight can propel you to the thick of the saltwater action. For considerably less you can fish from the pier or cast in the surf. Lots of folks around here go out on their own boats--or yachts. At the extreme southern section of the county is the fishing village of Chokoloskee, which a Tampa Tribune writer once called "game and meat fish heaven." For the adventurous and thick-skinned (experts disagree on the precise number, but between 40 and 70 species of mosquitoes inhabit the Everglades' various ecosystems) adventure awaits at Everglades City, pushing off point for a 99-mile canoe and boat trip on the Wilderness Waterway.

At State Road 951 and Rattlesnake Hammock Road in Naples is a place called Florida Sports Park where various fairs, festivals, parties and competitions are held throughout the year. A 3/8ths paved track will open there this summer, but racing starts in the fall with Saturday night stock car duels. The county's special fun involves swamp buggy racing, which began somewhat casually in the 1930s, became an official event in 1949 and is now a local institution complete with its own queen. The highlight of her reign is a mud bath spectacular. Mud madness once occupied everyone's attention in late October and early November. Now it's a sport with several events and big corporate sponsors. In 1997, for example, the Swamp Buggy Queen Scholarship pageant was held in February, the QMI Winter Classic Swamp Buggy Races in March. Then in May comes two weeks of Dr. Pepper Classic Swamp Buggy Racesfollowed by October's grand finale, more than two weeks of the Budweiser Fall Classic Swamp Buggy Races.

Hot Times in the City

When locals tire of the wilderness, the area's history and culture provide things to do. In the Everglades City and Marco Island area, treat yourself to a walk through the Big Cypress Gallery, where the work of famed nature photographer Clyde Butcher is on display. See the country's smallest post office in Ochopee. Or visit Smallwood's Store in Chokoloskee, once an important Everglades-area trading post and now a museum. Explore the Ten Thousand Islands area with an introductory 90-minute boat trip offered from the Gulf Coast Visitor Center or a two-hour airboat tour of the islands that departs from Factory Bay Marina on Marco Island. Take a look at the historic Rod and Gun Club in Everglades City. (But if you decide to dine there, take cash because the club doesn't accept credit cards.)

In Naples, the Caribbean Gardens offer 52 acres of tropical gardens and exotic animals, including monkeys, apes and lemurs. At The Conservancy's Naples Nature Center a science museum, nature trails, boat trips and animal rehabilitation are part of the package. Visitors and residents enjoy an afternoon at the Collier County Museum. It's not a traditional place, but more like a park, with a native garden, an historic home, an old steam locomotive and an archaeological lab. For a very different museum, take the kids--and the young at heart--to the Teddy Bear Museum of Naples. The name tells the story. The kidswill also thank you for taking them to King Richard's Fun Park and its assorted activities--go-carts, bumper boats, arcade games, batting cages and a miniature golf layout.

Cultural offerings of quality come to the Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Naples. Classical concerts, jazz performances, Broadway shows and ballet represent some of the 250 performances presented here yearly. Many of the performing groups are on national tour. Calendar highlights include the two-day Immokalee Horse Trials in February, the Naples Nation Art Festival in February, the Swamp Buggy Races in Naples duringMay and October, April's three-week Tropicool festival in Naples, May's one-day Taste of Marco, October's Fifth Avenue Oktoberfest--a big German-themed party heldon one of Naples' best shopping streets and November's Festival of Lights.

Shop 'til You Drop

It's difficult to think of another area in Florida with such superb shopping available to a relatively small population. More than 100 shops comprise the Coastland Center, a regional mall. Not to be missed and enjoyed by everyone for its beauty is Naples' famous Third Street South District, the west coast's anwer to Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. Third Street includes statuary and courtyards but the architectural ambience isn't the big story, the shopping is. Art galleries, jewelry stores and gift shops contain amazing and often expensive items. The Fifth Avenue shops are elegant as well. Its antique stores and boutiques hold untold treasures. More than 40 shops are part of the historic Tin City complex. Newer but nice, the Village at Venetian Bay enchants with Mediterranean architecture and 50 or so stores and galleries. Along the bay in Old Naples, Dockside Boardwalk offers several shopping choices. If you desire designer fashions and spectacular household items at reasonable prices, try shopping for values at the Coral Isle Factory Storeson S.R. 951.

Nightlife

Staying up late interferes with early tee times and good fishing at dawn, so the Naples area isn't famous for its nightlife. If you yearn for the fast lane, hop on a boat in the Falcon Fleet, which sails from the Marco Island/Naples area to Key West, with fun along the way and clubs galore when you arrive. In Collier County, however, swinging nightclubs are rare; good restuarants, however, are plentiful. With well-heeled residents and lots of resort visitors to please, dining here is often first-rate. On Marco Island, consider the Ristorante Tuscany at the Marriott or the Sunday brunch at Marriott's Voyager Restaurant. Other Marco Island restaurants include Vito's, the Olde Marco Inn, Apollo's Oceanview Restaurant and the Snook Inn. Marek's Collier House on the island made the 1997 Best New Restaurants in Florida list put out by Florida Trend magazine. In Naples, try Heaven or the Fifth Season Restaurant. Florida Trend lists several Naples-area eateries among their magazine's Top 200 for 1997, including Bistro 821, Chardonnay, The Grill Room at the Ritz-Carlton, Lafite at the Registry Resort Hotel, Maxwell's on the Bay and Villa Pescatore. The magazine's 1997 Best New Restaurants in Florida taps Terra, which replaces the award-winning Chef's Garden and Truffles at the Third Street South location in Naples. The Riverwalk Fish & Ale House and Merriman's Wharf at the Tin City shopping complex are worth a try, too.

College Scene

The Naples area isn't known as an educational powerhouse. This is not to suggest, however, that education is unimportant to its citizens. Post-secondary educational resources remain somewhat limited, yet great progress occurred very recently when the state's 10th and newest four-year university opened its doors in southern Lee County between Fort Myers and Naples. Not only is the new school readily accessible to Naples-area residents, but it will also specialize in distance learning.

Additionally, Naples has a branch campus of the two-year, coed Edison Community College. International College and Walden University's Florida Center are also located here. A four-year, independent, coed schoo, International College possesses a misleading name because only 5 percent of its 540 students are from outside the United States. Its main focus seems to be upon the non-traditional undergraduate. Eighty-two percent are 25 or older; 55 percent attend part time. Walden University focuses on post-graduate and distance learning. For a larger, more traditional, four-year school, college students can travel east to Coral Gables and the University of Miami, a four-year research institution with several graduate and professional schools, or north to the University of South Florida (USF), a four-year state school in Tampa. USF's New College, a highly competitive small branch of USF is even closer to Naples. It's in Sarasota, about two hours north.

Just for Seniors

Gathering information about transportation to medical facilities, homemaker services, home-delivered meals and other senior services proves as easy as picking up the telephone. An information and referral (I&R) service for seniors 60 and older maintains a data base that includes both public and private agencies. The Elder Helpline number is 941/774-8443. Certain government-sponsored services are free for all seniors; some are available on a fee-for-service basis; some are without charge for the low-income elderly yet available at reasonable rates to those who can afford the fee. As might be expected, waiting lists are occasionally encountered for services most in demand. Private, for-profit services are plentiful, too; I&R staffers can tell you about them as well.