What You Should Know about SWFL if You’re Considering Relocating Here

Are you considering relocating to Southwest Florida, but you'd like some more information about the Lee County area? Here are some things you should know if you're thinking about moving to the Southwest Florida/Lee County area: 

Southwest Florida has several vibrant cities that offer relaxed coastal living, beautiful beaches, and a thriving community with numerous businesses, shopping, and dining opportunities. Lee County encompasses several cities, including Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Bonita Springs, Estero, Fort Myers Beach, and Sanibel. Each city has its own unique features that make it special, but they all provide that laid-back coastal living that Southwest Florida is known for. If you're looking for the most affordable waterfront living with boat access to the Gulf, Cape Coral is your best bet. If you’d like to live close to a thriving downtown area, or near the historic Edison and Ford Winter Estates, you should consider Fort Myers. However, if you want to be closest to our beautiful beaches, Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel are the best options. And if you like shopping and fine dining, Bonita Springs and Estero are filled with plenty of shopping and dining options. 

Southwest Florida is known for its sunny weather, and Lee County offers many ways to enjoy the outdoors. Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve and Four Mile Cove Ecological Preserve are two of the County's wetland areas with boardwalks that allow you to walk through the wetland and view the local wildlife. The County has several parks that provide recreation, boat ramps, and paddle craft launches for kayaking, canoeing, and paddle boards. Southwest Florida has several highly rated beaches to enjoy, ranging from Sanibel and Captiva to Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Beach. 

For sports enthusiasts, Fort Myers is the home to the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins spring training facilities, and the Minor League team, the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, for their regular season games. The Florida Everblades, Southwest Florida's professional hockey team, play their home games at Hertz Arena in Estero. With year-round warm weather, there are also ample opportunities for you or your kids to partake in year-round sports such as tennis, pickleball, golf, basketball, kayaking, baseball, football, and beach volleyball. Lee County has also been coined as a "fisherman's paradise" because of the abundance of in-shore and offshore fishing opportunities, including fishing from bridges, piers and shorelines to deep sea fishing. 

If you're looking for great arts and entertainment, the Hertz Arena in Estero is a premier entertainment venue in Southwest Florida that holds concerts and shows. The Barbara B Mann Performing Arts Center in Fort Myers also features concerts, comedy tours, and Broadway shows. The Broadway Palm Dinner Theater has a full calendar of Broadway-style shows. Lee County is also home to the Southwest Florida Symphony, the Cape Coral Art Festival, ArtFest Fort Myers & the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center. 

If you're curious about public education, utilities, health and safety, or vehicles and travel, Lee County has a New Residents Guide with links to important local information. The guide can be found here: https://www.leegov.com/resources/residentsguide. You can also reach out to our team with any questions that you may have about the Southwest Florida/Lee County area.  

Whether you're considering moving to Southwest Florida to raise your family or coming down for retirement, there is something for everyone here. We’d love to help you get acquainted with the area and find your dream home in Southwest Florida.