Naples is a unique area in Paradise. Imagine, a small town atmosphere with elegant stores, art galleries and first class restaurants – all fronting one of the nicest, old residential beaches in Florida.  To the South a few miles lies the unique Marco Island, Florida’s Venice at the gateway to the fabled 10,000 Islands fishing and recreation area.

As a collection of beautiful places, Naples-Marco-Vanderbilt Beach offer some of the nicest beaches in all of Florida, including Tigertail on Marco and Delnor-Wiggins Pass to the north.  But what really sets this area apart from all of the rest of Florida is its easy access by boat to one of the world’s great Mangrove estuaries, stretching all the way to the remote Shark River in Everglades National Park on Florida’s far southwest coast.  There’s fishing, exploring, secret rivers, dolphin, rays, incredible bird life, eagles – you name it.  Few places in America can rival this.
If boating is not your thing, there’s world class golf, tennis, or trail walking.  Or swimming in your pool.

And then, as I’ve mentioned, you come home at the end of the day to a sophisticated – you can go formal or informal – late afternoon of shopping, antiqueing, gallery hopping, dining out, and perhaps a concert or play.  Naples, as the center of this Collier County southwest Florida area, is rivaled by few other places in Florida for these upscale activities, not even by the bigger metropolitan cities.

Yes, it is an expensive area, in fact it’s rated cost of living index is 104.8 or number one in the state. However compared to New York with a CGI of 364 it is affordable, especially if you’d like to be in an area of soft ocean breezes and palm trees, perhaps with your own boat moored at your back door.  And for those who covet this life style, there are wonderful neighborhoods and condominium complexes to choose among.

There are definitely a couple of drawbacks, as there are everywhere.  The road infrastructure is still struggling to catch up with the area’s explosive growth, and can be problematic during snowbird and tourist season (the winter months).  And there aren’t a lot of options for inexpensive living; even inland several miles homes, condos, and apartments  can be expensive.  Public beach parking is also limited in most areas, not nearly as user-friendly as Lee County to the north.

General Information.

• Located in the southwest portion of Collier County, 102 miles west of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, and 165 miles southwest of Orlando. Florida’s lower east coast is easily accessible, not even a two hour drive.
• 2025 square miles
• Average Temperature 75°F-lots of sun and great weather
• Average Annual Precipitation 51 in
• Average Rain Days 131
• Population projection 2005 -251,000-Collier County
• Naples population-25,000
• Average home cost-June 2005-$491,000
• Cost of Living-almost 105-1st in the state
• Median age-44 for Collier county and 60 years old for Naples.
• It has good health and education options in nearby Ft Myers.

Major jobs Employment By Industry in order of numbers

• Trade, transportation and utilities
• Education, Health, Social Services
• Leisure and hospitality
• Construction
• Professional and business service
• Natural resources
• Financing

What this list suggests is that even if you’re not a retiree, the Collier county area has something to offer you. Homes in the outlying areas and north towards Ft. Myers are significantly less money and the available skilled labor jobs can pay very well.  Nevertheless, there is a big difference between the coastal and other areas, and it’s important to be aware of this if you are considering a move to Naples.

For specifics in general categories please see the links to the left. See the google map to the upper right.

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