Exploring Southwest Florida’s Best Places to Retire
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 7, 2020 — With the pandemic putting a damper on travel, many people are postponing their winter time retirement explorations. As a partial substitute for those travels, here in Part 1 of this series we will provide a virtual tour of some of the best places to retire in Southwest Florida. In Part 2 we featured a tour of Arizona places to retire. Future installments will cover Florida’s East Coast, Central Florida, the Carolinas, and others suggested by our Members.
Best Places to Retire in Southwest Florida
Southwestern Florida starts just above Tampa and goes south to Marco Island. This 180 mile stretch probably has more places to retire than anywhere in the world, with the possible exception of the southeast coast of FL from Vero Beach to Miami. Here on the Gulf Coast there are barrier islands, 3 good sized cities (Tampa/St.Pete, Sarasota, and Fort Myers), fabulous beaches, endless waterfronts and waterways, and a variety of towns that make for interesting places to retire. There are thousands of active adult and 55+ communities, ranging from budget RV/Mobile Home parks to exclusive refuges catering to the 1%.
Anyone looking for a warm winter retirement should definitely at least consider this area – when safe travel resumes again a leisurely exploration would be well worth it. While you are there, if certain towns and areas appeal, you might consider a Stay and Play package or monthly rental to see if you really like the place. Note: Most of the names of the cities and towns in this article are linked to more detailed reviews as places to retire.
Comments on "Exploring Southwest Florida’s Best Places to Retire"
Robert Slimak says:
I wish you would do what International Living does in their reviews of foreign places to retire. Namely tell how much monthly income it takes to live in each area.
Editor's comment: Thanks for your input Robert. If you follow the link to each city/town mentioned in the article you will go to a more detailed review of that place. For example if you click on Fort Myers you are taken to the Ft. Myers review - https://www.topretirements.com/reviews/Florida/Fort%20Myers.html
In the second section we cover "Where to Live and Home Prices", which are substantial in the Metro - the NAR reported the median sale price in the Fort Myers/Cape Coral area to be $290,000 in the 3rd quarter of 2020, up over 13% from a year earlier.
Of course generalizing about a big area like that is dangerous, there will be homes must less expensive and much pricier too. But housing costs give you a good idea of what it costs to live in an area. On the left hand column under "Facts about Fort Myers" you will find ranges for cost of living, real estate, crime, avg. temps etc.
A big plus of Topretirements over International Living is we are pretty neutral about places to retire and will never try to push you into anything you might later regret.
Admin says:
Good news. We have updated the Tour and added even more places to stop. Very interesting towns, developments, and new planned communities like Ave Maria. Check out the revised article above.