Valentina_Neufeld

Hi, my husband may be taking a job in Naples, FL but we know little to nothing about Naples. We have 2 small children, 3 and 1 and eventually will like them to go to a private school (christian if possible). I am an Occupational therapist and my husband is a CPA... We will need a great area in Naples where we can raise our children. We like quite, older people to tell you the truth, even though we are in our early 20's we like to hang out with mature people. we love to go to church and be in church activities. we are way far from being party people... We would like a nice home, in a nice area. We dont mind if its close to the beach or not. we mainly look for safety. I would like to have good grocery stores around, and good parks for my kids. We have heard that North Naples is a nice area, is there any others? good quite places? areas to raise your family? I would love as many comments as possible. Thanks in advance! =)

Valentina_Neufeld

I meant to mention... I've heard to stay away from Bonita Springs and golden gates? why is that? How is north naples? and naples park? and pelican bay? i am confused. I see them in the map but I do not understand. are these communities in naples? how does it work? Thanks!!

Ackislander

It is a very beautiful place, and I think you will find pretty much all the things you are looking for in Naples and more: the "more" includes a wonderful public library system, good parks and recreation, and easy access to the beach and good public schools even if you prefer private schools. It is indeed a "quiet" place, with a substantial older population. There are bars and such if you want to look for them, but they by no means dominate the town, and it is certainly not a party place like Miami Beach or Key West. There is no shortage of churches of all kinds.

"North Naples" covers a lot of ground, inlcuding Naples Park. Some of it is wonderful, some of it not so hot. Same thing with other neighborhoods, inlcuding Bonita Springs, which is a separate town. Pelican Bay is generally expensive and ritzy and mostly older people. Golden Gate is racially and culturally diverse. You really have to go and look. Prices should be good everywhere since FL real estate has crashed, but that doesn't mean it will be easy to find a house in your particular price bracket in a neighborhood you want.

Since you are not particularly interested in public schools, you are not limited legally to a particular location. I think you need to visit if you possibly could. If you decide to move there, you should probably live in an apartment in an area that feels good to you for a year while you learn where you really want to be: an area near your chosen school, your church, where there are lots of young families, etc. The market is not likely to go up so fast that you would get closed out.

I don't know where you are coming from, but South Florida is very hot and humid in the summer, with daily thunderstorms. Naples gets a good breeze, but the farther inland you go, the less breeze. Naples off season (May-November) may seem a little empty; Naples in season will seem pretty crowded. Each gives some relief from the other.

Mers

We vacation in Naples every year. My friend lives down there. She does live in North Naples off of Immokalee. There are areas that a better known for their school systems then others. She is a realtor in the Naples so she told me about the different areas. Most of the communities are gated communities. Then, there are major highways. They must have a CVS on every corner in Naples! Probably 100 of them. There are many Targets, Walgreens, etc. Everything is very convenient.

There are many nice areas. It's also so nice to be able to be so close to the Gulf. Naples is very big. It can take a half hour to get from one end to the other. Let me know if you have any specific questions, and I can ask her for you.

Valentina_Neufeld

Thank you for this information! we are in Bismarck ND, and we really like the community here... We are really debating on the move...
One question, what do you mean by "Since you are not particularly interested in public schools, you are not limited legally to a particular location"?
Pelican Bay sounded good because of the older people... not so much the ritzy part =)
How can we know what is not "so hot" about north naples and naples park? Even when it comes to renting a place, we dont want to live in the "not so hot" section...
We like the heat, so we are not worried about that. That's one of the things like about the idea of the move the most.. Here in North Dakota we get to 40 bellow at times!
Thank you!!

Valentina_Neufeld

The prospect job is in NCEF I know this is in naples, but can you tell me in what area of naples it is? north naples?... thank you

Valentina_Neufeld

Mers: What are good gated communities in the best areas? either really family oriented or a lot of older/retired adults is what im interested on. Near private schools.

NeoPatrick

I am a full time resident of Naples since 1977.
I had no idea what NCEF is, so googled -- Naples Childhood Education Foundation? It appears to be in Lely at the Edison Community College Campus. This is about 15 minutes or more drive from the downtown center of Naples, but you will find out that Naples is very spread out. Lely is actually a nice community of single family homes, condos, and apartments and might make a good start for looking at where to rent.
I honestly wouldn't suggest buying here until you've lived here for a while and checked it out.

The good news is that if you like being with older people you couldn't pick a better place!!! While there are more and more younger people here, it definitely is primarily a retirement community. All those areas include many "gated communities" often centered around one of the seemingly hundreds of golf courses here. It's really hard to categorize areas in Naples. There may be a small community of homes averaging several million dollars, almost right next to an area of cheaper rentals. You really simply have to be here and check it all out to see what appeals.

Golden Gate is a "tricky" area, because it is vast in scale. The area called "Golden Gate City" (realize all of Golden Gate still has a Naples addresss) is pretty low income, lots of duplexes and rentals, and frankly just not very nice. But as you go further west, north, and even south from GG City, there are many, many homes on huge lots called Golden Gate Estates which can be quite lovely but may have "dumps" next to them -- the zoning in Golden Gate has never been under control.

It is true that generally speaking the closer to the Gulf (or Golf) the more expensive it will be, but not always.

Naples Community School is a very fine private school with amazing facilities and tuition to match. There are a couple of other private schools as well.

Valentina_Neufeld

NeoPatrik: Yes that is NCEF. It is it is located 6260 Shirley Street, Naples, Florida 34109 how do you know that is in Lely? the address says Naples though?

NeoPatrick

Oh. No. When I googled I saw a Lely address, but now I see that's for something like a children's clinic and it has /NCEF listed with it. I don't know what that means. But I see in the phone book it is listed at Shirley Street. Shirley Street in in the "Pine Ridge Industrial Area" not far from Pelican Bay, part of close in "North Naples".

But in a little more googling I see that NCEF is the foundation established and supported by the Naples Winter Wine Auction, which is now the largest wine auction in the world. It's a mind boggling event in Napes every year.

Mers

I emailed my friend and asked her your questions. I will post as soon as she answers.

I do know that Pine Ridge Road (which Shirley Street is off of) leads right up to The The Naples Grand Hotel (Seagate Drive). We have stayed there many times. It is right on Clams Bay Beach or Clams Passing (I forget what its called).

The streets near that beach have very nice houses, and there are some very nice gated communities near there. Nice restaurants. Nice shopping area called the Waterside Shops. There is a catholic church on that street also. Also, Pelican Bay, as NeoPatrick mentioned above, is right there.

As soon as my friend emails me back, I will let you know about the names of the gated communities.

Valentina_Neufeld

Wow!! thank you so much! this gives us a great start! If we do move, it will be at the beginning of next year, which is just 2 months away! I'll be waiting for the info.!

NeoPatrick

It's Clam Pass which is the dividing point between Park Shore and Pelican Bay -- two very large residential areas (very high scale). Also near by is the large gated community of Pelican Marsh (actually several gated communities within the much larger one).

And then just a bit further east from the Pine Ridge Road/Airport Road intersection (sometimes said to be the "geographical" center of Naples -- which is just east of Shirley Street -- are several other gated communities.
Dozens in fact.

J62

There are lots of different neighborhoods in Naples (probably 100's - many are gated communities) - not something that's easy to describe in an internet posting. Naples is large and spread out - full time population is something on the order of 20,000 to 30,000 residents, although many are there only seasonally. That means that some neighborhoods/communities are downright dead outside of the Nov-April season.

You say you like older people, and there's certainly no shortage of older people in Naples. How do you think a CVS on every street corner, and a Walgreens across the street stay in business?

A bigger challenge may be finding a neighborhood where there are actually real, live, resident children for your kids to meet. Not just the grandkids who visit in February or March each year.

Pelican Bay is one of the pricier areas in all of Naples. My recommendation is to rent a town home, condo, or house for the 1st 6mo to 1 year you are in Naples so you can better understand what the different areas are like, see what you can afford and want to spend.

There really is no need to be close to the Gulf. From anywhere even a couple of miles inland it's a quick drive to the beach. Past about 5 or so miles inland you start to get into some wide open spaces. You really need to get on the ground and drive around a bit & explore to get a good feel.

J62

I think there are about a dozen separate gated communities just within Pelican Marsh, as NP points out.

Just within Pelican Marsh, as an example, the styles range from large stand alone single family homes that run in the millions, to smaller single family home priced 500k to 1M, to 1-2 story duplex or quadplex condo units - maybe 20 buildings on one street for a total of 80 or so units - that share a common pool.

sobster

We have stayed in a community just east of downtown Naples called the Glades. Pools, golf courses, well-kept and plenty of quiet old people. You could google it.

siwst852

I live in Naples. If the area you are looking at is Shirley st. Plan on staying around that area. Traffic in season can be horrific. Shirley St. is off Pineridge and that area is very congested. What takes 10 minutes off season can take 30 in season.

I would rent for the first year as someone else suggested just to get a feel for that area. Also if you buy prices drop considerably off season and that would be the best time to purchase.

Naples is a great town you will love it, it is beautiful, clean ,no pollution, great beaches & restaurants.

Ackislander

The OP asked: "One question, what do you mean by "Since you are not particularly interested in public schools, you are not limited legally to a particular location"?

If you are sending children to private school, you can live anywhere you want as long as you are willing to deliver them and pick them up.

If you send your children to public school, you need to live in a district with good schools because you can't just send your kids to any old school you want.

You really need to open up Google Maps and look at Naples. It will take you right down to the house level, and if you turn on satellite view, you can see the actual building your husband will be working in or any apartment building you might want to rent in.

NeoPatrick

Mike's being gentle when he says 'prices have declined in the past 4 years' -- plummeted might be a better word. Many properties are literally going for half of what they sold for 5 years or so ago -- particularly upscale condos.

But there's another good side to that, besides buying. Rentals of nice condos are now "dirt cheap" especially on a lease rather than a month or so in season. It is possible to rent a fabulous three bedroom condo in a fine gated community with all amenities for as little as $1000 a month or even less. That's closer to a third of what similar properties might have been 5 years ago. Renting for a year is really the smartest thing you can do in my book!

Mers

My friend emailed me back, and this is her reply:

Their are two really nice communities in that area. One is Tall Pines, off of Airport just North of Pine Ridge and the other is Pinewoods, also off of Airport just South of Pine Ridge. There are many private Christian schools in the area she can "google" to find which ones she's interested in checking out.

Also, if you are interested, I can give you her email, and she can help you out with any questions you have about the area.