
Cape Coral, a boomtown that shouldn’t exist - fmihaila
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/10/20/fastest-growing-city-america-florida-cape-coral-215724
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CiPHPerCoder
I grew up in Lee County, FL, and currently live in Cape Coral while saving up
to buy land and build my dream home elsewhere in the state.

The thing they don't tell you about Cape Coral is that Code Enforcement is the
unofficial religion of the city. It's basically an oversized Home Owners'
Association.

A lot of retired folks come down here and, with nothing better to do with
their golden years, decide to annoy their neighbors with petty complaints in
an attempt to raise property values. Whether or not it's a good investment,
mots of the people are chronically annoying to the point of toxicity.

~~~
bane
My father lived in an HOA community approximately once, and that community was
in Florida. He gets very animated and upset whenever the topic of HOAs comes
up based on his experience with them...the word "Nazis" usually comes up
somewhere in his rant. I've heard similar stories from other ex-Floridians.

I've lived in both in my home states (mid-Atlantic area) and have found them
to be a useful local governing group in most cases, minor annoyance in others,
but nice to have when the local county can't be bothered.

Is there something particularly toxic about Florida HOAs? Is it really the
retirees with nothing to do?

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int_19h
I think it's mostly that you have an unusually good experience (or take on
it). HOAs are seriously hated by a lot of people. Google "HOA hate", and check
out the results.

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strictnein
This is a great photo:

[http://static.politico.com/ce/b4/b97e9c2c4b7bbe65a225751c7f6...](http://static.politico.com/ce/b4/b97e9c2c4b7bbe65a225751c7f61%2F2-full-
heilner-cape-coral-hires-9194.jpg)

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nikolay
It's so good that it looks fake like a screenshot from SimCity or another
simulator!

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grasshopperpurp
>“Cape Coral was brilliantly orchestrated and terribly planned,” says Florida
historian Gary Mormino, author of Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams. “They
built an instant city on steroids—with none of the stuff you need to make a
city work.”

Classic.

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michaelbuckbee
It's a small portion of the article, but the contrast of Cape Coral to Babcock
Ranch was super interesting.

[https://www.babcockranch.com/](https://www.babcockranch.com/)

It actually brought to mind "Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong" style of burbclave.

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nkrisc
If they want to build without restriction, I say let them fail without
restriction.

~~~
dsfyu404ed
Still seems a lot better than building with restriction and getting
earthquakes, mud and fire in return.

At least hurricanes are predictable.

~~~
nkrisc
It's the predictability of hurricanes that makes the situation even more
perplexing.

~~~
rndmwlk
The same thing can be said with earthquakes and much of California. It's only
a matter of time until a devastating earthquake hits, at least with hurricanes
you have time to evacuate.

~~~
curun1r
No, the same thing can't be said about earthquakes. People have been
predicting that we'd have a huge quake in the Northern California ever since
the one in '89\. But we've lived for more than a quarter century without one.
We had a 68 year quiet period before that. They may be devastating when they
happen, but the serious ones are rare. So rare, that we've spent the past 25
years upgrading our construction to anticipate a serious earthquake and we've
yet to see that preparation tested.

Hurricanes, on the other hand, are so much more common. They happen every year
and even have a season when you can expect them. It seems unfair to conflate a
natural disaster that people may only experience once or twice in their
lifetime to one that you can basically plan an annual vacation around.

I'd have more agreement if you talked about the kind of fires we saw in the
North Bay recently. In addition to the earthquake in '89, I also remember the
Oakland Hills firestorm in '91\. Forrest fires are a natural part of the
ecosystem in California and we do a lot to try to prevent them happening on a
small scale. So when they do happen, they happen a lot larger than they
normally would. And when they happen in populated areas, a lot of people get
hurt. They're much more an expected part of life here than earthquakes are.

~~~
deelowe
Hurricanes don't strike the same place every time. Savannah hasn't had a
devastating hurricane in nearly 40 years.

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Robdel12
Grew up on SWFL. You can tell when you enter into cape coral because the trees
disappear and you start seeing empty fields with a couple of houses on top of
mounds.

I don't miss SWFL.

~~~
bitsnbytes
I have lived in SWFL and Central florida most my life and have never been to
Cape Coral. Anytime you mention cape coral in Naples peoples eyes light up in
fear, like its some horrific place. The news in Naples is pretty suppress and
the only thing you ear bad that occurs come from Fort Myers or Cape coral.

However, I have been fighting the temptation to purchase a decent sized house
on their on the water. The same house in Naples would easily go for several
hundred thousands more. We have some friends that live their and they swear
its not as bad as people say? One of these days I need to make it out there.

~~~
Robdel12
Oh yeah, my dad pays $500 a year in property taxes for a house on a creek with
gulf access. Pretty cheap! But the con is, there's no tech work around. That's
the reason I ended up leaving.

Plus I wanted a life change. And sticking around the kids I went to high
school with wasn't going to provide that :P

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bitwize
Wow, it looks like Mitch & Murray finally got in some closers.

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dsschnau
my grandmother lives there, it's nice

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mcculley
I'm a Florida native. Many of the issues in Cape Coral are common to other
cities and regions in Florida. I've been toying with the idea of suggesting
that we deny political franchise to immigrant residents (e.g., retirees). We
should allow voting only to those born here and those who have made a
commitment to the state beyond their own lifetimes (e.g., raising children
here). I'm 45. For my whole life, every issue around infrastructure is
politicized between retirees on a fixed income who are not willing to pay
taxes for infrastructure from which they will largely not benefit and younger
people who want more infrastructure (e.g., because they have jobs to go to and
would like better roads or they have children and would like better schools).
The baby boomers and other retirees simply outnumber the active citizens, so
such measures get voted down. These demographics are changing, but it will
still be decades before matters improve.

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baus
I've never heard the idea floated of denying the right to vote to state
residents. That's pretty reactionary

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mcculley
I don't think such a proposal would get any support. I'm not even sure it's a
good idea. But I do think it is a useful gedankenexperiment. The political
franchise should not be given to those with no skin in the game.

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JBReefer
You have reinvented Jim Crow laws, one of our greatest national shames. The
fact that you think this is OK is fucking horrifying.

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mcculley
I meant this in the same vein as Swift's "Modest Proposal" to prompt
discussion. You can be less fucking horrified.

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fjsolwmv
So you were just trolling. Why bother?

A Modest Proposal was humorously highlighting a real problem.

~~~
mcculley
I am sincere in my attempt to humorously highlight a real problem.

