Cape Coral, FL.

[vIce^gRip]

All very true!
Well this year is our 15th anniversary. If after the 1st days of exploring proves to be a bust we will just spend some money, help your local economy and get the hell outta there!

[aidaolympia]

Originally Posted by samjune2009

yachtcare,

Your posts are honest, fair, and very informative.
You have helped many people through your posts.
You are the one who started the thread on Chinese Dry Walls.
Look at the wealth of information we all get from HomeStager.
Needless to write that you are highly respected.

I read that greed and speculation created the monster in Cape Coral. I would like to add that "ignorance" took us to where we are now.

There is a reason why homes are cheap in Cape Coral. They are cheap because they are made cheaply in a city with no vision for future and much less so as the issue of Chinese dry walls becomes more public. It is not Cape Coral's best kept secret any more.

If one buys a house in Cape Coral and finds out that it has Chinese dry walls, the value of it falls to ZERO, instantly.
Your home insurance will not cover lost. The bank will not care and you will have to pay for your mortgage even though you abandon the house, the City does not help and the construction company is either not there or is wrapped up suing the manufacturer (Knauf) of Chinese dry walls.
You are left alone with no help except, unless you join a class action law suit while your health deteriorates.

If you buy a house in Cape Coral where neighbors' houses have Chinese dry walls, you must worry what will happen to your health while all those houses are getting re-build. The dust of Chinese dry walls are very toxic.
Like having a bandage on cancer, who would ever want to live in such re-built homes knowing that the foundation of the house is contaminated for ever with chemicals which can end up killing you inside your own home, no matter what is the crime rate outside your door.

The City has no money. It voluntarily cut his own source of revenue by cutting taxes on speculative land owners who mostly do not even live in Cape Coral. Land in Cape Coral is already very cheap to lure any buyers. Such tax cuts only make potential buyers only suspicious why Cape Coral is so desperate, sensing an instable future, they stay away.
At the same time by adding taxes for all sort of public services, elderly are double taxed for the same service and are forced to leave to skip additional financial burden.

Because the City does not have money to control Nile lizards, we have to endure their effect on home prices too.

A new wave of foreclosed homes will hit the housing market soon. As these homes are reported to be nicer and cheaper, they will push down the price of current houses even further.

Unemployment rate is much higher than 12% as many do not have the paper and their number of being unemployed is lost in official statistics.
To earn some money such construction workers are removing toxic walls. They do not even have the insurance to deal with health problems caused by Chinese dry walls.

Around the world, Cape Coral is known to be a cheap place to buy houses. Whoever comes is purely for the sake of cheap houses without knowing what is the real cost to their health by living in toxic homes or having toxic water caused by contaminated landfills. City has no money to worry about this problem or many other problems!

If we hide problems of Cape Coral we are no better than those criminals who rob you on the street.

Sam, this is a very good post. Thanks!
Today I read that between 2007 and 2008 Cape Coral population increased by only 548
Between 2005 and 2006 the population increase was 11,370!
Who would want to invest in a shrinking economy where businesses shut down.. left and right?

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Yachtcare! I didn't picture you to be a "chain" kind of guy. Me, I'm diner all the way.

I'm with you...Mel's Diner over Perkins any day. The Clock in Naples is always interesting too and is open all night. Now that I'm a "senior" which means over 55 in these parts, I get to choose from their senior specials.

If we're talking about the genuine article, I prefer the term "Greasy Spoon" I also like truck stops, although the world has changed so much - not that serial killers didn't exist 40 years ago, but I got hooked on breakfast when I was a teenager. In the 60s there was a place called Mondo's in Boston that looked just like a scene from a James Dean or Marlon Brando movie. I'm sure every character there had his own story. I remember going to the Cape (Cape Cod, that is) to a place in Hyannis in the middle of the night called the Egg and I. There was a man really drunk ordering eggs next to me. The poor waitress kept asking how he wanted his eggs and pointed to the menu and slurred "Just like it says. Any style!" A classier place was Jack & Marion's in Brookline. That was more of a local delicatessen, but they served really good blintzes.

However, this is not the right forum to be reminiscing about my adventures in Boston! Sorry. There are a few really good small restaurants around Fort Myers. Although it's not exactly a greasy spoon or truck stop, there's a small restaurant on Bonita Beach Rd called Dolly's Produce Patch I recommend. Everything is homemade. She makes the best blueberry pie. (who doesn't like pie?) Skillets is also a nice place for breakfast.

[Compression]

Originally Posted by justNancy

I'm with you...Mel's Diner over Perkins any day. The Clock in Naples is always interesting too and is open all night.

Mel's is OK. But they have become sort of a local chain. Their new(er) place up on Pine Island Rd in the Cape is quite nice, and aside from the menu you wouldnt be able to make the connection with it, to the other one on 41 in Ft Myers. I used to enjoy the Clock when it was on north 41 in N. Ft Myers, it's been gone a long time. Think it's a Sonny's BBQ now, or maybe the IHOP. Cant really remember which building it was now.

I remember an Egg and I in the Detroit area when I was growing up, and of course Ram's Horn(and their evil twin formed by renegade franchise holders called Horn of Plenty) ah, but I digress.........

I'm mostly a breakfast eater as well, rarely anyplace for lunch or dinner. That's what makes the chains a little more attractive. For those reading thru for Cape Coral info the run down is basically Two Perkin's, one on CC Pkwy, and the other on Del Prado. The Denny's on north Del Prado, the one on the south end closed up and became a Chinese buffet type joint. That was right by the Pizza Rut(that was literally a bunch of sticks with a red roof over them after Charley came thru) There's a Hooter's on Del Prado, and a whole bunch of little coffee shop, cafes, etc in the downtown area lining 47th Terrace. Some of them are quite interesting if you want to get off the usual chain track. But most arent open for breakfast.
Up on Pine Island Rd there is a whole line of recently built stuff in the last two-three years, some sports bars, and Carraba's that come to mind. But i dont get up that way very often either. But a good area to check out if you're looking for real food. If it's fast food(poison) you're after, all the usual suspects are liberally scattered about the Cape.

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by yachtcare

But a good area to check out if you're looking for real food. If it's fast food(poison) you're after, all the usual suspects are liberally scattered about the Cape.

Well, I've got to be honest & admit when I worked in Fort Myers, I'd stop at Burger King to pick up a croissant sandwich in the morning. Nothing wrong with fast food once in a while.

I rarely go out to eat anyway these days. I do enjoy a real homestyle diner with home fries & onions. I mentioned on another thread that I got 2 eggs, toast & home fries for $1.99 a few weeks ago at a diner in Jensen Beach. Of course, coffee was extra..almost as much as the breakfast special! (but it was good) I once ate at a small diner in Cape Coral on Del Prado, but I can't remember the name. Might not be there any more.

[faithfulFrank]

Folks,
This thread is over 2 years old, and has so many pages it would take hours to read it all.
I think it would be better if those who wish to discuss the eating choices of the area would perhaps start a fresh thread on that specific subject.

I'm closing the thread.......but feel free to start new ones according to the TOS.....

Frank