Posted March 3, 200817 yr Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers is the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida. The population was 48,208 at the 2000 census. According to the 2006 U.S. Census Bureau's Estimates, the city had a population of 60,531. The city is one of two major cities that make up the Cape Coral-Fort Myers MSA. As of July 1, 2006, the population estimate for the metropolitan area was 571,344. Former winter home of Thomas Edison (Seminole Lodge) and Henry Ford (The Mangoes). On August 13, 2004, Fort Myers was hit hard by Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall north of the area. Source: Wikipedia Former Federal Building, now the home of the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center. It's hard to see in this photo, but there are two cylindrical Sanborn sculptures with letters cut out known as the Caloosahatchee Manuscripts. At night it is lit from the inside, creating a neat effect on the building and surrounding sidewalk. See here for some photos of this. Arcade Theater The Arcade Theatre was built in 1908 and exhibits all the charm and grandeur of early Florida. It served originally as a Vaudeville house and was the very auditorium that Fort Myers resident Thomas Edison sat in to view his first films, along with his friends Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. The Arcade was eventually converted into a full movie house, with a wall dividing the great proscenium stage to form two screening rooms. By 1989, the theatre had fallen into severe disrepair. In 1991, a benefit raised enough money to completely restore the Arcade and The City of Fort Myers rented the facility out to local organizations. In 1998, thanks to the generosity and vision of the City of Fort Myers, the Arcade became the permanent home of the Florida Repertory Theatre. The city is just finishing up a major streetscaping project in downtown. http://www.fmstreetscape.com/ Looking down First Street, the main downtown street The new Federal Courthouse Patio de Leon Patio de Leon The Edison Theatre. One of the last uses was as a lawyer's office, but it looks like it might be getting renovated.
March 3, 200817 yr Beautiful city. I visited there several years ago with Mom & Dad, and I'm thinking that's the city that has a Banyan Street, aptly named because it's lined with huge overarching Banyan trees that make the street like a tunnel.
March 3, 200817 yr I am think the banyans you are thinking of were on Sanibel Island (Periwinkle Blvd), I heard the hurricanes destroyed many of them. Macgregor Blvd in Ft. Myers has the miles of palms. Nice shots of FM. I do not recognize it at all-not only the towers but the renovations downtown. I lived there on and off for 6 years. We lived downtown before there was a downtown! We pretty much had the place to ourselves. The ugly tower on the marina was not there-my old building sits just behind it. I used to catch blue crabs in the river! I understand Fort Myers has fallen on some hard economic times with the foreclosures. Real estate was hot, hot, hot, there for a while and now they cannot sell those luxury towers and other homes. Surprisingly, FM was not a bad place to live as long as you are near the water and embrace a lifestyle that allows you to enjoy the natural beauty of the islands around there.
March 4, 200817 yr Dead but beautiful. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
March 4, 200817 yr On August 13, 2004, Fort Myers was hit hard by Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall north of the area. The eye of that hurricane went directly over my grandparents' house, and they were still in it! Luckily they were OK and their house was repairable. They live near Punta Gorda. I haven't been there for a while, but I remember it being one of the neater old towns around the area. I heard much of it was destroyed by the hurricane, unfortunately.
March 8, 200817 yr That's a lovely town. But jeez, there are more people out and about right now in Downtown Cleveland, in the middle of a blizzard, than are out in this town's beautiful weather. That's what is so disturbing about Florida- everyone moves there for the weather, and then stays indoors all the time.
March 8, 200817 yr there are a few reasons for that. Much of FL is pedestrian unfriendly-it is a driver's state! Second, 1/2 the year much of the state sufferes extreme heat and humidy which makes it miserable during much of the day. I do not think "urban planning" is in the dictionary there. Public transportation is also very poor, and I guess walking and good PT go hand and hand
March 8, 200817 yr I think Florida is driver-unfriendly, too. The area where my parents lived for a few years (Englewood) is populated with retired geezers from Indiana and Ohio and they still drive just as aggressively as they did back home when they were thirty years younger, only now their eyesight is gone and their reflexes are shot to hell. During one of my visits Mom and Dad were giving me a tour of the area and I was driving their Suburban. We're going down a busy two-lane highway at the posted speed limit, and I hear a horn blasting insistently behind me. Looking in the rear-view mirror, I see a guy at least (no exaggeration) ninety years old peering through the steering wheel of his big-ass black Cadillac with his right had raised in a middle-finger salute, tailgating me so closely I couldn't see his headlights. I slowed down about 10mph and ignored him.
Create an account or sign in to comment