It should come as no surprise that Lee County is the fastest growing Metro area in Florida for 2007. Combining absolutely year round gorgeous weather (average mean temperature 83 degrees), 50 miles of white sandy beaches, and being named as one of the Top 10 U.S. Travel Destinations has produced a 3.6 percent (20,475) increase in residents from 2006 to 2007. Already known as a retirement mecca, the Lee Island Coast, encompassing Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Estero and Ft. Myers, is rapidly growing due to increasing employment opportunities and peoples’ desires to live and work in a sub-tropical paradise.

Tags: Florida, growth

Just recently, Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson (gotta love his name - how apropos) announced taking legal action against a Sarasota County company for violating the State Do Not Call law. The legal action seeks an injunction prohibiting the offending company from making any future calls to residents on the list and fines of up to $10,000 for each of the calls made to the prohibited phone numbers is possible. Commissioner Bronson said “the message is that this activity will not be tolerated.”

Bronson’s department has collected or obtained judgments of more than $1.5 million against companies that have called residents on the list. Bronson encourages Floridians to join the program. For more information, consumers can call the department’s toll-free hotline at 1-800-435-7352 or visit the Division of Consumer Services website at www.800helpfla.com.

Tags: Florida, growth

By any standard, population growth in Southwest Florida has slowed from the torrid pace of 2000-2006. However, it still ranks near the top when compared to the rest of the country.

The Cape Coral-Bonita Springs-Ft. Myers metropolitan area (Lee County) dropped one spot to the fourth fastest growing metro area while the Naples-Marco Island metropolitan area (Collier County) fell to the 16th fastest growing metro area for the time period 2000-2007.

The rankings are based on the percentage of growth, not the actual number of people. Lee County’s population grew by 33.9% (150,000) and Collier County’s by 25.6% (65,000) from April 2000 to July 2007.

Tags: growth, markets