Cape Coral

 

Cape Coral is located in southwest Florida on the Gulf of Mexico. The city is separated from Fort Myers by the Caloosahatchee River. Tampa is 190 km and Miami 230 km away. Cape Coral is one of the regional centers of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The urban area has a size of 298.1 km². This makes Cape Coral one of the largest and fastest growing cities in Florida in terms of area. The city is divided into four large squares: Northwest (N.W.), Northeast (N.E.), Southwest (S.W.), and Southeast (S.E.). Two central streets mark the division: Santa Barbara Boulevard runs north-south, Pine Island Road runs east-west. Most of the side streets above Cape Coral Parkway are simply numbered and given a suffix (Street, Avenue, Terrace, Place, Court, Lane). Only in the area of the Yacht Club do the side streets have their own street names.

The climate is mild and warm, mostly with a light, steady wind from the sea. Statistically, it rains an average of 30% of the days in the summer months, even if only for a short time. The highest temperatures of up to 33 ° C are reached from May to October. The coldest months are from December to February with an average of 24 ° C. Snowfall is almost unknown in the region.

Cape Coral is a young city, especially by European standards. The boom began in the late 1950s. In 1957 the "Gulf American Land Corporation" was founded, which set about transforming the land north of the Caloosahatchee River, which belonged to the brothers Leonard and Jack Rosen, into a true "waterway wonderland". Fallow and pasture land was crisscrossed with canals and roads. In total, Cape Coral now offers 400 miles (640 km) of waterways and canals, some with access to the Gulf of Mexico.

The first houses were built in 1958. Thanks to an active advertising campaign, the city grew rapidly, although many property buyers soon discovered that the much touted property was miles away from all civilization facilities and was basically worthless. Others were more fortunate, or obtained more information before buying, and were able to look forward to a piece of land whose value has multiplied over time.