Heaven for rich retired white republicans - 7/4/2022

When I moved to Naples a few years ago an average one bedroom apartment cost 1000 a month to rent. Now the average one bedroom apartment is over $2200 and rising rapidly. This is despite the fact most jobs pay less than the national average unlike most major cities where it's the opposite. Even the best playing employers struggle to have enough employees due to it being so expensive relative to income. For instance, the police claim they can't hire enough police because police can't afford to live here. Tech companies like Arthrex claim they are short staffed because they will offer a qualified tech worker a job, they will see how much it cost to live here than decline. It's a hard right area, built for retirees, who don't offer any solutions that are likely to work to any issues down here.

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Love Naples! - 3/31/2022

This is a beautiful town. Super clean, green, and people are happy. Cost of living is relative to where you are coming from. Also, depends on the area of Naples. The ocean is clean and warm I can spend time in it or on it and can cool off without the "shock" cold as in Southern Ca. water. My husband and I are 53 so we have done the city life. I would not be in Naples if I were single or had never experienced living in other parts of the country. The amount of activity is perfect and its fun that some months are more busy than others. Any beach area in the country will experience that no matter where you are that is pretty much a given. I love that people take care of their communities here, refreshing!

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Nice place to visit, not to live. - 4/18/2021

Warm weather, nice beaches, some good restaurants, and botanical gardens to check out. Unfortunately, the hospitals are terrible, there is not much to do, and too many people in this area do not take proper precautions to keep others safe during the pandemic. Nice place to visit, but not to live.

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Expensive, rude, and boring - 4/4/2021

I lived there for about a year and I gotta say this takes all the disadvantages of every type of suburbs and urbans areas without any of the advantages. This area is expensive to live in and has very little to do. You have to drive 45min to fort myers to get to an area with at least some things to do. Furthermore, everyone in naples is a jerk. I'm exaggerating but there are about 10x-20x the amount of jerks here as there are anywhere else I've been.

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Not worth it - 1/5/2021

I have owned property in Naples for 10 years. My husband and I live there full-time for four years and could not wait to get out. We were fortunate that we we're self-employed and were able to earn a living but it is extremely expensive extremely snobbish and extremely wealthy. The traffic is insane it takes 20 minutes to go three blocks on 41 from November until May. What used to be a very tranquil and beautiful place is now over written with new development, traffic, excessively High pollution, and red tide.

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Good for bigots, bad for normal people - 1/5/2021

As a Naples-born citizen, I think it is safe to say that Naples kind of sucks. First and foremost, I will give credit where it is due and say that the weather is gorgeous. I’ve been up north and I prefer the climate here. Now for the bad: I took 3 stars because the people here claim they are devout Christians but think saying thank you to a food service worker is giving back to the poor. In other words, if you want to see ugly red trucks with tr*mp flags all over along with the houses adorned with such things, you have come to the right place. I myself am lucky enough to be part of the affluent crowd and people with my same socioeconomic status are totally tone deaf! This place is for you if you make 6 figures or more and don’t mind hearing racial slurs from people of the Anglo-saxon background.

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Abundantly wealthy with an abundant working poor h - 11/10/2019

I had high hopes of starting over in Naples. I had completed real estate classes and was on my way to getting my FL license. I arrived in early November 2019 and it was nothing like when i had visited previously October 25, 2014 and found tranquility. Now it was crazy busy. Major traffic. Couldn't see two feet in front of my face. What really turned me off was running into one person after another who told me they have a minimum of 3 to 4 roommates and multiple jobs servicing the ultra wealthy just to afford housing and get by. Many were working 60 hours a week...and still telling me it's a struggle to get by. No thank you. Naples may be abundant with wealth, but it's also abundant with the working poor...many who live in the homeless shelter for $300/month...something Naples would rather gloss over. Despite all that money in the local economy the working homeless still have to pay to be housed in a crowded shelter. I find that pathetic and unacceptable; with that much money there, there's no excuse. As for the town, it's unarguably gorgeous and smells heavenly. Unfortunately; when i was there recently I ground it much too densely packed to enjoy.

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So BEAUTIFUL! - 11/14/2016

While the rest of the United States is experiencing cold temperatures, Naples, Florida is one of the very few cities with amazing temperatures and sunshine! No wonder weather is the topic of almost everybody's conversation and considered one of the happiest places to live.

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Overpriced culturally void wasteland - 10/24/2016

This place is infested with selfish baby boomers and their self entitled children and grandchildren. If you don't go to church or play sports it's a wash for your family socially. Never in my life have I have been in so many homes with so few books. I am hopeful we can find jobs back up north it's been a horrible experience for my children socially and intellectually.

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Naples - 3/2/2016

best place to live in Florida

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Bike Riding in Naples - 3/24/2015

I have lived in Naples for 10 years. It is currently "season." The snowbirds are here as well as the tourists for Spring break. March and April are the nicest months and when the most people are on the roads. The traffic is downright dangerous. Lots and lots of car accidents - these are probably cases of one vehicle rear ending another because the lanes are so conjested and there are many elderly who drive slower and also tend to drive larger cars. There are some very hard won bike lanes but, you ride your bike at your own risk. It's dangerous. Cyclists have even been spit on, one was actually shot. I stopped riding completely. If you are thinking of moving here, visit during the summer for a reality check and don't forget to factor in hurricane protection if you are considering purchasing a home.

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Naples / Marco Island the good bad and the ugly. - 10/21/2014

Like tons of others reading and leaving comments about Naples I came here from other areas of the country. I have actually lived in Naples twice for a total of about 10 years, I have lived in all four corners of the US and in other countries, big cities and small towns, so I like to think I have the ability to write an objective review about the area. The first thing I think anyone should know about Naples is that it is a complex little town and the people who live here make it far more complex than it needs to be. Because the grater majority of the residence have come here after making their fortunes in other cities they all bring with them the "where I am from we do it this way" attitude, and because most of them have been successful at whatever they did they honestly feel that they are correct all of the time regardless of if a better, less complicated way exists and they will expect you to conform to them. Second Naples is highly conservative, right wing, and Republican, and will let you know it quick. If you are liberal or have liberal ideals you will be in the minority. It is so socially conservative that it took Hooters restaurants years and years to build and open even after they had acquired the land because they kept running into "issues". As one of the other reviewers mentioned no adult clubs exist and more than likely never will. That conservative attitude is not all bad however for the most part it is a rarity for children to be exposed to objectionable images, or sites that they may be exposed to in other communities. Plus it keeps the city and unincorporated areas very clean and tidy, but even with all of that said it does not exactly welcome the free exchange of ideas or other opinions. Next thing you will need to know is that it is expensive because we have a high concentration of wealth everything is a little more expensive than in other places. If you want to shop or eat in other than chain stores and restaurants you will pay more. We have great local restaurants and stores as a matter of fact some are world class and are worth the money but they are not affordable for the average person to enjoy more than on special occasions. Rent and homes are above national average and we have far fewer open neighborhoods than association neighborhoods. Those associations on one hand are a very good thing they keep values up but you need to make sure you are ok with the rules and extra associated costs before you move in or you may end up unhappy with your new life in Naples. The Naples demographic age wise is older if you are younger than 50 you are going to be a minority. Once upon a time not so long ago Naples was a retirement community and while the demographic is getting younger it is still up above average for most US city's. The Blue Hairs rule the roost down here it is just the way it is. You will need to be patient driving, walking, pretty much doing anything if you are a move quick kind of person or a impatient driver think twice before relocating to this area. Playing a round of golf down here is a special education in patients my advice is if you want to play at your speed play at 3pm in the middle of the summer you may get heat stroke but at least you will be at the 19th hole in under 6 hours. Jobs: Some very good companies have moved in to the area but the vast majority of jobs are going to be service and support positions that don't pay a ton of money. Because the service industry is so big down here you may be inclined to think that means you can come and start your own company and that at some level is true, just understand that competition is wide and deep, the local laws are tuff and insurance is pricy. As I mentioned above we have tons of HOA's and most are moving to requiring vendors providing work on HOA property to carry 2 million in coverage, gone are the days of getting a million in coverage and working anywhere. Advice be independently wealthy before you get here or the best bartender in the country. Much has been written about the city, and county law enforcement let me set the record as straight as I can. In 10 years total I have been pulled over once and I was speeding going well over the posted limit. It was 2am on a Sunday morning I was returning home from my second job and was not given a ticket. I was told to slow down and given a verbal warning. My wife in the same amount of time who speeds far more often than I do has been pulled twice and has never been ticketed. Our police officers do a fantastic job and are hard working, do we have a few bad apples probably but from what I have read they tend to be younger guys who are looking for action. If you take a good look you will see that a lot of our officers are guys who have moved here from other departments and are well seasoned and have done all of the young gun stuff and it is out of their systems. Friendliness: Naples scores a little low but I think that it has a lot to do with the transient nature of the place. Naples has very defined "seasons". During the summer months (out of season) is the time of year when the snowbirds are up north Naples is far more friendly, service is good and your waiter will smile at you, neighbors wave, and stop to talk on the evening walk, and you can drive anywhere you want in under 15min. The stress for the most part is off. During the late fall through spring is Snowbird season this is the time of year when our population expands to tripple what it is out of season. Our part timers come back in droves crowding the streets and for some reason they bring a lot of stress with them. What I don't get is why they are so missriable when they are here, we don't have snow, the weather during this time of year is great and for the most part they are on vacation, you are supposed to be happy on vacation. These are the people who truly make it hard to live here these are the ones that the other reviewers are talking about. The attitude changes during this time of the year, locals get frustrated, snowbirds feel like if it was not for them you would not have a job and you would have a state income tax (that part is kind of true, but pointing it out is rude). This time of year that kills it for a lot of people and makes people want out. By the end of snowbird season you can't help to feel bad for every server, busser, bar owner, independent contractor, police officer, hospital worker, or anyone else who deals with the public they have been rode hard and been given no time to rest, and if you get bad service at the end May don't get mad at your server come back in a few weeks when the snowbirds have flown away I bet a new smile awaits. Is Naples a fun place, it can be. Naples has some of the best beaches, golf, boating, fishing, and dining you will find in the US. It is not a nightlife Mecca as a matter of fact if you are looking for nightlife don't come here you won't find it. Our arts and culture offerings are growing but still in the infancy stage. We have a lot of society events and charitable black tie gatherings, if you want to be seen those are the things to search out. Like most other places we have things going on all of the time you just have to find them. Other than that we have a nice little water park, some underfunded museums, and an Indian casino out in the Orange fields. So to wrap this up Naples is a clean, socially conservative, older, expensive place to live, but with all of that said I have come here twice and even though financially it is not the best place in the world to live something about it draws you in and makes you want to stay. It is a safe place to raise a family the schools are for the most part new safe and up to par, I feel good that my little girl can play outside and I don't feel like she is going to get hit by a car or stolen so what it lacks in some areas it makes up for in others. If you come bring patients and a smile you will need them.

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Naples is Not Just for Old People!!! - 8/27/2014

I've lived in California, Hawaii and even Switzerland. Naples is by far my first choice to raise a family. If anything it's a bit too perfect. I don't have to ever worry about my kid seeing a nude dancer on a billboard and asking me what that place is. No srip clubs in Naples. No trash on the streets and no panhandlers on the street corner. I understand that it is not the "real world" we live in but it is the reality in Naples. I wouldn't recommend Naples for single people looking for night life but for families and everyone else, Naples is one of the best places to live in the U.S. and possibly the world!!!

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living in naples,fla - 7/3/2014

Naples florida, like many parts of florida is a nice, pleasant place to visit regarding beautiful beaches, restaurants etc. Understand this..IT IS MANILY A RETIREMENT CITY. The state itself is known for people to retire to who can handle the heat and humidity and the expense of living. Especially, in a place like Naples where if you don't have any money you will not be living in one of the nice homes. So, if you are looking to scrape by as a young person and spend days on the beach it will be a paradise for you! If your looking to make lots of money or some you will need to be a professional and find a location where your services have little/no competition and needed. You will probably do well. There is little to do there tho and unless you want to do nothing but eat out, drink, go shopping, golf or sit/walk on the beach there "ain't much to do there". Every state has its cities where it is less than pleasant for sure. Orlando isn't the best example of florida. It has no downtown, it was actually kind of creepy and run down. At least where I was passing through. Florida has only in the past 20 years or so taken off. They seem to be building all over the place. I'm a little taken back by it actually because it isn't as pleasant going to some of the beaches as it has been in the past. Houses that were small along the coast are now overshadowed by these huge houses that take away from the charm that once was a lovely area along siesta key beach has now become congested.. :-\ I guess that's progress!

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Naples & Environs - 4/2/2014

Naples is a wonderful place. BUT when reading these reviews, comments and comparisons you must realize that Naples proper is a small city with a population of about 20,000 and then there is everywhere that the Post Office calls Naples and that includes most of the rest of the unincorporated area of Collier County (population about 300,000). We live in ZIP 34120 which the PO calls Naples but we are about 20 miles from Naples proper. It's all wonderful but is ain't all Naples.

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The Twilight Zone !!!!!! - 1/6/2014

2 those people that need to make a living !! STAY AWAY !! this State will break u ! I've in lived here for 7 yrs still cant make ends meet ! $8 hr or commission, most managers are 19 yrs old snott noses that u just want 2 kick the crap out of!! treating u like ur old and nothing!!!!! at 46 I shouldn't have to answer to a child telling me how to do a good job!! at 1,200 a month salary u cant afford to pay rent!!and u cant save enough money 2 Leave !!!!!!!

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Naples is a dead end - 8/28/2013

Naples is where you finish your life. Make your money somewhere else and then come here. I've been here for 10 years and I have had one good job only to be destroyed by the pathetic management, which you will find all over this town, poor management with ego problems. My family has been here 20 years. I went back to college and finished and decided to be close to family so I moved down here. I never wanted to work in a restaurant again. No one warned me before coming here. That's all there is here! It's either work for tips or take your $10/hour job. The job market here is a joke! My credit is taking a beating, I can't pay back my student loans, the pay here isn't consistant with the cost of living, the old people rule the town and treat even someone in their 40's like they are some young punk, most the people here are fake and superficial so it is difficult to make friends, there is nothing to do but fortunately Naples is cetrally located to Miami Tampa Orlando and Key West but those places are useless when you can't even pay your rent, the prices of homes are are rediculously overpriced, the cops are out to get you and you will go to jail even when you did no crime yet they will let people walk who are true criminals, you have to have a permit just to paint your front door, a permit for this a permit for that, they play down the real crimes hear so people will think it is safe but we have murders here and house robberies, there are no bars on the beach well except the Ritz Carlton and The Naples Beach Club but the beaches are played down too as if they aren't important, people here tend to be rude surprizingly I guess because their lives are so perfect and they have so much money that they don't have to work so they have a fkn opinion about everything, people blow through the red lights and cops do nothing about it, people here are so arrogant and feel they don't have to obey traffic laws, it is so seasonal so people here in many fields of work from food service to medical and law only make money 2-3 months out of the year then they are either fired or their hours are drastically cut. Unfortunately I will have to move away from family to find satisfying work and a lucrative income. But I feel as if I have been in prison for some time in the way I am starting over because my skills are now limited to food service. These hotels and restaurants here are so arrogant they don't recognize a college graduate as being qualified enough to do some dumb work like waiting tables or pouring drinks. I don't know why people come here for vacation either because there is literally nothing to do, no action here! It's not a bad place to raise a family but the kids are bored to death and they typically leave here as soon as possible if that tells you anything. But there is a saying that goes something like "go to Naples on vacation, get a citation and incarceration, leave on probation." It's worse in the summer because the tourists and snowbirds have left and the cops need to make their money so they really mess with the locals and pull all their sting operations with the local businesses. The other thing I noticed here is no one is faithful to their partner (boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife). The cheating here is unbelievable and it is such a small town so it can make life very difficult in a hurry when you only have so many places to go for a drink and be confronted with seeing your former and your new enemies. But I have seen so many couple come here and end up cheating and breaking up. I suppose Naples is like a high school in many ways, I am over it and ready to graduate from it. There is a fresh crop of people that are willing to come in and do their time here and learn what many of us have figured out. I love my family and just want to be close to them but this place was a waste of my time, my career, my life. If you have tons of money then this is the place, for part of the year anyway. Other than that you may find you and your masters degree working the drive through at Wendy's or maybe even a career with 7-11. Oh and places of employment here want you to have a clean criminal record, no misdemeanors. The cops and the system here loves to overcharge people for petty crimes. They hand out felony charges here like it's Halloween candy. It's not something I am personally faced with, it's the people I encounter here and their stories that add up. It's what I have witnessed. If you call the cops there is a good chance they take you to jail. Yeah, this place is messed up.

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Quality of life - 8/3/2013

A great place that is improving daily.

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Naples is the best place to live for many reasons - 6/4/2013

Having contracted around the country as job related for the last 30 years, we chose Naples, Florida to continue working toward our retirement. We could have chosen any city in the U.S.to enjoy our golden years in and chose Naples due to its friendly people, beautiful and best beaches in the U.S. and the convenience of getting to them, tons of fringe benefits as a resident,climate, cost of living, overall clean and landscaped appearance of the community, shopping malls, variety. For those with negative attitudes toward this city, I am thankful you are not here. This area is very happy and uplifting and we certainly do not need or want anyone with such a horrible attitude as yours. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I am sorry yours is so ugly!! It is truly paradise here!!

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Naples, Florida - A Horrible Place to Live, and Be - 5/10/2013

I was quite surprised (and relieved) to see all the very negative reviews about Naples, Florida. I lived there for more than a decade and I would not recommend living there or visiting there. It is a horrible place to be on many levels. People who have commented here on this site already have it right when they say it is for conservative, wealthy, old people, and it is a place with no jobs, no opportunities and nothing to do. It is also, as some have noted already, a place where there is no civil rights. If this is the sort you enjoy - a corrupt law enforcement, corrupt judiciary, corrupt local newspaper, and no opportunity, then, by all means, move to Naples, Florida and wave your American flag. For those of us who prefer job opportunities, civil rights, and free speech in these United States, the best place to live (and visit) is SOMEWHERE ELSE! Here's a little tip for you: it doesn't take any drugs or alcohol to get yourself arrested in Naples, FL for a DUI; it can happen for any reason at all, like if the police feel like they have nothing better to do at the moment. Your photo can then be published online at the local newspaper, and you and your career and life are ruined for life. So, good luck with the decision to visit or live in Naples, Florida! Not for those who are under 80 years old, not conservative, and like free speech and civil rights. A terrible, horrible, dreadful, scarey place, as many many people on this site have already noted. BTW, I am a school teacher, not a hippie or drug user and I don't drink. It is a terrible place to visit or live. Best decision I ever made: to move out!

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