Charlotte County is the site of many new residential and retirement 

 communities. Its pattern of development reflects an extension of coastal 

 corridor south of Sarasota County, plus a low-density sprawl in the upper 

 reaches of Charlotte Harbor. Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte, the two major 

 communities in the county, are located at the north end of the harbor. 



Lee County is one of the fastest growing urban areas in the Nation. Its 

 principal centers. Fort Myers and sprawling Cape Coral are becoming the focal 

 point of extreme southwest Florida. New activities, such as a branch campus 

 of the University of South Florida in Fort Myers, are being brought into the 

 area. The growth of Fort Myers will probably continue through the 1980 's and 

 beyond, and it should become a major urban center in Florida. 



As among other coastal counties of Southwest Florida, there is extensive 

 residential development on the barrier islands of Lee County. The residents 

 of Sanibel Island, which already is heavily developed, have adopted a string- 

 ent growth management program in an attempt to halt overdevelopment. 



Collier County also is growing rapidly, primarily along the coast from 

 Naples northward. Expansion in the eastern portion of the county is restricted 

 because most of that area is within the Big Cypress National Preserve. Marco 

 Island is the largest and most developed of Collier County's coastal islands. 

 A number of small, mostly unpopulated islands extend southeastward to the 

 Everglades National Park. 



Although most of the land area of Monroe County is on the southwestern 

 tip of the Florida peninsula, the county is best known for the Keys, a string 

 of islands extending about 120 miles from the mainland to Key West. Other 

 than for the Keys, the county is almost totally within the Everglades National 

 Park and Big Cypress National Preserve. 



Except in Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Pasco Counties, high-density hous- 

 ing developments in Southwest Florida hug the coast. This trend is likely to 

 continue until the coastal zone is saturated with urban and suburban develop- 

 ment or until more coastal communities adopt and rigidly enforce zoning 

 regulations. In either case, further residential development would probably 

 move inland, except in Collier County where eastward development and in Monroe 

 County where mainland development is restricted by federally owned swamplands. 

 According to Florida Trend magazine, eastward expansion is rather inevitable 

 because enough lots already have been sold in southwest Florida to house one 

 million more people by the year 2000. Residential construction on these lots 

 alone would double the population (Levin 1981). Should this growth actually 

 materialize, much of it would probably be concentrated adjacent to Interstate 

 75. 



TRENDS FOR SPECIFIC TYPES OF RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT 



This section on residential development in Southwest Florida describes 

 the characteristics of detached single-family dwellings and multifamily units. 



57 



