County still growing at top speed
Feds say migration still strong
By jeff cull jcull@florida-weekly.com
About 75 people moved to Lee County every single day last year according to estimates recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
That's 27,142 new residents adding fuel to the economic engine that researchers call the fastest growing large county in Florida.
Growth, measured by Census estimates slowed slightly from the previous year - down to 5 percent from a record high of 5.8 percent in 2005. But University of Florida estimates show Lee's growth at 6.6 percent in 2006, a record high.
"It's all very good news," said Michael Reitmann, executive director of Lee BIA, the building industry association. "We still have a dynamic economy. The trend of people moving here will continue."
Census estimates put Lee County as the eighth largest in the state, just behind Jacksonville's Duval County. Since 2004, Lee has jumped from tenth place, bypassing Brevard County on Florida's east coast and Polk County in central Florida.
"It's really the fastest growing large county," said Scott Cody, a demographer with the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research. "Lee's growing pretty fast for its size."
Since 2000, Lee has grown by onethird with most of that growth in Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres. The Cape has accounted for about 40 percent of Lee's growth in that time.
Still, estimates are really just a best guess based on data obtained and experience.
"I tend to not put too much faith in the estimates," said Fort Myers planner Bill Spikowski . "They have limited resources and a lot of ground to cover."
The University of Florida uses building permits, electrical connections and other data to estimate population. Cody said its estimates are a little better than census estimates just because they concentrate only on Florida while the feds estimate population trends across the country.
The Census Bureau uses tax returns and some building permit data for its estimates.
However, with the bulk of baby boomers reaching retirement age in the next 10 years, experts expect the growth to continue, albeit not at the breakneck pace of 2004 and 2005.
The challenges will be how competitive Southwest Florida can remain for the retirement dollar with North Carolina, Arizona and other destinations, experts said.
"We have to address our infrastructure, affordable housing, impact fees and education," Reitmann said. "We need to focus on these." n
