What Cape Coral residents want for their city’s future

How can Cape Coral become a better place to live? The City wanted to know what its residents think of living there, from the water to the amenities. And, they plan to speed thousands to have the future laid out.

Cape Coral hired a firm to survey more than 1,000 people, asking them “How can the city improve? What’s missing? What are we doing well?” But, long-time members of the community do not believe that a study is the solution.

According to the results, the top three opportunities for the city to build on are higher-quality amenities like retail shops, further economic development, which would bring those amenities, and aspiring to a higher standard of living. A local event planner said a lot of people in the Cape have to go elsewhere for entertainment.

“A lot of the other municipalities in the area, [they] have city property where event planning companies like myself can rent and partner with the city to bring in guests, and bring in people not just from the city themselves but from the surrounding areas,” said Danielle Gates, owner of Businesses Supporting Communities.

The survey also says the top weakness of the city is water quality, followed by local infrastructure, like traffic, and aboveground electricity. Many people living in Cape Coral told WINK News they agree.

“Try Del Prado [Boulevard] about 7 o ‘clock in the morning,” said Wally Laumayer, a 35-year resident. “You’ll see, you’ll get an education.”

“Traffic, lots and lots of traffic, especially this time of year when everyone from up north comes down here,” said 5-year resident Dean Reeds. “They really need to work on that and improve. That, I don’t know how they can do it, but they need to plan for it now before it gets worse, because 10 years from now, it’s going to be unbelievable to drive around here.”

Submit