CAP-CARAL
The fastest growing city in southwest Florida is growing faster than we thought. A new study shows that Cape Coral could be built in the next 11-18 years. Which forces city leaders to address the needs and problems of the city more urgently.
More public access to the waterfront, more pedestrian safety and more hospitals. Here are some of the priorities identified in the study Institute of Urban Land. To meet these needs, city leaders need to move fast.
We all know Cape Coral is growing fast and growing, but on Friday city officials learned it was growing even faster than they thought.
Rob Hernandez, mayor of Cape Coral City, shared some thoughts. “We’ve always thought about 2045-2050, but only in eleven years can this be possible at such a pace that we’re fully built,” Hernandez says.
Researchers from ULI say commercial and residential development will absorb 500 acres of real estate each year. We see it now, a lot of construction, especially in the northwest of Cape Coral. But ULI wants to see more variety of homes to suit different budgets. This is another way of saying that Cape Coral needs more affordable housing.
ULI Group Chairman Lee Ferguson explains, “Everyone who lives, everyone who works in this community, should be able to live in this community to make it comfortable. There is nothing wrong with traveling to and from the city. But it should be a place for everyone. “
“We lack what they call the absent middle ground? And that means there are more opportunities for townhouses, villas, apartments that work in living buildings, ”says Hernandez.
The city council has no luxury of time to come up with a plan to accommodate growing people. Mayor John Gunther knows this.
“The wave is coming. It is better for me to be ready for this wave than to just let it come and see what happens, ”said Mayor Gunther.
The purpose of the study is to create a vision of the city’s strategic plan. ULI gave a lot of advice to the board.
