Lee County, Florida

Lee County is a located in the  of. The county makes up the entirety of the, and is the most populous county in.

According to the, as of 2000, the population of Lee County was 440,888. The population estimate for April 1, 2007 was 615,728, reflecting a 35 percent growth over 7 years. 

Between and, Lee County had the fastest growth rate in  population in the country. 

Its is, and its largest city is.

History
Lee County was created in from. It was named for, Confederate general in the.

Incorporated in 1886, Fort Myers is the center of a popular tourist area in Southwest Florida and the seat of Lee County. It is located about 120 miles south of Tampa at the meeting point of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caloosahatchee River. Fort Myers was the frequent winter home of, as well as. Lee County has been the host to several teams for, over the past several decades. Currently, it is the spring home of the, as well as the.

Fort Myers, built in 1850 as a military fort to fend off Seminole Indians that were massacring the area’s few settlers, was named after Col. Abraham C. Myers, who was stationed in Florida for seven years and was the son-in-law of the fort’s establisher and commander. In 1858, after years of elusive battle, chief Billy Bowlegs and his warriors were persuaded to surrender and move west, and the fort was abandoned. Billy’s Creek, which flows into the Caloosahatchee River and runs between The Beau Rivage Condominiums and Alta Mar, was named after a temporary camp where Billy Bowlegs and his men awaited ships to take them west.

The fort was abandoned until 1863 when a small number of Federal troops re-occupied the fort during the Civil War. In 1865 the fort was attacked unsuccessfully by a very small group of Confederates. After the war, the fort was again deserted.

The first settlers arrived in 1866, but it wasn’t until 1882 when the city experienced a significant influx of settlers. By 1885, when Fort Myers was incorporated, it was the second largest city only to Tampa on Florida’s west coast south of Cedar Key, even larger than Clearwater and Sarasota, also growing cities at the time.

Fort Myers first became a nationally known winter resort with the building of The Royal Palm Hotel in 1898. But what really sparked the city’s growth was the construction of the Tamiami Trail Bridge built across the Caloosahatchee River in 1924. After the bridge’s construction, the city experienced its first real estate boom and many subdivisions sprouted around the city.

In 1923, and  Counties were created by splitting these areas from Lee County. As recently as 2004, discussion had taken place surrounding the possibility of the city of becoming its own county, citing in particular a perceived lack of infrastructure support from the Lee County government. However a new county has not as of yet been created.

In, the county was hit hard by , particularly on the northwestern s of , and.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 3,139 (1,212 ). 2,081 km² (804 sq mi) of it is land and 1,057 km² (408 sq mi) of it (33.69%) is water.

Lee County is located on the of. It is approximately 125 miles south of and 115 miles west of  via ; and approximately 125 miles west-northwest of  via.

Lee County is the sole county in the.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * - (northeast)
 * (southeast)
 * (east)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 440,888 people, 188,599 households, and 127,681 families residing in the county. The was 212/km² (549/sq mi). There were 245,405 housing units at an average density of 118/km² (305/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 87.69%, 6.59% or , 0.28% , 0.77% , 0.05% , 3.07% from , and 1.55% from two or more races. 9.54% of the population were or  of any race. 86.7% spoke, 8.7% and 1.1%  as their first language.

In 2005 the population was 76.6% non-Hispanic white, 14.3% Latino, 7.5% African-American and 1.1% Asian. (Souce=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/12071.html)

There were 188,599 households out of which 22.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.50% were living together, 8.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.30% were non-families. 25.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.73.

In the county the population was spread out with 19.60% under the age of 18, 6.20% from 18 to 24, 24.00% from 25 to 44, 24.80% from 45 to 64, and 25.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.2 years. For every 100 females there were 95.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,319, and the median income for a family was $46,430. Males had a median income of $31,247 versus $24,380 for females. The for the county was $24,542. About 6.70% of families and 9.70% of the population were below the, including 15.20% of those under age 18 and 5.60% of those age 65 or over.

School District

 * See: 

Incorporated

 * City of Population 43,518
 * City of Population 154, 499
 * City of Population 65, 729
 * Town of Population 6,874
 * City of Population 6,321

Unincorporated

 * (on Matlacha Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Matlacha Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Matlacha Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Matlacha Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Matlacha Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Matlacha Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Matlacha Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Matlacha Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Pine Island)
 * (on Pine Island)

Islands

 * Big Hickory Island
 * Cabbage Key
 * Cayo Costa
 * (Town of Fort Myers Beach)
 * (community of )
 * Little Hickory Island (Beaches of )
 * Matlacha Island
 * North Captiva Island
 * San Carlos Island
 * (Town of )
 * San Carlos Island
 * (Town of )

Airports

 * , in, serves over 7.6 million passengers annually. Currently, the airport offers non-stop flights to three cities in  and two in , in addition to 36 domestic non-stop destinations.  26 airlines operate scheduled service to and from the airport, with  serving a  of the airport's passengers.  On September 9, 2005, the airport opened a new terminal.


 * , also in, just south of the incorporated limits of the , is the county's general aviation airport. Prior to the opening of Southwest Florida Regional Airport in 1983 (now ), Page Field was the county's commercial airport.

Seaports/Marine Transport
A small operation continues in, being used as a way-point for oil distribution. However, Port Boca Grande has been in decline for many years as the shipping industry has moved north, especially to the.

In addition, a private enterprise operates a high-speed passenger-only service between  From San Carlos Island and.

Major Highways
The is an 8-person body including transportation officials from Lee and  Counties, the role of which is to raise toll revenue to widen and improve major arteries throughout both counties. Of particular priority is the needed revenue to widen the freeway beyond the 6-lane expansion due to begin in March 2007.


 * [[Image:I-75.svg|30px]]  is the county's only fully-controlled-access, and has nine within Lee County, linking the area to ,  and  to the south and east; and  and  to the north.  The freeway is due to be widened and improved dramatically from its current 4-lane structure, beginning in March 2007.  Plans include express/local lanes, and/or , coordinated by the Southwest Florida Expressway Authority.


 * [[Image:US 41.svg|30px]]  runs the length of Lee County, and is the county's main north-south arterial highway. It is a major commercial corridor, running as an  through the center of downtown, continuing south as a multi-lane divided surface highway through the communities of , , , and .  From north-to-south, the highway's name starts as "North ", changes to "Cleveland Avenue" from the Caloosahatchee River to State Road 884 (Colonial Boulevard) in the , then it is called "South Cleveland Avenue" from Colonial Boulevard to County Road 876 (Daniels Parkway) then changes to "South  until the border with.


 * [[Image:Florida 80.svg|35px]]  's western terminus is in downtown . The multi-lane highway runs east-northeast along the southern banks of the  as "Palm Beach Boulevard" within the county, traversing the state of Florida to connect the area with, , and.


 * [[Image:Florida 82.svg|34px]]  's western terminus is in downtown . The highway is called "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard" within the incorporated limits of the, becoming "Immokalee Road" as it passes through  and connects the area to.


 * [[Image:Florida 884.svg|37px]]  is Lee County's main east-west arterial highway. Its western terminus is in the incorporated limits of the .  Within Cape Coral, the highway is named "Veterans' Memorial Parkway", and is a multi-lane controlled access highway.  The road crosses the  as an  across a,  with , then becomes a multi-lane divided surface highway through.

Bi-County Transportation Corridor
In March 2005, Lee County and concluded a transportation study on creating a  that would bypass downtown, running through downtown  and.

The is being designed as an 8- to 10-lane structure, including minor frontage roads. It is to begin at the Jones Loop Road with  south of  in, and end at an upgraded Colonial Boulevard  with  near. 

Major Road Bridges

 *  : 4-travel-lane single-span bridge connects with, over the.


 *  (College Parkway/Cape Coral Parkway): Two 2-travel-lane spans (one eastbound, one westbound) connect with, over the.


 *  : Two 3-travel-lane spans (one northbound, one southbound) connect with, over the.


 * Interstate 75: Two 2-travel-lane spans (one northbound, one southbound) between the ("Bayshore Road") and  ("Palm Beach Boulevard"), over the.


 *  : 3-travel-lane single-span bridge crosses Hurricane Bay and Matanzas Pass within the incorporated limits of the, connecting the mainland to the barrier islands.


 *  : a small single-leaf connecting  to  and


 *  : 4-lane single span bridge that connects with, over the .  The Midpoint Bridge will be part of the future Bi-County Transportation Corridor.


 *  : series of three 2-travel-lane single-span bridges and two 3-travel-lane island s crossing the mouth of the at the .  The causeway connects  with.


 *  : 2-travel-lane single-span between  ("Bayshore Road") and, over the.

Mass Transportation
Fixed-route service is provided by the Lee County Transit Department, operated as "LeeTran". Several routes extend outward from the Downtown ; in addition, suburb-to-suburb routes are operated, as well as service to and from both  and.

The Downtown Intermodal Transfer Center also serves as an intermediate stop on bus service.

Newspapers
Lee County's main newspaper is the.

In addition, Breeze Newspapers (Web site), the (Web site) (circulation 56,981) publishes a "Bonita Daily News" edition (Web site), which serves  in southern Lee County. The Daily News is owned by the Ohio-based.

Radio
Standard Radio Market: --. 

With an Arbitron-assigned 783,100 listening area population, the metropolitan area ranks 62/299 for the fall of 2006.

The metropolitan area is home to 32 s.

Television
Designated Market Area (DMA): -. 

Number of TV homes: 479,130

2006-2007 rank: 64/210


 * - Affiliate NBC-2
 * - Affiliate FOX 4
 * - Member Station WGCU Public Media
 * - Affiliate WINK TV
 * - Affiliate CW 6
 * - Affiliate ABC-7
 * - My TV 8
 * - 14

Professional sports

 * It has been announced that the Florida Flame will not return for the 2007-2008 season.

Government links/Constitutional Offices

 * Lee County Government / Board of County Commissioners
 * Lee County Supervisor of Elections
 * Lee County Property Appraiser
 * Lee County Sheriff's Office

Special Districts

 * Lee County Public Schools
 * Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization
 * South Florida Water Management District
 * Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council
 * Lee County Fire Chief's Association

Judicial branch

 * Lee County Clerk of Courts
 * Public Defender, 20th Judicial Circuit serving, , , and Lee Counties
 * Office of the State Attorney, 20th Judicial Circuit
 * Circuit and County Court for the 20th Judicial Circuit of Florida

Internet sites

 * Lee County Chat Online Discussion Forum.