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Cape
population passes 150,000
Rapid growth brings challenges
By Don Ruane
druane@news-press.com
Originally posted on January 21, 2006
Cape Coral's population meter spun past the 150,000 mark at about
midnight Wednesday — only the 12th Florida city to do so — without
any fireworks or toasts to mark the milestone.
Although the meter is only an estimate — considered a fairly
accurate one — its count means about one in four people in Lee
County live in Cape Coral.
"It's mind-boggling," said resident Earl Tolles, 82. "I think there
were 550 people when I moved here in January 1961."
Cape's expanding population numbers impact the county in various
ways.
Sixty percent of the city's work force, for example, crosses the
Caloosahatchee River every day, adding fuel to the county's economic
engines and congestion to its roads.
The city also has bulked up in political muscle with more
registered voters (85,873) than Fort Myers has residents (61,412).
Homes go up in record numbers; 900,000 more square feet of office
space is needed. Land to build more parks and schools is scarce and
expensive.
Many attribute the city's growth to outsiders, but residents help
their city grow, too. Births outnumbered deaths by 233 in 2004.
City officials took the passage past 150,000 people in stride.
"Our vision here is so much more future-oriented," Assistant City
Manager Carl Schwing said. "We have to be focused on buildout."
About 60 percent of the city remains vacant. Buildout is expected in
2080 with 413,000 residents.
The new numbers do remind city officials that the time frame for
meeting the road, utility, park, commercial and other needs of a
future population is getting shorter, Schwing said.
A grand hurrah is being planned for March 5 at the Celebrate Cape
Coral party. It will be at the feet of Big John, a 3-ton,
28-foot-tall landmark that has stood since 1966 on Southeast 47th
Terrace.
"We don't know exactly how we're going to present it,' said Bob
Knickman with the Cape Coral Chamber of Commerce.
POPULATION COMPARISONS
One-third of Cape Coral's population has arrived in the past five
years. The city is only 35 years old.
Lee County was about 85 years old before it hit 150,000 residents
in the mid-1970s.
The city is nearly five times as populated as in 1980 when 32,103
people lived there. By 1990, the population more than doubled to
74,991.
The unofficial population meter found on the city's Internet page
adds a resident every hour.
That's the rate people arrived when the meter started ticking about
three years ago, city spokeswoman Connie Barron said.
"It seemed like an easy way to keep an unofficial count," Barron
said.
FIGURING POPULATION
The "ticker" is one of several population sources. The U.S.
Census office, the University of Florida and the city's own planning
department complete estimates.
They all differ.
The census update issued in 2004 was 127,985 people.
The University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business
Research said there were 140,195 as of April 1.
The city's planning division estimated 149,324 people as of
December.
Utility statistics also can be used. Lee County Electric Cooperative
has 75,000 meters in a city with about 69,000 households. If those
homes are occupied with 2.49 people as the census estimates, there
could be close to 172,000 residents.
"There's no exact science to this," said James Letierre, a city
planner.
THE NUMBER IN PERSPECTIVE
The 150,000 number is symbolic of Cape Coral's growth, but it's
important for the city to keep track, Letierre said.
Population size and trends are important for planning road
improvements and where to extend utility lines, he said. Housing
assistance money from the state is based on population.
Population numbers also attract large retailers, said Mike
Quaintance, president of the Cape Coral Chamber of Commerce.
The city's collective purchasing power and status as a source of
workers make it attractive to corporations seeking to expand or
relocate, Quaintance said.
"It takes a couple of years for that message to trigger a reaction
among investors," he said.
Mark Arend, editor of Site Selection magazine, said population is
one of the first things corporations look at.
"They want to make sure there is a labor force," Arend said.
A population of 150,000 is enough to catch a company's eye, Arend
said, but the population's characteristics have to be attractive,
too.
A distribution center, for example, might not need workers with as
much education as a research and development firm, he said.
Cape Coral also needs land and infrastructure to bring companies to
the city.
"Take transportation," Quaintance said. "If Cape Coral continues
to grow compared to the rest of Lee County, how many bridges are we
going to have to build?"
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Cape Coral residents have seen a lot of change related to growth
and will see more.
An $11.4 million emergency room expansion is under way at Cape Coral
Hospital.
New commercial projects such as The Home Depot and a Wal-Mart
Supercenter are on the verge of construction.
Home building is soaring — more than 7,600 permits last year — and
challenging the city's ability to keep up with inspections and
maintain roads.
Developers have discovered Cape Coral's waterfront and are building
condominium towers such as Tarpon Point. Grosse Pointe Development
Company sold $112 million of hotel/condominiums last weekend for The
Resort at Marina Village.
Schools and ball fields are jammed with children, and the city is
buying land for more parks including Festival Park, which is
expected to host major events and draw large crowds. The city has
spent about $85 million on land for 211 acres.
Utility crews will work through 2017 to extend water and sewer lines
north of Pine Island Road. That will complete the installation of
utility lines throughout the city.
Growth also can mean more expense to residents. Property taxes
continue to climb. The city may increase impact fees — a one-time
fee on a new single family home — to as much as $16,000 to buy land
for parks, fire stations and other needs.
Growth packs a political punch, too. About 26 percent of the
registered voters in Lee County live in Cape Coral, which shares two
county commissioners with North Fort Myers and the islands of Lee
County.
County commissioners are elected at large so Cape Coral has an
impact.
"I would hope that we'll start using the voter base to get a
little more clout," Cape Coral Republican Club President Doug
Anderson said.
Quaintance said Cape voters should keep in mind that they are part
of a region. Decisions about roads in Lee County, for example,
affect Cape Coral people who use those roads to go to work or shop,
he said.
"There were candidates in the past who gave Cape Coral short
shrift and lost because of it," said Lee County Commissioner John
Albion, who was elected countywide but does not have Cape Coral in
his district.
"Bottom line, you should not ignore them," Albion said about Cape
residents.
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