Living in Southwest Florida

Welcome to the one destination that offers an unforgettable Florida experience, along with excitement and adventure found nowhere else on earth.

Southwest Florida - One of America's most desirable places to live is home to a beautiful tropical climate with sunny skies, soft breezes, and occasional afternoon showers.

Selected as a favorite place among top executives and professionals for quality of life, abundant housing, and lifestyle options, Southwest Florida is a great place to call home, whether you stay for a week, a month, or a lifetime. Here you can enjoy a luxurious and laid-back lifestyle that defines truly unique communities of waterfront homes, sumptuous dining, world class shopping, a vibrant arts scene, and more outdoor activities than one could ever imagine. Southwest Florida boasts miles of beautiful sandy beaches, some of the best fishing in the world, acres of prime golf courses and unique communities. Naples, Marco Island, and the western portion of the Everglades make up Southwest Florida's Collier County – also known as The Paradise Coast. Collier is the largest county in the state of Florida, by land area, yet more than 80% of the vast expanse of land is preserved as park and nature preserve land by federal, state, county, city and private agencies. Beautiful beach communities surrounded by nature – it's no wonder the area is referred to as Florida's Last Paradise.It is truly paradise! Southwest Florida is an area filled with small town charm, international sophistication, and it is an area rich in culture and arts.

Old Naples is sprinkled with fine art, symphonic concerts and high-end shopping. A charming city on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, Naples exudes stylishness. Stroll beautiful pedestrian walks with shops, art galleries and restaurants. See row after row of palatial homes surrounded by tropical landscaping. The area is famous for its beautiful white sand beaches, golf courses, fishing, boating, water sports and spectacular sunsets.

Top Ten Reasons to Live, Work, and Play in Southwest Florida

Growth Economy
Florida has long led the U.S. in job creation, and the state's overall economy is the fastest growing among the 10 largest states. Florida's tax structure is rated as one of the most business-friendly. And, there is no state personal income tax.

Technology Leadership
Florida has a robust base of technology-driven businesses and a significant and growing presence in numerous new economy sectors. Those sectors include life sciences, information technology, aviation/aerospace, homeland security/defense, and financial/professional services.

Global Gateway
Florida is at the strategic and economic center of the Americas. Location, economic might and political stability make Florida the hub of trade and finance throughout the hemisphere. More than 815,000 Floridians, including a large multilingual workforce, are employed in international business activity statewide.

Entrepreneurial Environment
Florida is home to the nation's second National Entrepreneurial Center, and the state hosts a variety of tech incubators, accelerators, and university-based research entities that bring business and academia together to commercialize new discoveries. Florida has one of the highest rates of business formation in the United States.

World Connectivity
Florida has one of the worlds most extensive and well-planned transportation systems, with 20 major airports, 14 deepwater shipping ports, an extensive highway and rail network and Kennedy Space Center's unique Spaceport. The state also is an international leader in digital connectivity, with massive Internet capacity enabling high-speed data transfer globally.

Unique Business Climate
Florida offers incentives for job creation, investment, and training, and for locating in rural and urban sites, Enterprise Zones, or Brownfield's areas. The state provides expedited permitting services and assistance in accessing enterprise bonds, micro-loans, and venture capital.

Business-Friendly Government
Florida's state and local governments provide most vital business functions online. There is excellent and continuing communication between various lawmakers and business sector associations, including the Florida Aviation Aerospace Alliance, the Florida Defense Alliance, Bio Florida, IT Florida, the Florida Research Consortium, and many other trade groups.

Quality of Life
Beautiful weather and sunshine combine with economic opportunity to make Florida one of the world's most desirable places to live. As the world's top travel destination with about 80 million tourists annually, Florida's splendid climate leads many visitors to choose the state as their permanent home – the "play here, stay here" trend. In addition, Florida offers a very competitive cost of living.

Development
More than any other state, Florida's economic development goals have been embraced as part of a statewide vision. Economic development organizations coordinate efforts to help existing and prospective businesses find the right location(s) to match their needs.