Been about 40 years since I was in that area, spent a summer in Punta Gorda.
I had no idea that now 1 million people live in Charlotte and Lee counties. It was a tenth of that when I was there.
Estero and Bonita Springs have seen HUGE development in just the last decade. When I was living there things were being built left and right on a seemingly daily basis.
Yes, it’s grown tremendously. And still growing. Plaute builders was becoming real active in the area lately with pricey homes. I can’t imagine the money they’ve lost, not to mention the people purchasing homes on spec.
I was in that area once too as a teenager, around the same time as you, to visit my dad’s biological father,his wife, and my young aunt and uncle lol. We all went to Busch Gardens and to the beach, my aunt took me along to hang out with her friends. Grandpa (I barely knew ye) has since passed and I have no clue where his family is but heard they’d moved years ago.
The population growth in the area is stunning—to me that is the big story that has made a bad situation much much worse.