Fort Myers Focus Areas

Located along the Caloosahatchee River, Fort Myers’ location and framework of neighborhoods make this coastal city a center of commerce, government, and community.  As the county seat of Lee County, Fort Myers has a long-history of city building with a collection of in-town neighborhoods, traditional main street corridors, and public spaces along the waterfront.  The impact of Hurricane Ian raised continued awareness about sea level rise, flood mitigation, and emergency preparedness, and prioritization of improvements in impacted areas. 

The potential to address flooding during strong high tides on downtown streets near the Caloosahatchee has been identified as an opportunity to increase Fort Myers’ resiliency. There is potential that infrastructure improvements here could address multiple goals, such as incorporating public pocket parks and/or reduction of impervious surfaces.

The Billy’s Creek / Shady Oaks Park area has been identified as an opportunity area with potential for future public improvements to increase resiliency and connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists as well as natural systems. In the adjacent Brookhill neighborhood, there is potential to increase connectivity to the park and incorporate flood mitigation measures to be better prepared for future storm events.

Dean Park has been identified as an opportunity area to explore potential flood mitigation measures such as building elevation or infrastructure upgrades to increase resiliency to future storm events, in the context of a historic neighborhood.