Entry #9

Downtown Ft. Myers!

For my final field trip, I went to downtown Ft. Myers. It was raining the whole time, but I made the best of it. I cruised around and checked out the buildings and the environment. One building I found particularly interesting was the Imaginarium (see my picture!). We had an attraction similar to this one in my hometown, and as kids we always had a blast at it. The Imaginarium has so many exhibits that is fun for the whole family. They have a dinosaur bone dig, an animal lab, and the hurricane experience, just to name a few. Some other businesses I noticed was the daily news (see picture), the fire station (which had a very antique look to the outside), and a multi-story SunTrust bank.

In addition to the thriving businesses, I also noticed some deserted buildings. One of which I took a picture of. The building in the picture is part of a restoration project, called the McCollum Hall Restoration Project. On the side of the building, they had a picture taken of the building as is, and a picture of what they want it to look like after the restoration has been completed.

As for wildlife, I didn't really see too much. The only animals I saw while I was there were black crows and seagulls. The plant and tree life looked great. Down almost every street there looked to be newly planted trees and flowers. The plant life really makes the town look classier.

As far as living quarters go, most of the neighborhoods are right outside downtown. There are a few high rise hotels on the water, but the permanent living arrangements look to be lower-income housing outside the town.

While being downtown, I did not feel very safe. There were a lot of older cars, run down buildings, homeless people riding bikes, and minorities. Downtown Ft. Myers is not a place that I would feel comfortable walking around alone in, day or night. Also, if I was a tourist, it is not a place I would choose to visit.

Parking is definatly an issue. Just trying to find a place to park at 7:00 PM was a hassle. I can't imagine what it must be like during the work week. There didn't seem to be any parking along the road. I finally ended up parking in a general parking lot in the middle of downtown.

My visit to downtown Ft. Myers reminded me a lot of downtown back home in Bradenton. They had several similar characteristics. I was not really impressed by the city and it would not be somewhere I would go again.