Dave Osborn | Naples Daily News
Neapolitans believe Naples is an awesome place to live, and U.S. News & World Report agrees.
Naples ranks No. 1 in its annual Best Places to Live in the U.S., the only Florida city to make the top 10. The Southwest Florida city often rank high on various “best” lists by the national magazine and others, usually noted for its weather and quality of life.
“I love seeing sunshine almost every day,” said Mark Danni, founder and artistic director of TheatreZone, who’s lived in Naples for 22 years. “I love that Naples has a wide variety of live performing arts groups where Neapolitans can see so many different performing arts productions throughout the year.”
Naples in the past decade also has become more familiar as the Pickleball Capital of the World. The region in April again hosted the another U.S. Open Pickleball Championships. The very first championships were played in Naples in 2016.
What other Florida cities made the list? Read the full article on naplesnews.com.
Looking for a home in the Naples – Bonita Springs – Marco Island area? Contact David at 239-285-1086 or David@DavidFlorida.com
Liz Freeman | Naples Daily News
What you need to know
Lee Health has crunched financials for staying as a public hospital or becoming a private nonprofit system and found a conversion would bring gains after an initial hit.
The publicly-elected board of the 1,865-bed system with a $3 billion operating budget was briefed Thursday on how some revenue sources as a safety net hospital would be foregone while new financial opportunities would open up.
A 10-year projection starting in 2025 shows Lee Health’s net patient revenue at $34.5 billion if it stays as a public hospital. It would jump to $35.5 billion with the conversion to a private nonprofit. That would be a gain of $1 billion over the 10-year forecast, according to projections by Ben Spence, chief financial officer.
A key short-term loss would be $60 million in supplemental payments that are currently used to support treating uninsured and underinsured patients, according to Spence.
What are the upsides? Read more on naplesnews.com
J. Kyle Foster | Naples Daily News
The Bonita Estero Rail to Trail will include construction of a 12-foot-wide asphalt path for almost 15 miles, looking similar to paths in Baker Park in Naples.
After four years of negotiations, Seminole Gulf Railway has agreed to sell its 14.9-mile Bonita-Estero rail corridor for a public pedestrian and biking trail.
Lee County and its municipalities, and Collier County if it chooses, have until March 2026 to come up with the $82 million agreed upon price brokered by the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit that works to connect people to outdoor spaces, said Deborah Orton, president of Friends of Bonita Estero Rail to Trail.
The Bonita Estero Rail to Trail – called BERT – would run from just south of the Lee Collier County border to Alico Road through downtown Bonita Springs and Estero ending just north of San Carlos Park at Alico Road. The trail will connect to Lee County’s John Yarborough Trail to the north and the planned Paradise Coast Trail to the south in Collier County.
Seminole Gulf Railway has agreed to sell its 14.9-mile Bonita-Estero Rail Corridor for a public trail in Lee County.
“This isn’t an isolated 15-mile piece of land,” said Doug Hattaway, Southeast Region conservation director at Trust for Public Land. “It’s going to connect to a statewide trail network.”
Read the full article on naplesnews.com.
Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086 to find your home in healthy southwest Florida.
Laura Layden | Naples Daily News
Through a series of votes, the Planning Advisory Board decided to recommend in favor of a new $200-million heart and stroke center adjacent to the NCH Baker Hospital in downtown Naples.
The support didn’t come easily – or unanimously.
The next stop is city council, which will make the final decision on whether the ambitious project gets built, with a first reading scheduled for January.
The advisory board’s decision on three related petitions came on Wednesday after a long day of additional presentations, discussions and public testimony, for and against the project.
The meeting ran for nearly 10 hours, with a few breaks.
NCH wants to build a five-story heart center where the Telford Education Center is located, immediately south of and attached to its hospital, off Seventh Street North.
Paul Hiltz, president and CEO of the NCH Healthcare System, described the project as the “logical next step” to providing great health care at the hospital.
Read the full article and view proposed plan and renderings on naplesnews.com
Do you want to find a home in healthy Naples, Florida? Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086
A guide for everything you need to know
Kendall Little | Naples Daily News
As the weather starts to cool off, it’s the perfect time to get your pickleball practice in.
Naples has been cementing itself as the “pickleball capital of the world” over the past few years by hosting the national Minto U.S. Open Pickleball Championship tournament. Last year, the tournament brought in 40,000 spectators and 3,000 players.
If you’re a part-time resident or full-time local looking to practice your pickleball skills before the tournament this spring, here’s everything you need to know about Collier County’s pickleball facilities.
Where can I play pickleball in Collier County?
- LOCATION: Big Corkscrew Island Regional Park
COURTS: 6
HOURS: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
LIGHTS: Yes. Until 10 p.m.
- LOCATION: East Naples Community Park
COURTS: 59
HOURS: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
LIGHTS: Yes. Until 10 p.m.
- LOCATION: Veterans Community Park
COURTS: 14
HOURS: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
LIGHTS: Yes on courts nine through 14. Until 10 p.m.
Read the full article for information about costs, parking, new pickleball courts coming, and more on naplesnews.com.
Are you looking for a home in the “pickleball capital of the world”? Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.
Dan DeLuca | Naples Daily News
The seventh annual Minto US Open Pickleball Championships return to Naples this week with the largest field and largest purse in the event’s history.
More than 3,000 competitors of all ages and levels will descend on East Naples Community Park for the tournament, which begins Saturday and runs through Sunday, April 22. Players from all 50 states and 29 different counties will be in attendance, including the top 200 professionals who will compete for a US Open record purse of $125,000.
Read more…
Are you interested in living the Southwest Florida life? Contact David to find your home in Marco Island, Bonita Springs, and Naples, Florida. Email or call David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.
