I moved to the Fort Myers area in 2004. I lived in Tampa back in the 80's -- too much big city for me. Fort Myers and the SW coast still have a small-town feel. If I want big city I scoot over to Miami or up to Tampa (both about 3 hours away). I'm close to the coast. I wouldn't recommend living inland. There's a climate zone change that runs across Florida just below Tampa. South of the line it's much more tropical.
Lots of good housing deals all over the state these days...
