Bonita Springs

Bonita Springs sits where Lee County meets Collier — close enough to Naples for dinner on Fifth Avenue, close enough to RSW for a 25-minute airport run, and increasingly a destination in its own right. The town layers three worlds: the beach corridor along Bonita Beach Road, the established communities and shopping of the US 41 spine, and the old downtown on Old 41, where Riverside Park anchors a lively events calendar beside the Imperial River. A second phase of park renovations began in 2026 — new event lawn, permanent stage, wider walkways — advancing a genuine downtown revival, and the planned 11-mile Bonita Estero Rail Trail could one day stitch it all together for cyclists.

The beaches punch above the town's profile: Bonita Beach for the everyday, Barefoot Beach Preserve — a county-run barrier island regularly named among America's best beaches — and Lovers Key State Park minutes north. Housing runs from beach condos and canal homes to a deep inventory of bundled and equity golf communities, generally priced below comparable Naples addresses. Buyers near the river and bay should look closely at elevation and flood insurance; buyers everywhere should look at how much value this stretch of coast still offers.