COMMUNITY GUIDE 2019 | 13
Communities ��
Situated on and around pristine Charlotte Harbor, Florida’s second
largest estuarine system, the communities of Charlotte County
reflect the unique ambiance of the area. People have discovered
Charlotte County’s unspoiled beauty, making it a destination of
choice for leisurely, uncongested and unhurried living. Charlotte
County is a delightful place to live, work and vacation.
Residential areas of the county are primarily single-family neighborhoods,
uncomplicated by high-density, high rise locales. These
areas are often surrounded by an easy maze of canals and estuaries,
complete with hundreds of species of marine life.
In recent years, low-rise condominiums, townhouses and villas
have been tastefully incorporated into the community to provide a
variety of attractive and carefree living situations.
Historically, development followed the shoreline of Charlotte
Harbor, Peace River, Myakka River, Lemon Bay and the Gulf of
Mexico. Later development occurred along the major arterial
highways, especially U.S. 41.
Moving south from the Sarasota County line, one finds the
communities of Murdock, Port Charlotte (the county’s most populous
geographic entity) and Charlotte Harbor, which borders the north
bank of the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor. South of the Peace
River is the City of Punta Gorda, the only incorporated municipality.
Punta Gorda offers old Florida small town charm within the same
blocks as top tier accommodations and a new state-of-the-art
convention center.
PORT CHARLOTTE
Port Charlotte, named the 2009 #1 Best Place to Retire by
CNNMoney.com, was created and developed in the late 1950s. The
population of the unincorporated area of Charlotte County, including
Port Charlotte, is approximately 160,056 residents.
An established, yet still growing area, Port Charlotte has the
services and amenities necessary for the convenience and enjoyment
of its residents and visitors.
Schools in the immediate Port Charlotte area include six elementary
schools, two middle schools, a high school and Technical College,
in addition to several church-related schools. Two of the three area
hospitals are located in Port Charlotte.
The Murdock area of northern Port Charlotte is a dynamic, growing
shopping-business center. Shopping areas, office complexes,
financial institutions, theatres, restaurants and motels have been built
in recent years. A regional shopping mall anchors the area.
Recreational opportunities abound – golf courses, yacht clubs,
tennis courts, pickleball, parks, boating facilities, pool and beach
swimming – and more. The unique Cultural Center of Charlotte
County offers educational, recreational and cultural activities almost
every day of the week, 52 weeks of the year.
Port Charlotte has more than 165 miles of man-made waterways,
many with access to Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf of Mexico. There
are miles of natural shoreline bordering Charlotte Harbor and the
Peace and Myakka Rivers.
PUNTA GORDA
The city of Punta Gorda is a charming and historic waterfront town
which traces its roots to a landing at Live Oak Point on the Peace
River by Hernando DeSoto in 1539. The name itself means “Broad
Point” in the language of the Conquistadors, and a colorful festival
each year celebrates Ponce de Leon’s Landing (1513) on Pine Island
in Charlotte Harbor. Now more than 132 years old, Punta Gorda
remains Charlotte County’s only incorporated city.
Early Spanish attempts to colonize the outer islands were stopped
by Calusa Indian tribes, and the area was slowly settled as the English
migrated by Charlotte Harbor to the banks of the Peace River. In
1885, Col. Isaac Trabue from Kentucky bought the land from British
investors and founded the town of Trabue. The name was never well
accepted, however, and reverted back to the Spanish version in 1887
upon incorporation.
This City of 17,444 is in the midst of major community
revitalization and beautification efforts. With historic preservation
as a priority, Punta Gorda has secured State Historic District status.
The city Streetscape program is restoring an old Florida atmosphere
to central district streets and has added brick lanes, street lamps,
benches, brick planters and flowers and shade trees. The residential
areas feature many brick streets lined with huge old royal palms and
many old Florida-era tin-roofed homes with wide verandas.
Unique shops and restaurants are being added throughout town,
expanding the fine reputation of Punta Gorda’s charm. There are
three elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. A
hospital is also located in the community.
BABCOCK RANCH
Babcock Ranch is one of the country’s newest solar-powered
communities. This exceptional community covers approximately
18,000-acres adjacent to 73,000 acres of State owned preserve. It
contains a photovoltaic (75-megawatt) power station, as well as a
network of rooftop solar panels on commercial buildings that are
intended to send more renewable power into the Florida electrical
grid than the Babcock Ranch community consumes.
The well-planned, environmentally-friendly Babcock Ranch
will eventually boast 19,500 residences and 6 million square feet
of non-residential space all anchored around assorted natural and
leisure experiences for its residents and visitors. The developer is
constructing mixed use residential, restaurants, entertainment,
hotels, medical, retail, office, commercial, and light industrial
facilities. In addition to appealing to high tech and research and
development companies for clean energy methods, Babcock Ranch
is designed with integrated transportation corridors. Allowing for
electric vehicles, civic and educational facilities, extensive open space
that connect hamlets, villages and neighborhoods, to greenways,
pedestrian friendly parks and recreational areas.
MURDOCK VILLAGE
In late 2016, the Murdock Village CRA and the Charlotte County
Board of County Commissioners approved an Agreement for Sale
and Purchase with Private Equity Group, LLC (PEG) for 452 acres of
property in the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area.
Murdock Village will be developed as an “adult lifestyle” community,
/CNNMoney.com
