Lehigh Acres, Florida

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Lehigh Acres, Florida
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settlement_type = CDP
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mapsize = 250x200px
map_caption = Location within Lee County in the state of Florida
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = flag|United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = flag|Florida
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = noflag|Lee
government_footnotes =
government_type = Unincorporated community
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established_title = Settled
established_date = 1954
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area_magnitude =
unit_pref = Imperial
area_footnotes = cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US12&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-PH1&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-format=ST-7 |title=Florida by Place. Population, Housing, Area, and Density: 2000 |publisher=US Census Bureau |accessdate=2007-12-09]
area_total_sq_mi = 95.98
area_land_sq_mi = 94.89
area_water_sq_mi = 1.09
area_water_percent = 1.14
area_metro_sq_mi =
population_as_of = 2006
population_footnotes = cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ACSSAFFFacts?_event=Search&geo_id=&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=Lehigh+Acres&_cityTown=Lehigh+Acres&_state=04000US12&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010
title=American Community Survey, Lehigh Acres CDP, Florida |publisher=US Census Bureau |accessdate=2007-12-09]
population_note = Census Bureau Estimate
population_total = 67873
population_density_sq_mi =
population_metro = 571344
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timezone = Eastern (EST)
utc_offset = -5
timezone_DST = EDT
utc_offset_DST = -4
latd = 26 |latm = 36 |lats = 30 |latNS = N
longd = 81 |longm = 38 |longs = 21 |longEW = W
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 6
elevation_ft = 20
postal_code_type = ZIP codes
postal_code = 33900-33999
area_code = 239
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 12-39925GR|2
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 0285447GR|3
website =
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Lehigh Acres is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Florida, United States. The US Census Bureau estimates the CDP's population at 67,867 as of 2006. The community is a rapidly growing, expansive, pre-platted subdivision of approximately convert|61000|acre|km2|-1.

Lehigh Acres is a part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated 2006 population of 571,344.cite web |url=http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metro_general/2006/CBSA-EST2006-01.xls |title=Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |accessdate=2007-12-09 |format=XLS]

Geography

Lehigh Acres is located at coor dms|26|36|30|N|81|38|21|W|city (26.608403, -81.639224)GR|1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of convert|95.98|sqmi|km2|1. convert|94.89|sqmi|km2|1 of it is land and convert|1.09|sqmi|km2|1 of it (1.14%) is water.

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 33,430 people, 12,707 households, and 9,250 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 352.3/sq mi (136.0/km²). There were 14,486 housing units at an average density of 152.7/sq mi (58.9/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 75.30% White, 13.79% African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.84% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.77% from other races, and 1.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.36% of the population. There were 12,707 households out of which 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.4% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.2% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $38,517, and the median income for a family was $42,492. Males had a median income of $30,202 versus $21,935 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $17,186. About 5.8% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

History

Lehigh Acres got its start in the mid 1950s when Chicago businessman Lee Ratner needed a tax shelter. He had sold his pest control business, and he faced the possibility of losing most of his earnings to the high capital gains tax of that era. Ratner heard that cattle was a good investment for people in his predicament, and he bought 18,000 acres (73 km²) of land in eastern Lee County and named it the Lucky Lee Ranch. After ranching for a while, and despite having no prior development experience, Ratner joined with Gerald H. Gould, a Florida advertising executive, Manuel Riskin, a Chicago CPA, and Edward Shapiro, a former Chicagoan who was in the real estate business in California, and began land sales at Lehigh Acres.

Gerald Gould was the president of the corporation that developed Lehigh Acres which began in business in 1954. He remained as president until the company was sold in 1972.

Since the days of Lucky Lee, the boundaries of Lehigh Acres have stretched to cover convert|61000|acre|km2|-1 and the pasture land where Ratner's cattle roamed has been divided into some 152,000 quarter acre (1,000 m²) and half-acre (2,000 m²) lots for housing, along over a thousand miles of roads. Strips of land along major thoroughfares, such as Homestead Road And Lee Boulevard, were set aside for commerce. In 1997, nearly 90% of Lehigh Acres' lots remained vacant.

In 1992, Lee County, with the cooperation of a new developer, declared Lehigh Acres to be blighted, which authorized its Community Redevelopment Agency to take steps towards improving infrastructure and planning elements neglected by the original developer.

References

External links

* Hubert B. Stroud and William M. Spikowski, [http://www.spikowski.com/landscam.htm#THE%20CASE%20OF%20LEHIGH%20ACRES,%20FLORIDA "Planning in the Wake of Florida Land Scams"] , "Journal of Planning Education and Research" (includes Lehigh Acres as redevelopment model)