An introduction to Lee County's neighborhoods.

Lee county's growing cachet in the local real estate market can almost be measured by the amount of time longtime Naples real estate broker Ross W. McIntosh spent talking about it during his annual state-of-the-business presentation to the Collier Building Industry Association. Lee County, which tops the nation as the fastest growing housing market in a number of new reports, got the majority of McIntosh's air-time.

From North Fort Myers to Bonita Springs, Lee County's hot streak in terms of the number of home-building permits compared to its population has placed the county atop lists compiled by U.S. Housing Markets magazine and Hanley Wood Market Intelligence. Business growth, a warm climate, friendly neighbors and beautiful beaches contribute to a continued influx of new residents and a population that will likely exceed the 1 million mark before the 2020 date predicted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Named for Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, who journeyed by boat through the region before the Civil War, Lee County was really put on the map by Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, who built neighboring winter estates on the Caloosahatchee River in Fort Myers. Land rushes in Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres in the mid-1900s helped solidify Lee County's place-in-the-sun reputation. In addition to Midwesterners and Northeast-erners, it also draws residents and relocators from Dade and Broward counties who have wearied of the east coast's overgrown, highly metropolitan environment, according to local realtors and developers.

Development continues to radiate from Lee County's major communities, Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Bonita Springs, and once middle-of-nowhere locations are sprouting neighborhoods that entice retirees, seasonal residents and vacationers.

Lee County offers a mixed personality of neighborhoods, from working class to riverfront estates and moderately priced to expensive gated communities. Fueling Lee County and Southwest Florida's continued growth are the interstate, the Southwest Florida Regional Inter-national Airport and Florida Gulf Coast University in sizzling Estero, all of which are being expanded.