Hurricanes drove me away from the Florida coastline, so I moved inland to a $480,000 home in a ‘hurricane-resistant’ community.

Realtor Patti DiMarco’s home in Babcock Ranch, Florida.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Patti DiMarco, a 76-year-old Realtor who splits her time between New Jersey and Florida. After increasing concerns over hurricane damage and rising insurance costs, DiMarco moved to the ‘hurricane-resistant’ community of Babcock Ranch.

Located 20 minutes north of Fort Myers, Babcock Ranch was built on land 30 feet above sea level. Developers took precautions for extreme weather events, like designing smart lakes to combat flooding and burying utilities underground. Babcock Ranch’s field house, designed to withstand 150 mph wind gusts, also serves as an evacuation shelter for surrounding areas during a hurricane.

I used to live in a gated community in Naples, Florida, about three miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The homes were of various types, including condos with carports, condos with garages, and single-family homes. I lived in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom home that I purchased for $238,000.

My concerns started with the 2018 Surfside building collapse. After that tragedy, the Florida legislature required all condominium and homeowners associations to modify their accounting. They needed more cash for replacement costs, which would impact owners. I believed I would eventually get hit with a big assessment.

Then, there were the hurricanes. I was on the condominium association board, so I dealt with all the issues and the damage. I started to feel like it was becoming too much to manage. During Hurricane Irma in 2017, seven of our homes lost their roofs, and several people lost their cars. During Hurricane Ian in 2022, 18 garages were damaged.

I started to think, ‘Where else do I want to live?’ I wanted to stay in Florida but find a better situation. One of my grandchildren studied Babcock Ranch as part of a college course on sustainability. It inspired me to visit.

I visited Babcock Ranch for the first time in December 2023. I moved in two weeks later.

Babcock Ranch is 90 minutes north of DiMarco’s old home in Naples, Florida. 

Last December, I visited Babcock Ranch, Florida. I toured it, returned the next day, bought the house, and moved in two weeks later.

I’ve been a Realtor for almost 50 years. When it’s right, you just know.

Purchased for $480,000, it has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a den, and a two-car garage. Although I’m in a golf course community and don’t play golf, I like the open space.

Settling into Babcock was easy. I unpacked my stuff and went to the pool the next day. The facilities and each of the different neighborhoods are very welcoming, and the people in the neighborhoods are also nice.

There’s so much attention to detail in the community. With the utilities being underground, the smart lakes absorbing water, and even the lakes’ overflow designed to flow into the street instead of houses, I feel very safe in the event of a hurricane.

My flood insurance costs around $600 per year, and neighbors have told me that I may even be able to abandon it once the final elevation readings are completed.

For the past hurricane season, I didn’t worry at all. I was still in New Jersey and hadn’t come down yet. Still, there was a Ring camera on my doorbell, and during the storm all I saw in the video was a little palm tree blow. It was just very reassuring.

I was speaking with my neighbors here, and one of them, in particular, was very nervous. She had just moved and hadn’t been through a hurricane season. I kept telling her, ‘If they didn’t think you were safe here, they would be telling you to leave,’ but it’s the reverse. They’re bringing people to Babcock for shelter.

I miss some of the shopping in Naples, but I don’t mind zipping around in my golf cart

Babcock Ranch has solar-powered technology that regulates the property’s lakes. 

The people here are a total variety. There are young families, retired folks, people working remotely, and people working in Cape Coral, about an hour away.

The geographic areas where people are coming from are also very diverse. I’ve met many people from the Midwest, but I’ve also met people from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Massachusetts.

I don’t miss being closer to the shoreline, but I miss some of the restaurants and shopping I had in Naples. New stores are coming here, though. We have a larger shopping district opening next year.

On the other hand, I drive my golf cart everywhere. I do my errands and then flip back to the pool and restaurants. It’s like living in a little village from a Hallmark movie.