(beautiful), eng, beautiful springs , settlement_type =

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, image_skyline = Bonita_Beach.JPG , imagesize = 250x200px , image_caption = Bonita Beach , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_seal = Seal of Bonita Springs, Florida.png , seal_size = , image_shield = , shield_size = , image_blank_emblem = , blank_emblem_type = , blank_emblem_size = , nickname = Gateway to the Gulf , motto = "Small Town Charm Big Bright Future" , image_map = Lee_County_Florida_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Bonita_Springs_Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location in Lee County and the U.S. state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

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State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, subdivision_name1 =

, subdivision_type2 =

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, subdivision_name2 =

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

, established_title = Established , established_date = , established_title2 = , established_date2 = , established_title3 = , established_date3 = , government_footnotes = , government_type = Council-Manager , leader_title =

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

, leader_name = Rick Steinmeyer , leader_title1 =

City Manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief exec ...

, leader_name1 = Arleen Hunter , unit_pref = Imperial , area_footnotes = , area_magnitude = , area_total_km2 = 120.47 , area_total_sq_mi = 46.51 , area_land_km2 = 99.50 , area_land_sq_mi = 38.42 , area_water_km2 = 20.96 , area_water_sq_mi = 8.09 , area_water_percent = 13.95 , area_urban_km2 = , area_urban_sq_mi = , area_metro_km2 = , area_metro_sq_mi = , area_blank1_title = , area_blank1_km2 = , area_blank1_sq_mi = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_ft = 10 , population_total = 53644 , population_as_of =

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, population_footnotes = , population_density_km2 = 539.12 , population_density_sq_mi = 1396.32 , population_est = , pop_est_as_of = , pop_est_footnotes = , population_urban = , population_density_urban_km2 = , population_density_urban_sq_mi = , population_metro = , population_density_metro_km2 = , population_density_metro_sq_mi = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , population_density_blank1_km2 = , population_density_blank1_sq_mi = , population_note = , postal_code_type = ZIP codes , postal_code = 34133-34136 , area_code = 239 , website = , footnotes = , image_dot_map = , dot_mapsize = , dot_map_caption = , dot_x = , dot_y = , leader_title2 = , leader_name2 = , leader_title3 = , leader_name3 = , leader_title4 = , leader_name4 = , timezone = Eastern (EST) , utc_offset = -5 , timezone_DST = EDT , utc_offset_DST = -4 , blank1_name =

FIPS code The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) of the United States are a set of publicly announced standards that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed for use in computer systems of non-military, Americ ...

, blank1_info = 12-07525 , blank2_name =

GNIS The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

feature ID , blank2_info = 0279207 Bonita Springs is a city in

Lee County, Florida Lee County is located in Southwest Florida on the Gulf Coast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 760,822. The county seat is Fort Myers (with a population of 86,395 as of the 2020 census), and the largest city is Cape Coral with an est ...

, United States. The population was 53,644 at the 2020 census. It is part of the

Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area Lee County is located in Southwest Florida on the Gulf Coast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 760,822. The county seat is Fort Myers (with a population of 86,395 as of the 2020 census), and the largest city is Cape Coral with an est ...

, on the state's southwest coast.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (13.95%) is water. The city is located on both Estero Bay and the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. The area referred to as Bonita Beach is located on a road-accessible

barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a ...

(Little Hickory Island) that lies between the Gulf of Mexico and Estero Bay. The Imperial River flows through the downtown district of the city and empties out into Estero Bay.

Climate

The city lies in the tropical climate zone, having a mean January temperature of .

Hurricane Charley Hurricane Charley was the first of four separate hurricanes to impact or strike Florida during 2004, along with Frances, Ivan and Jeanne, as well as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to strike the United States. It was the third named s ...

made landfall north of Bonita Springs on August 13, 2004.

Hurricane Wilma Hurricane Wilma was an extremely intense and destructive Atlantic hurricane which was the most intense storm of its kind and the second-most intense tropical cyclone recorded in the Western Hemisphere, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Part o ...

made landfall south of Bonita Springs on October 24, 2005. On September 9–10, 2017,

Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...

, at the time a slow moving Category 3 storm, passed over the southwest coast of Florida. The eyewall / eye passed overhead in Bonita Springs. Many structures were damaged or destroyed and the city experienced significant flooding.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2010, there were 43,914 people living in the city. Household data and density data have not yet been released, but as of the 2009 census estimate, there are 19,233 households, and 12,974 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

in 2000 was 929.4 inhabitants per square mile (358.8/km). There were 31,716 housing units at an average density of . The 2010 racial makeup of the city was 88.8%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 0.8%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.5% Native American, 1% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 7.3% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 22.5% of the population. Bonita Beachfront

There were 19,233 households in 2009 out of which 16.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.2% were married couples living together, 4.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.5% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.55. In 2000, the city the population was spread out, with 13.9% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 19.8% from 25 to 44, 28.8% from 45 to 64, and 31.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 54 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.9 males. The 2009 estimated median income for a household in the city was $53,452, and the median income for a family was $53,436. Males had a median income of $31,227 versus $25,358 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $37,958. About 6.2% of families and 10% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 20.2% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.

Points of interest

* Barefoot Beach Preserve Park, a park located on the border of Collier and Lee Counties. In 2013, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' ranked the park's beach the sixth-best in the country * Bonita Beach Park, a beachfront park with a boardwalk and swimming area * Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs - an arts organization that hosts local, regional and national traveling art exhibitions. The organization has two campuses, the 10-acre Center for Visual Arts with galleries, studios, classrooms, art library, and offices; and 1. 8 miles south, the 4-acre Center for Performing Arts, which has two auditoriums, a black box theater, a film center, music rooms and studios for study of performing arts. The organization's Bonita Springs Art Festivals, are held January, February, and March in downtown Bonita Springs *

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a National Audubon Society sanctuary located in southwest Florida, north of Naples, Florida and east of Bonita Springs, in the United States. The sanctuary was established to protect one of the largest remaining stand ...

, a

bald cypress ''Taxodium distichum'' (bald cypress, swamp cypress; french: cyprès chauve; ''cipre'' in Louisiana) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a wide r ...

reserve under management of the

National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...

* Bonita Spring's Wonder Gardens, features a large collection of Florida wildlife, including exotic birds, alligators, and flamingos. The facility opened in 1936 as both a wildlife exhibition and a refuge for injured animals and has a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

and a natural history museum * Little Hickory Island Beach Park * Lover's Key State Park, a park made up of four barrier islands, is within the city and just north of Bonita Beach. It has nature trails for hiking and bicycling, a canoe launch, kayak and canoe rentals, acres of unspoiled

mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...

and miles of pristine beaches. A haven for wildlife, the islands and their waters are home to

West Indian manatee The West Indian manatee (''Trichechus manatus''), also known as the North American manatee, is a large, aquatic mammal native to warm coastal areas of the Caribbean, from the eastern US to northern Brazil. Living alone or in herds, it feeds on un ...

bottlenose dolphin Bottlenose dolphins are aquatic mammals in the genus ''Tursiops.'' They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus definitively contains two species: the common ...

roseate spoonbill The roseate spoonbill (''Platalea ajaja'') is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in both South and North America. Taxonomy The roseate spoonbill is sometimes placed in its own ...

s, marsh rabbits and

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

s * There are also 10 beach accesses with public parking up and down Bonita Beach

Education

Bonita Springs is served by the Lee County School District.

Transportation

Airports

Southwest Florida International Airport Southwest Florida International Airport is a major county-owned airport in the South Fort Myers area of unincorporated Lee County, Florida, United States. The airport serves the Southwest Florida region, including the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, N ...

in nearby South Fort Myers serves over 8 million passengers annually. * Naples Municipal Airport in Naples is a smaller airport primarily for private aviation

Major highways

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

U.S. Route 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...

"South

Tamiami Trail The Tamiami Trail () is the southernmost of U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) from State Road 60 (SR 60) in Tampa to US 1 in Miami. A portion of the road also has the hidden designation of State Road 90 (SR 90). The north� ...

" * ( County Road 865) Bonita Beach Road / Hickory Boulevard

Mass transportation

Fixed-route bus and trolley service is provided by the Lee County Transit Department, operated as LeeTran.

Rail

Seminole Gulf Railway The Seminole Gulf Railway is a short line freight and passenger excursion railroad headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida, that operates two former CSX Transportation railroad lines in Southwest Florida. The company's Fort Myers Division, which ...

owns and operates a line which passes through the city. The company offers freight service and local, daytime excursions.

Media

Newspapers

Bonita Springs is served by local editions of the ''

Fort Myers News-Press ''The News-Press'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper located in Fort Myers, Florida, serving primarily Lee County, as well as parts of Hendry, Collier, and Charlotte Counties. The paper publishes several editions of its "Local & State" (metro) ...

'' and ''

Naples Daily News The ''Naples Daily News'' is the main daily newspaper of Naples, Florida, and Collier County. It is owned by Gannett and has a circulation of more than 40,000. It was previously owned by Milwaukee-based Journal Media Group, which was formed by a ...

''.

Radio

The metropolitan area is home to 36 radio stations. With an Arbitron-assigned 879,600 listening area population, the metropolitan area of which Bonita Springs is one part ranks 61/274 for the fall of 2013.

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

Standard Radio Market: Ft. Myers-Naples-

Marco Island Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish ...

Television

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

designated market area A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

: Ft. Myers-Naples. 2013 - 2014 estimate U.S. rank: 62/210 (517,920 TV Homes) * WBBH –

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

affiliate * WFTX –

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

affiliate * WGCU –

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

member station *

WINK A wink is a facial expression made by briefly closing one eye. A wink is an informal mode of non-verbal communication usually signaling shared hidden knowledge or intent. However, it is ambiguous by itself and highly dependent upon additional ...

–

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

affiliate *

WXCW WXCW (channel 46) television station licensed to Naples, Florida, United States, serving Southwest Florida as an affiliate of The CW. It is locally owned by Sun Broadcasting alongside two low-power stations: Univision affiliate WUVF-LD (channel ...

– CW affiliate * WZVN –

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

affiliate * BTV 98 –

Government-access television Government-access television (GATV) is a type of specialty television channel created by government entities (generally local governments) and broadcast over cable TV systems or, in some cases, over-the-air broadcast television stations. GATV pr ...

operated by the city of Bonita Springs

Sister cities

* Gruenstadt, Germany * Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Notable people

* Glenn Steil Sr., member of the

Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Cities in Lee County, Florida Populated coastal places in Florida on the Gulf of Mexico Cities in Florida Former census-designated places in Florida Beaches of Lee County, Florida Beaches of Florida 1999 establishments in Florida Populated places established in 1999