Naples, FL has been fortunate to receive some excellent worldly press this year so far.
USA Today released an article entitled "U.S. mayors: Economy's gains will spread widely", which highlighted a report done by IHS Global Insight and was released at the mayors' semi-annual conference in Washington. IHS is the leading provider of diverse global market and economic information. According to this study, the U.S. economic expansion will be much more broadly shared among the nation's cities and metro areas this year than it was in 2013. IHS forecasts that 340 metropolitan areas (out of the nation's 363 metropolitan areas) will see their economies grow at least 1% this year. Of those, 69 metro areas will see their economies grow by 3% or more. IHS predicts that Naples, FL will have the fastest-growing economy of any city in the country! They forecast that Naples' economy will expand 6.3%. Naples will also add jobs faster than any other metro area, the report predicts. We can see a related effect as the number of new homes and communities is also expanding in Naples!
Naples also hit the news in a Business Insider poll entitled "The Happiest and Healthiest Cities in America". Gallup ranked the well-being of American communities by conducting 178,000 interviews nationwide. Gallup measures happiness by looking at six areas: life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behaviors, and access to basic necessities. Naples - Marco Island ranked #7 out of the 189 ranked. In fact, the highest rates of well-being tend to spread across the northeast, northwest, and California, with Naples being an exception.
Lastly, U.S. News and World Report ranks the world's 12 most coveted golf getaways in their report "Best Golf Vacations". Naples is #7! Many of Naples' fairways were designed by big names like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. To experience a truly professional course, test your swing at the Tiburon Golf Club devised by Greg Norman.