Lehigh Acres, Florida
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Lehigh Acres is a census-designated place located in Lee County, Florida. As of the 2000 census, the CDP had a total population of 33,430. Population now is 63,000 as a 6/1/05
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Geography
FLMap-doton-LehighAcres.PNG
Location of Lehigh Acres, Florida
Lehigh Acres is located at 26°36'30" North, 81°38'21" West (26.608403, -81.639224)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 248.6 km² (96.0 mi²). 245.8 km² (94.9 mi²) of it is land and 2.8 km² (1.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.14% water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 33,430 people, 12,707 households, and 9,250 families residing in the CDP. The population density is 136.0/km² (352.3/mi²). There are 14,486 housing units at an average density of 58.9/km² (152.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP is 84.30% White, 8.79% 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. 13.36% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 12,707 households out of which 32.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.4% are married couples living together, 10.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 27.2% are non-families. 22.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 13.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.62 and the average family size is 3.03.
In the CDP the population is 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 are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 88.5 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP is $38,517, and the median income for a family is $42,492. Males have a median income of $30,202 versus $21,935 for females. The per capita income for the CDP is $17,186. 7.7% of the population and 5.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 11.5% of those under the age of 18 and 7.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
History of Lehigh Acres
Lucky Lee Ranch -- Lehigh Acres starts
Lehigh Acres was the first post World War II Florida retirement community to be built, and now 40 years later it is still growing.
Lehigh Acres got its start in the mid 50's 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 sky-high capital gains tax of that era.
Ratner heard that cattle was a good investment for people in his predicament, and he bought 20,000 acres (80 km²) of land in eastern Lee County and named it the Luckey Lee Ranch.
After ranching for a while, Ratner envisioned this as a new community. It is due to his foresight that Lehigh Acres has become the well balanced, thriving community it is today.
Since the days of Lucky Lee, the boundaries of Lehigh Acres have stretched to cover 100 square miles (260 km²) and the pasture land where Ratner's cattle roamed has been divided into quarter and half-acre (1,000 and 2,000 m²) lots for housing with larger tracts along major thoroughfares, such as Homestead Road And Lee Boulevard, set aside for stores and business. Now Lehigh Acres has over 152,000 lots.
[1] (http://www.cityoflehighacres.us) City of Lehigh Acres Link[2] (http://www.lehighacreswatchdog.com) Lehigh Acres Watchdog Link