Amid recession, Lehigh Acres tries to reinvent itself

In Lehigh Acres, outside of Fort Myers, homes are selling at an 80 percent discount from their peak prices. Restaurants are closing and school enrollment has dropped, crime has increased, and four times as many residents receive food stamps as did so in 2006. Many residents say they don’t think President Obama’s economic stimulus plan will do much for the area. Lehigh Acres, like other unincorporated areas outside of cities nationwide, was one of the last places to experience the housing boom and one of the first to feel the economic slump.