A SUNNY NEW BEGINNING AT BABCOCK RANCH

Jean and Jim Hussey have probably traveled further on the road of life than most couples who move to Babcock Ranch, the sprawling southwest Florida community near Fort Myers that features an 870-acre photovoltaic array and bills itself as “America’s first solar-powered town.”

“My wife grew up in Taiwan, and I was born and raised in Iowa,” Jim said. “We met in Alaska, got married, and had our two children there. I began my career as a television reporter in Fairbanks and then became a public information officer, journalism professor, and dean of instruction in the University of Alaska system.

“In 1996, we moved to Kalona, IA, a historically Amish town,” he said. “I worked in Iowa City for ACT, the nonprofit learning, measurement, and navigation organization in operations, systems development, and communications. For more than 20 years, Jean worked in our local schools, most notably teaching Mandarin Chinese to elementary school students. I also served as a public school board member for 19 years.

“In March 2018, I read Businessweek and saw an article about a new environmentally-friendly community being built in southwest Florida called Babcock Ranch. That year, the winter in Iowa was dragging on forever, and sunshine sounded better than slush so we made a reservation to visit in June and liked it right away.

“The first model home we visited was the Palmetto by Lennar, and that ended up being the house we chose,” Jim said. “The floorplan is laid out on a single level and has a big open room that includes the kitchen, dining area, and great room.

With three bedrooms, we have plenty of space for our daughter Molly, who currently lives with us, and for guests like my mother, who lives in Iowa, and our son, daughter-in-law, and grandchild, who live in Alabama.

“We chose the Trail’s Edge neighborhood because we liked the price/value proposition, and our homesite overlooks a small lake. Molly gave me a book about the birds of Florida so I could identify all the visitors we have swimming or stalking behind our house—from ibises to cormorants to anhingas to other birds I’m still learning about.

“Our home also has a pool, which we enjoy as often as possible, and a screened-in deck where we can read a book in the morning or do some bug-free stargazing at night,” he said. “But what has really surprised us has been the ‘lanai’—a term we’d never heard in Iowa—which allows us to be ‘outside’ no matter what the weather, rain or shine. We love spending time there, whether it’s playing Scrabble with my mom or taking the laptop outside to do some work. The home also came with a dedicated office, which turned into a real godsend.

“We closed on the house in October 2019 and had intended to travel back and forth between Iowa and Florida for a few years,” Jim said. “Then, in March 2020, we were here during spring break, and suddenly the world shut down due to COVID-19. Through the rest of the spring, Jean’s school never opened for in-person instruction, and I began working connected to Iowa from our home office in Florida. So we decided to make the move official and become full-time residents at Babcock Ranch.”

"We hope to contribute in some small way to building a community in Babcock Ranch that can serve as a shining example—for cities throughout Florida, across the country, and even around the world," said Jim Hussey

Jim describes himself as “currently semi-retired” and spends a lot of time enjoying southwest Florida’s fresh air and sunshine: “I go walking, running or biking at least once every day and strive to hit the trifecta by doing all three. And I have a neighbor who’s originally from China, and we take a sevenmile walk three times a week, which gives us time to solve the world’s problems and for me to work on my Chinese language skills. I’ve also started to play pickleball and plan to learn more about how to catch some of Florida’s many varieties of fish.

“We have a very international family and try to be intentional in our decisions,” said Jim. “From the moment we read that first magazine article, Jean and I have really appreciated the effort Babcock Ranch has made to create a multi-generational community that’s economically and ethnically diverse and a true exemplar for outstanding environmental practices.

“Given our professional experiences in education and our personal interests in public service, we hope to contribute in some small way to building a community in Babcock Ranch that can serve as a shining example—for cities throughout Florida, across the country, and even around the world.”