Architect comes home

Sarasota architect David Young left his Naples home after graduating from high school.

But he's coming back.

Of course, Naples is a much different place today than the sleepy little town Young left in 1986 to attend the University of Florida.

Young is no different from many successful people who were raised in small towns. “I needed to strike out and do my own thing and make my own mark elsewhere,” Young says. “At the time Naples seemed too small.”

But Naples has grown in the decades since, even though it has retained much of its small-town charm east of U.S. 41. “You don't have an affinity for a place until you go away and experience something else,” Young says.

Young is opening a second office in Naples for the Sarasota-based firm he founded in 1999, DWY Landscape Architects. “We've been contemplating that and putting those wheels into motion for a little while,” he says.

Young's parents and sister live in Naples, so he's been a frequent visitor. “It feels like the footing is good and timing is right,” he says, noting that the economy in Naples appears to be stronger than Sarasota. “Over Thanksgiving, seeing all the new development going on is really encouraging to see.”