Wanting to move from SC to Sarasota area - best kid friendly towns & neighborhoods?? (Plantation: to rent, condos)

[chelsealeigh]

We are hoping to move from South Carolina to the Sarasota FL area in about a year. (Originally from Cape Cod, MA) Young family with a 2 year old and another on the way looking for a kid friendly town to make our forever home! We work from home so job location would not be an issue.

Some things we are looking for:
- good schools
- safe
- gated community (around 250k)
- lots of activities for the kids
- close to the beach
- dog friendly
- sense of community
- unique downtown area
- healthy grocery store or farmers markets

I have looked into Venice and I love it but most of the threads I read on here say the median age is 72 so it is not as kid friendly as other places may be. We are in our mid 20's, just trying to weigh out all our options!

Thanks in advance!

[StreetSmarts]

what part of SC?

[chelsealeigh]

Originally Posted by StreetSmarts

what part of SC?

Florence, SC

[SoFLGal]

I was born and raised in SW FL and have lived in nearly every area in Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee counties. I also have attended many of the local schools, both public and private as have my three girls.

Keep in mind that the average age in FL as a whole is 45-50 years old. I know stats say the average age in Venice is 68 but I know many younger families who reside in Venice.

The average age in North Port is 38. Lakeside Plantation is a nice little community worth looking into. It has a fitness center, a resort-style community pool, playground, tennis courts and club house with planned activities for all ages. There were literally hundreds and hundreds of kids in there trick or treating this year.

Another place to look at is Stoneybrook of Venice. That community has a community center, activity director, media room, fitness center, pool, splash fountain, spa, gazebo with grills, tennis courts, in-line skating/hockey rink, basketball courts, sand volleyball courts, baseball/soccer/multi-purpose field.

Grand Palm in Venice is another place worth investigating. Grand Palm is the new Neal community with a clubhouse, resort style pools, tennis, volley ball, basketball, dog parks, 28 miles walking trails.

Rivendell and Willowbend in Osprey are also nice communities and would probably fit most of your needs.

Punta Gorda has a great little downtown area but I moved from Charlotte county to Sarasota county for the school system. IMO, Sarasota has a better school system then Charlotte. You would also be about 40 minutes from the beaches in PG.

I would suggest you visit the community on the weekend and go out to the pool and see how you like it. Also get a copy of the activities.

[Samatha54]

Venice is great. Remember that Florida is a retirement state =) That being said there are a lot of new gated communities being developed in Venice. Look around the Center Rd area.. the younger families are moving in!

[Old Gal]

Don't know if you would be interested, but DR Horton has just broken ground for a new development on 776 in Venice. It is named Rapala.

[FabulousFlorida]

Stonybrook of Venice is a great id friendly area, but homes are pretty close together. The cool thing is that they have a clubhouse, pool etc so the kids are safely able to be ride to the recreational area and hang out together. This is rare to find here in FL. Beaches are great, but there are few gated communities that offer kids friendly things in that price range. I also like Lakewood Ranch and there are condos and smaller gated communities with villas that allow you all to walk/bike to great parks and the "downtown" where there is always music and something going on for all ages. But you are 20 minutes from the beaches. There's a smaller theater here too--my boys love to walks there together and watch a movie without me breathing down their necks!

Sometimes you can live 5 miles and still be 20 minutes from the beach though, so make sure you focus on checking out the different communities and then do the drive to the closest beach. Florida IS older and the kids are not as prevalent as in other towns, but I assure you that there are a lot of our younger families that live here! I always say in a single family neighborhood--look for the basketball hoops!

Good luck!
Kelley

[Rebecca67]

What about Islandwalk? We are looking to rent before we buy and the only thing I can find is in Islandwalk or Rotonda West, which seems like it is really "down there". I've heard not as many kids? I'm hoping to find some other families with kiddos, because a summer in a new town and state without kids to play with and my kids will be wanting to come back to Illinois! A community pool seems like a good place to start.

[FLHfan]

There is a beautiful new community pool on San Casa Dr. We take the grandkids there when they come down to visit. They also have a nice playground next to it and a fenced dog park right next to that. It's about a five minute drive from the northwest side of Rotonda.
In our area we have an even mix of families and retirees with a few snowbirds that come down and rent for the winter.

[JazzmanLI]

If you have young kids and you're deciding between Charlotte and Sarasota counties, I would recommend Sarasota county hands down! I am in the same boat as you. My girlfriend and I are in our early-mid 20s and looking for our "forever home" as well. We have been living in Florida for four years. Moved down to attend college. We are both becoming teachers. Started out in Fort Myers and as Fort Myers is beautiful, I quickly realized that it was the land of the snowbirds. I have worked and volunteered in schools from Naples to Port Charlotte. After four years of working/volunteering in schools, I am not a fan of Lee and Charlotte county schools. I am currently in a teaching internship in Charlotte county and not satisfied with the way the district treats teachers and the curriculum taught to the students. The district doesn't have enough funds to purchase textbooks and classroom materials. Teachers are expected to go out on there own to purchase materials. So you better hope your child has a teacher that loves there job and is willing to spend their own salary to purchase classroom materials. I have been told time and time again that if I stay down here after college to work for the Sarasota county school district. The district is made up of many A and B schools, a school for the gifted, music and arts, and special needs students.

Best of luck!