what to do in south sarasota county??? (Venice, Siesta Key: foreclosed, rental)

[bkenner]

hi, my fiance and i are both 25 and are moving to the venice/nokomis/north port area of sarasota county to work as teachers. we are very worried about finding friends and things to do for <i>younger</i> people in this area. can anyone tell us anything about nightlife or just what kinds of things are available for people without kids and who are not retired?

we're relocating from rural indiana, so we understand not having a bustling city, but we would like to find a few hangouts for young people and possibly establishments that stay open past 10 pm

[Old Man Winter]

My wife and I live in Venice, we have been here a little more than 4 years. You will hard pressed to find nightlife in Venive, Nokomis, Osprey and Northport. There is nothing for younger people to do at night or in the daytime. You always have the beach, watersports , state parks and the like but for nightlife you will need to travel to downtown Sarasota. It has lots of clubs, good places to dine, a few museums, comedy club etc. In venice the street lights flash after 7 pm due to its population sleeping before sundown

[2peaches2oranges]

I live near there and go out to Siesta Key to dance and party. Once you start working, you will find people like yourself and you will hang out. I hang out with my teacher friends all the time and they are younger or like me in my 30's.

[Chimpie]

Where in Indiana?

[loves2read]

what you will find problem with is affordabe housing even with the slump--people aren't lowering their prices hoping to keep their paper profits and foreclosed properties, the banks don't want to cut their prices yet either for wht it will do to their balanc sheets

my daughter teaches at elementary school outside Venice and lives there--her husband had bought a condo before they married (at the top of the boom I think)--she had one teacher at her school who had to move back to whereever he came from--he could not find affordable home --

they want to sell their condo and buy a home--want to start a family but it will probably take a long time to sell it as slow as the market it...

[ShepsMom]

The closest to what you're looking for would be in Downtown Sarasota. Driving distance from N. Port about 30-40 min, from Venice/Nakomis area about 20-25 min. I think clubs are open till 2am, if i'm not mistaken.
You can also check out Sarasota Nightlife Nightclubs, Sarasota Bars Bands and Live Entertainment: WELCOME TO SARASOTA 2 NIGHT,Sarasota2Night, Sarasotatonight.com, sarasota2nite.com, sarasotanightlife,sarasota Nightlife, Sarasota Bars, Siesta Key Clubs, blu1266, Sarasota Li for info on local entertainment.
I know quiet few people who moved back to Sarasota from N. Port, mainly because of driving to work and lack of things to do.

As far as making friends, well, it's all up to you, how sociable you are, etc.

[Carbondated]

Agreed...Sarasota is your best bet as far as nightlife is concerned. Venice closes up as soon as the sun goes down. It's about a 30-45 minute drive depending on traffic.

As for housing, be aware as the previous poster stated, housing is still enormously overpriced. I would suggest renting first in this area. Typical rental range is around $1000-1500 per month.

Renting will give you the opportunity to figure out if you will indeed enjoy the area, and will leave you less economically at risk if budget cuts are in the future for the Sarasota County Department of Education. Enrollment in the system is not growing at the rate they have anticipated.

Best of luck to you.

[bkenner]

thanks for all the replies, and i'm looking forward to more. we finally decided on renting a house in south venice, about 3 miles from the school at which we are both teaching. it's a 2/2/2, 1300sf, for $850, which is only slightly more than we paid in bloomington, in.

as for cuts to the school system, i don't think we could be at risk, since we are both in shortage areas.

i am less concerned with finding bars or parties than i am with finding the cluster of young people in town i'm not a social butterfly, so i have to make special effort to find people to hang out with, haha.

[Old Man Winter]

Good luck on the move ! South venice is pretty quiet. As for finding a cluster of young people I would recommend going to Walmart, Target , or maybe even Publix when you arrive !! Those are your best chances to find them in mass ! Stalk them while shopping !! lol kidding about stalking where we shop. Young adults are pretty hard to find here in social settings, try the beaches and parks .My wife and I actually like the slower pace of Venice as we are not social animals either. Youll find lots to do if you look for them but most will be outside venice

[bkenner]

thanks! we have made the move to venice and are living in a nice neighborhood with a good mix of old/young, families/singles. i am confused about a couple of the replies though. for one, someone said there was no movie theater in town, but it's right on 41. i'm just wondering if a lot of changes are happening in town. . .


i think i'm going to love it here sarasota is close enough to visit but far enough away to avoid a lot of the problems.