What do you think of Sarasota? (Tampa, Lakeland: condos, home, construction)

[Lynell]

I am living in SoCal, looking for a place with clean air. Sarasota looks interesting, but I've never been there. If you have, I'd be interested in your thoughts on living in that city.

[Fishouttawater]

I lived in that area -- on Anna Marie Island for 18 years -- leaving 2 years ago. Sarasota is a beautiful city on the water & offers lots of culture. It offers a wonderful museum --Ringling (of Circus fame ) & The Ringling School of Art. It has a beautiful performing arts center, botanical gardens etc. and a funky artist community where local artists both live & display their works. A few years ago this was a seedy area of town now given new life by creative people. Nearby St Armonds Circle offers quite exclusive shopping & fine restaurants but is considered rather costly . There are many festivals, art shows, etc throughout the year. The public has lost a lot of the downtown waterfront to private hi rise apts & condos within the last few years but there is still a lovely public waterfront park . It is a pretty expensive place to live but definatly a beautiful, clean, progressive city.

[gypsychic]

Lynell, you will get varying opinions. There are members here who live in Sarasota and love it, others, like myself, lived there a number of years and don't like it at all. It will depend on what you are looking for in a city. I don't think it compares to soCal at all, but then it depends where you are and what you are used to.

The comments made by the above poster I would pretty much agree with as to what the area offers. In the past few years it has become extremely overpriced, but coming from Cali you might think it is OK. Don't expect to get a good job here - this is tourist and retirement territory for the most part, and while there are more younger people than used to be, it is still largely a retirement and resort area.

Interestingly, I read not long ago that Sarasota's air is not as clean as you would expect - somewhere I saw a chart for the state that gave rankings on the air. Also, you will have to figure in the "red tide' which can happen several times a year and make life unbearable for many. I have allergies and could not tolerate it, nor the invasive tropical species of plants which are rampant there.

You may want to visit the area, but please remember that visiting and living somehwere are two different things. I love visiting, but hated living there.

Good luck, I am sure you will get many opinions, mostly different from mine.

[silvio]

I grew up there from early childhood to high school...my mom still lives there btw. I was just there last weekend. What do you want to know? My favorite thing about the SRQ is the beach, it's beautiful. Downtown is developing nicely with a distinctive "Palm Beach" feeling however some of the old flare is vanishing which is disappointing. But it looks better now than it did 10 years ago. Everything is overpriced, housing availability is HUGE. I personally like McClellan Park in downtown. There's alot in terms of culture, the arts...that's a major selling point.

I wouldn't move back there only because I grew up there, so there's some bad memories and all that crap. If I hadn't lived there, maybe I'd feel different. I always felt, besides the beach, there's nothing really to do.

[Lynell]

[quote=gypsychic;1050527]
Interestingly, I read not long ago that Sarasota's air is not as clean as you would expect - somewhere I saw a chart for the state that gave rankings on the air. Also, you will have to figure in the "red tide' which can happen several times a year and make life unbearable for many. I have allergies and could not tolerate it, nor the invasive tropical species of plants which are rampant there.
QUOTE]

According to the Lung Association, 90% of the time Sarasota has clean air days. I'm coming from the small-particle-pollution capital of the entire U.S., so 90% clean is good enough for me! However, I do have allergies. I thought "red tide" was something living or growing in the ocean, I didn't know it had an impact on allergies. What exactly is it? Thanks.

[Love2LiveNCities]

im not from there but have visited many times, I love it there, I want to live there when i can. I love st armands circle and Lido Key. I love downtown. I love it all, very nice area

[Ladywithafan]

Originally Posted by Lynell

I am living in SoCal, looking for a place with clean air. Sarasota looks interesting, but I've never been there. If you have, I'd be interested in your thoughts on living in that city.

I love living downtown! I love living in Sarasota. I love the fact that this city goes all out on everything they do from 3rd Thursdays at the Ca d'Zan, First Fridays on Palm Ave. (my street), Cinco de Mayo, White on State, The 4th of July Fireworks, Off Shore Grand Prix, and Sarasota Film Festival just to name a few....Whole Foods (paycheck...lol) is a world unto itself...I still love it!
It's a mini manhattan with people in flip flops instead of black.

[Racelady88]

Here is a link with some info about Red Tide. ABOUT RED TIDE ...

[ShepsMom]

I have lived in Sarasota for the last 15 years, not by choice, however. Beautiful town that has grown a lot!!! I agree, it's living style is geared toward retirees with money in their pockets. I'd say it's a place for vacation, it's very service oriented, depending what type of work you do, if you work, it might be tough to find something that pays decent money. Realtors, bankers and builders might do quiet well. There are no factories for mass employment, it's all about service.
Beach is beautiful, i'm not a beach goer, so i don't really care.
I'll say it's an artsy-fartsy place, don't know much about it, except we have great art school right in town.
One more thing, FL is a construction state, Sarasota is not exception, they will do construction anywhere possible, and it takes very long long time for it to be done (job security at it best) I personally hate to see all the build up going on, they're killing trees and eliminating natural habitat for the living things.
I want to move outwest if i could, not in S. Cali, but north, i need my mountains LOL.

If you have more questions, send me PM. I'll be glad to answer anything you want to know.

Good luck!!

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by ShepsMom

I have lived in Sarasota for the last 15 years, not by choice, however. Beautiful town that has grown a lot!!! I agree, it's living style is geared toward retirees with money in their pockets. I'd say it's a place for vacation, it's very service oriented, depending what type of work you do, if you work, it might be tough to find something that pays decent money. Realtors, bankers and builders might do quiet well. There are no factories for mass employment, it's all about service.
Beach is beautiful, i'm not a beach goer, so i don't really care.
I'll say it's an artsy-fartsy place, don't know much about it, except we have great art school right in town.
One more thing, FL is a construction state, Sarasota is not exception, they will do construction anywhere possible, and it takes very long long time for it to be done (job security at it best) I personally hate to see all the build up going on, they're killing trees and eliminating natural habitat for the living things.
I want to move outwest if i could, not in S. Cali, but north, i need my mountains LOL.

If you have more questions, send me PM. I'll be glad to answer anything you want to know.

Good luck!!

I pretty much agree with your whole post, Shepsmom - one of my biggest beefs with living in Sarasota (besides the lack of good jobs) is the wanton construction everywhere - tearing down all the neat old historic places and putting up concrete monstrosities, and eliminating so much of the tree canopy. I talked to a photographer who lived there, who photographs wildlife for calendars and books, and he said it used to be a magnificent place for butterflies and birds of all kinds, the bulk of which has disappeared. I am a real nature lover, and the overriding consciousness in this town is one of greed, the "let's build it bigger and better and charge more for it no matter what it does to the environment" type of mentality.

I used to want to go out west as well, but my hubby has years to go at his Tampa job, so we are settling in Lakeland for now, with our second home in Asheville, NC. I love Lakeland for its small town charm, it's many preserved historic districts and it's amazing lakes and tree canopy. It, too, is a town which supports the arts without being "artsy-fartsy", very community oriented, and lots of public parks. I love the small town feel and "sense of place", rather than the extreme sense of the "transient" feeling I got in my 17 years of Sarasota living.

Once again, these are my own perceptions, I realize others may enjoy things about Sarasota, it does have it's good points, but I do like to describe my perceptions to the full, in case others out there are looking for the same type of place that I myself enjoy, and perhaps can identify with some of what I am talking about. Anyone can feel free to PM me with more specific questions, I am more than glad to help if I can.