The Difference Between Sarasota and Bradenton (Tampa, Hollywood: fit in, real estate, to rent)

[Ladywithafan]

Originally Posted by lilaclady

There are a lot of family businesses and Dad hired son who eventually hired daughter and daughter is a twit but she is family so she gets the job to wait on YOU!!
That fear you speak of is something that haunts YOU.
I fear no one. We are all people and I talk to everyone and I mean everyone I meet.
Where do you shop for groceries? I've probably talked to you.
I talk to the scruffy guy buying beer, I talk to the classy lady all decked out in Big Lots, I even talk to the guy who looks like someone I saw on the news as wanted.
Try speaking up and talking to people. Most people will talk back. Some do look at ya kinda funny and then you just say "sorry your having a bad day, I hope it gets better". That usually gets a smile in return.

Please give up on evaluating my fear factor; you have no idea where I've been and what I've done, especially in Bradenton. Thank you.

[RickV1955]

We bought a great manufactured home in a wonderful 55+ park in April of this year.
While I don't have "long term" experience in Bradenton, I can tell you that (so far) my wife and I love it there!
The park is located off of 53rd Ave (Rt. 70) about a mile and half or so west of I75.
We stayed in Bradenton for 10-14 days each, for January, February, March and April of this year - The area (at least where we are) is very quiet, great neighbors, and there's lots to do....beaches (from Sarasota to Anna Maria Island) are very close and just a short drive - From our experience, they are rarely crowded at all, have very little traffic and always have parking that's free and available.
It's a relatively short trip to either Sarasota and even to Tampa.
The boating and fishing is spectacular, and there's more golf courses within ten miles than I can count.
I also think that Sarasota is great, however, the cost of housing, taxes etc...is a lot more (...enjoying all the activities is just a "hop skip and jump" down the road.

And again, although I've only been in Bradenton a relatively short time, I don't find the crime rate any more outlandish than most other cities (I'm from just outside of Boston - and have been a cop for 30+ years).

Maybe it's because I'm looking at it from a "retirees" viewpoint, but I think the area is great!

Rick

[Suncoast Guy]

Bradenton is a bum city! Since I've lived here (10 almost 11 years) I have seen the town go way down! Crime in the city has gone way up and you can just take the Bradenton Herald paper out of it's plastic wrapping and just smell the news of crime! It is everywhere in Bradenton and it's getting worse. Drugs have also become a Bradenton known-for. I would suggest doing research on Bradenton before EVER moving here. It is a nasty city, not a eye-candy city, and you can see it and feel it just by entering the city.

Sarasota is a beautiful city!! The city has many friendly people, it has arts and culture. It is clean and just as a wonderful feeling. Sarasota doesn't have much crime, and most of it is limited to the Newtown community, so you can feel safe. Everything about Sarasota is wonderful.

So the difference: Bradenton is a crime-filled, druggie, ugly sorry excuse for a city and Sarasota is the opposite. It is beautiful, friendly, and just wonderful!

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Suncoast Guy

Bradenton is a bum city! Since I've lived here (10 almost 11 years) I have seen the town go way down! Crime in the city has gone way up and you can just take the Bradenton Herald paper out of it's plastic wrapping and just smell the news of crime! It is everywhere in Bradenton and it's getting worse. Drugs have also become a Bradenton known-for. I would suggest doing research on Bradenton before EVER moving here. It is a nasty city, not a eye-candy city, and you can see it and feel it just by entering the city.

Sarasota is a beautiful city!! The city has many friendly people, it has arts and culture. It is clean and just as a wonderful feeling. Sarasota doesn't have much crime, and most of it is limited to the Newtown community, so you can feel safe. Everything about Sarasota is wonderful.

So the difference: Bradenton is a crime-filled, druggie, ugly sorry excuse for a city and Sarasota is the opposite. It is beautiful, friendly, and just wonderful!

Suncoastguy, I have to agree with you. There was a time when Bradenton was a beautiful, sleepy little town with crystal clear waters and nice middle class people, working and retired. It seems like it started going to heck-in-a-handbasket about 10 years ago, as you say. Whereas Sarasota has reinvented and improved itself 100-fold, Bradenton has gone down just as much. I just cannot BELIEVE the crime reports I read each day - stabbings, bank robbings, random shootings, rapes and the like! And it's not all happening in the ghetto or "hood" either! We recently drove down Cortez to get go to Anna Maria, and it was not a nice drive - you can really see the rough elements going on there. Doesn't improve until you get closer to the beaches. I just don't know what happened to that town.

The difference between Bradenton and Sarasota is night and day - Bradenton is backward, run by "good-ole-boys who don't seem to care about the town. Crime is escalating by the day and the whole town is getting a run-down look to it. Downtown has so much beautiful waterfront, but there is very little there to draw people - we tried going down there, but there wasn't much to see. The one bright spot in B-ton is the little Village of the Arts, but unfortunately they are kind of located in the ghetto. I hope someday it turns around, because the area has huge potential with it's great location and vintage charm - and all that beautiful waterfront.

[meltinjohn]

Originally Posted by Suncoast Guy

Bradenton is a bum city! Since I've lived here (10 almost 11 years) I have seen the town go way down! Crime in the city has gone way up and you can just take the Bradenton Herald paper out of it's plastic wrapping and just smell the news of crime! It is everywhere in Bradenton and it's getting worse. Drugs have also become a Bradenton known-for. I would suggest doing research on Bradenton before EVER moving here. It is a nasty city, not a eye-candy city, and you can see it and feel it just by entering the city.

Sarasota is a beautiful city!! The city has many friendly people, it has arts and culture. It is clean and just as a wonderful feeling. Sarasota doesn't have much crime, and most of it is limited to the Newtown community, so you can feel safe. Everything about Sarasota is wonderful.

So the difference: Bradenton is a crime-filled, druggie, ugly sorry excuse for a city and Sarasota is the opposite. It is beautiful, friendly, and just wonderful!

Sarasota, friendly??
What planet are you from?
Some are friendly like anywhere else but to claim SRQ as a real friendly city overall? Your a comedian right.

[DailyJournalist]

Originally Posted by Suncoast Guy

So the difference: Bradenton is a crime-filled, druggie, ugly sorry excuse for a city and Sarasota is the opposite. It is beautiful, friendly, and just wonderful!

I agree, I consider Bradenton to be gangland. It has a large criminal underworld mostly run by violent street gangs and violent international gangs like MS-13. It is not hard to see that Bradenton is already in despair and will continue to crumble as the Police feel helpless against these powerful gangs. So yes, Sarasota is a much better option!

[meltinjohn]

Sarasota is a lot safer than Bradenton for sure, but just think if Bradenton picked up. Youd see a conservative town still but youd see cool peeps all the more with the gangs out of the question or less all of a sudden showed up. I think the cool people in Bradenton are good at staying in hiding because I saw em on myspace, but hardly ever on the streets.

[basa9159]

huh?

[Ladywithafan]

Originally Posted by meltinjohn

Sarasota, friendly??
What planet are you from?
Some are friendly like anywhere else but to claim SRQ as a real friendly city overall? Your a comedian right.

Best place to see a comedian is at McCurdy's....in SRQ....still found on the planet Earth.

[Alatex]

The difference between Bradenton and Sarasota is night and day

If Bradenton has declined this much in the last decade or so, then how will Sarasota escape the same fate in the next decade ?

I mean, what's keeping the "bad elements of Bradenton" from expanding their operations a few miles south ?