Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi, my wife and I are planning a relocation from central KY to the Sarasota County area in the next 12-24 months. We have two girls ages 4 and 8 and a great neighborhood and school system is a MUST. We will be involved in dance class, gymnastics, and many after school activities with the school as they grow so can anyone give us any insight as to what areas we should check into to great family neiborhoods with great schools? We would like to be in the $200,000 to $250,000 price range on homes. Thanks for all your insight!
Palmer Ranch one of Sarasota's most popular and largest master planned communities with over 10,000 acres. Palmer Ranch actually consists of many neighborhoods, all individually operated under their own HOA. The common areas of Palmer Ranch are maintained by a master association. The overall look and feel of PR is "green" - the roads are grass and treelined, the sidewalks wind throughout the entire community, and they have recently been able to add the Legacy Trail to the many great aspects. The Legacy Trail is a paved walking/biking trail that runs through the woods along the path of the old railroad track.
Palmer Ranch is districted for great schools, is only 10-15 minutes to the beach, and is next door to the mall, new 12-screen movie theater and a fantastic YMCA complex, including a huge waterpark. Palmer Ranch is very popular with families.
Silver Oak and Prestancia are going to be your more upscale neighborhoods. Silver Oak has a championship golf course, tennis, canoeing, nature and bike trails, clubhouse, pool/spa, exercise facility. All home sites back up to a lake or preserve. There are 25 homes available in Silver Oak ranging from $439K-1.5 Mil. It is one of the newer neighborhoods in PR.
Prestancia has two championship golf courses, country club, etc. The boundaries for Prestancia are-Palmer Ranch Way, McIntosh and Beneva. It pretty much runs inside of those streets-it encompasses 565 acres. There are 28 homes for sale in Prestancia from $325K-3 mil.
Reymore St is the southern boundary for Palmer Ranch. The eastern boundary runs out to I-75, the western boundary goes to Beneva and the northern boundary runs nearly to Clark Rd. This tells a little more about Palmer Ranch: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_Ranch Within Palmer Ranch is CJ Lofino YMCA Complex. It has a full aquatic center, gym/fitness, basketball, swimming, tennis, and water park for the kids.
Here are the communities within Palmer Ranch:
Arielle: 2 and three bedrooms coach homes built in the mid 2000's, Prices are from $215K-$299,900, There are 9, no foreclosures
Botanica: on Palmer Ranch: 172 luxury condo styled apartments. Prices are from $229-$435K, there are 5 condos-no foreclosures.
Bella Villino: Gated, 2/3 bedrooms resort like low rise condos. Prices are from $79K-$239K, there are 31 condos, 1 foreclosure a 1/1 priced at $80,900
Country Club of Sarasota: Gated, single family homes. Prices are from $295K-$537,900, 10 properties, no foreclosures
Deer Creek on Palmer Ranch: 285 acres, 400 luxury homes, private and guarded gate. This is one of the original communities at Palmer Ranch. Prices $249K-$649K, 28 properties, no foreclosures
Huntington Ponite: Single family homes. Prices are from $299K-$469, 10 properties, no foreclosures
Marabella: 139 single family homes and villas, gated community. Prices are from $199-$499K, 5 properties, no foreclosures
Mira Lago: Mediterranean style, 180 single family homes and villas, maintenance free living. Prices from $249,900-$299,900, 7 properties, no foreclosures
The Palisades at Palmer Ranch: 43 maintenance free and single family homes. Prices $399K, 1 property, no foreclosures
Palmer Square: Mediterranean style maintenance free coach homes and town homes. Prices $295-$459K, 6 properties, no foreclosures
Pinestone at Palmer Ranch: Maintenance free condos. Prices $159,900-$250K, 15 properties, no foreclosures
Plaza De Flores: 200 Mediterranean style condos. Prices $148K-$209,900, 9 properties, no foreclosures
Prestancia: This is probably one of the more upscale developments in Palmer Ranch. Two championship golf courses. Prices $229,750-$2,799,000, 42 properties, no foreclosures
Serenade on Palm Ranch: Affordable Condo community. 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms. $73,900-$204K, 24 properties, no foreclosures
Silver Oak: I have a bank owned home listed in here for $730K. There are 181 single family homes here. It is very upscale and probably one of the nicer developments in PR. Prices $399,900-$1,495,000, 24 properties, no foreclosures, we just sold a bank owned one in here.
Stonebridge-Single family homes with preserves and lakes. Prices $309K-$399, 900, 6 properties, no foreclosures
Stoneybrook Golf & Country Club-Has single family homes, villas and condos. 18-hole golf course. Prices $179K-$499, 900, 55 properties, no foreclosures
The Hamptons at Palmer Ranch-Is comprised of three subdivisions and has from two bedrooms homes up to executive homes. Prices $299K-$529K, no foreclosures
The Isles-Is a DiVosta community. Single family homes, villas and townhomes. Prices $213,900-$549K, 5 properties, no foreclosures
Turtle Rock-751 single family homes and villas. Executive and estate homes. Pool, recreation building, canoeing, tennis courts, bike paths. Prices $299K-$599K, 17 properties, no foreclosures
VillageWalk on Palmer Ranch-1,177 townhomes, villas, and single family homes. 500 acres. It's like a small town. Prices $208K-$549,900, 39 properties, no foreclosures
Vintage Grand-One, two and three bedroom condos. Prices $89,900-$224,900, 12 properties, no foreclosures
Wellington Chase-Single family homes. Prices $205K-$360K, 4 properties, no foreclosures
A few good bets in Pamer Ranch would be Turtle Rock, Stonebridge, The Hamptons and Deer Creek.
Another neighborhood worth investigating is the Southside area. There's always something going on in the downtown area. Southside Village, which is the area west of US 41 and just of Main St and north of Siesta Dr. It's also close to the hospital. Right over the bridge is Siesta Key Beach or if you go over the John Ringling Bridge you have Lido Beach. Southside Elementary School is the districted school for Southside Village. You can look up what people have to say about Southside on these to websites: School Accountability Report... or www.greatschools.com The only problem is that nothing comes up when you search under SouthSide village because it's kind of a locally used term for that area but in the MLS they have that area broken down into a ton of little subdivisions. I'll list some here so you can look through and see what you find. If you have a little one I would suggest visiting The Children's Garden in downtown Sarasota. It's a really cool whimsical place for the little ones that is within walking distance of the downtown area. My five year old loves it there. Also, GWIZ,Mote Marine, Selby Gardens, Jungle Gardens are all within minutes of downtown. Every Saturday they have the downtown Farmers Market. Then there's the Hollywood20 Movie theater and The Burns Court Cinema, which has some really cool foreign films. Burns Court and Towles Court are neat little villages that are great to spend the afternoon catching a bite to eat or doing a little shopping. Selby Libraryis a fantastic library right in the heart of downtown. A great little organic grocery store is Morton's Gourmet Market, Southside Village, Sarasota, Florida. Marina Jack’s is always great for an afternoon out with the kids, a picnic under the trees or a leisurely walk by the bay Welcome to Marina Jack.
Some of the downtown neighborhoods are:
The neighborhoods are:
Hyde Park
Hartland Park
Poinsettia Park
Floyd & Cameron
Riverwood Park
Ridgewood
Granada
Laurel Park
Bayview
McClellan Park
Oyster Bay Estates
Bungalow Hill
Aqualane Estates
Graham Heights
Burns Court
Hartsdale
Cherokee Park
Badger Heights
Paradise Shores
San Remo Estates
Harbor Acres
Avondale
Mandarin Park
Morton Terrace
Most of the above are known as a whole as the Southside Village neighborhood. I listed a few that are on the fringe of that area. Here's some more info on the downtown area:
Alright, if I were checking out schools other than Pine View these are the schools that I would look into, in order.
Southside services most of the downtown area south of Main St. North of Main would be mostly Booker school district. The Palmer Ranch area is mostly Ashton school district. There are other schools in the area but these are ones that I have either had personal experience with or I have friends that have kids in the schools.
Peter the Brit and SoFLGal thanks for all of the great info. We will have to sit down and sift though all of this info but I am sure that this will really help.
I live in the Twin Cities. I had a beach home in the area and love it there. I have been bound here for my kids and the great education we have. My kids go to private schools and as most people know we have an outstanding educational system here. I have been researching a move for a long time and am thinking that now may be the time to make the big jump. I would want to do it before the next school year. I have been looking at the California area because both of my children are pursuing the arts...as in acting/singing. My children also dance and so I need go dance schools. But after researching I dont think the culture there would be good for our family, so I am back to Florida again. I am thinking I would want to rent first to get a feel for the areas. This is the hardest thing I think I will ever do and want to do the absulute best thing for my children. I also am concerned about crime rate, drugs, etc. So far I have managed to have squicky clean kids and am hoping to make it through the high school years with out major drama. Are there any catholic schools there. Or are there any top notch schools that my children would feel at home. Also, we like the beach and not areas with lots of vegitation. I have small dogs as well. Please help
Anyone out there that has picked up there life and moved with the kids wondering if you where doing the right thing? My children are middle school and high school age. Any help or advice would be appreciated.
In Sarasota, there is a catholic high school, Cardinal Mooney. I really don't know how much Cardinal Mooney is an improvement over public high schools if you are worried about keeping them 'squeaky clean'. There are a few other private schools that have high school students.
Pine View is a public gifted school that is pretty much constantly rated the top public school in the state (at least on FCAT scores). SoFlGal could tell you more about it as she has kids that go there.
Like Atro said, I have two kids that go to Pine View School. It's 2nd-12th grade and requires special testing for entrance. I think, for the most part, the PV kids are on the right track. They have to keep their grades up or they won't remain there. We've been there for about eight years and love it!
Then, like mentioned, there's Cardinal Mooney Catholic School. You might want to go on www.greatschools.com for more opinions. Then there's School Accountability Report... for public school info. Sarasota county has some of the top schools in the state of Florida and Pine View is the number one school in the state and one of the best in the Nation when it comes to academics.
Location: Sarasota, FL and loving every minute of it!
5 posts, read 18,646 times
Reputation: 12
Quote:
Originally Posted by thereseeliz
I live in the Twin Cities. I had a beach home in the area and love it there. I have been bound here for my kids and the great education we have. My kids go to private schools and as most people know we have an outstanding educational system here. I have been researching a move for a long time and am thinking that now may be the time to make the big jump. I would want to do it before the next school year. I have been looking at the California area because both of my children are pursuing the arts...as in acting/singing. My children also dance and so I need go dance schools. But after researching I dont think the culture there would be good for our family, so I am back to Florida again. I am thinking I would want to rent first to get a feel for the areas. This is the hardest thing I think I will ever do and want to do the absulute best thing for my children. I also am concerned about crime rate, drugs, etc. So far I have managed to have squicky clean kids and am hoping to make it through the high school years with out major drama. Are there any catholic schools there. Or are there any top notch schools that my children would feel at home. Also, we like the beach and not areas with lots of vegitation. I have small dogs as well. Please help
Anyone out there that has picked up there life and moved with the kids wondering if you where doing the right thing? My children are middle school and high school age. Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Hi! We moved to Sarasota a few years ago from Chicago. We have been very happy with our decision and it has to do with the fact that we did a lot of research prior to purchasing our home. Sarasota is a wonderful place to live and raise children. It really has the best of all worlds...perfect weather and a small town feel with big city amenities! Moderator cut: ..
There's only so much people can learn from reading these posts. Ultimately people need to see things first hand. After spending a lot of time in the forum, this member found that Sarasota was nothing like they thought it would be when they finally visited.
Quote:
Originally Posted by caribbeanppl
Hello everyone!
Just got back from Sarasota and I have to say you really have to be at the place yourself to judge it or at least to have your very own opinion. All the help, tips and advice you guys once gave me were very helpful but it wasn't quite the same as to be there. Sarasota was not what we expected in terms of the community. Don't get me wrong, Im sure it works out perfectly for some people. Theres serious traffic going on, almost every place in town closed down by 11:00pm, (not that we are into night life ourselves). I have to say we felt very depressed when we first entered the town. Maybe we were told different by my husband's friend. It is defenitely a place to retire and have surgery and visit all the doctors in the world. We even had to ask for our rent deposit back and luckly we were on time for that.
Anyway, we wanted to make the most out of our stay in Florida and went to Fort Myers to make some research in that area by ourselves and we loved it. It was more like what we are looking for in a town. Now here is the thing, we need help in getting to know the good and the bad areas, about good high schools for our daughter, etc.
Please folks, help us out in this one. We will really appreciate it. Thanks
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.