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Old 02-06-2011, 10:40 AM
 
7 posts, read 13,206 times
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We are a family with two small children from europe. My husband is an Italian attorney and I am from Sweden, we have been living outside Tampa (in apollo beach) for nearly 3 years but are thinking to move somewhere else. We do believe it is a little rural here and we are missing a bit of the european lifestyle. If we stay in the westcoast we really like Sarasota, can someone recommend which areas we should look into? Important to us is good schools, nice dining and nice people around.
We have also been thinking of going to the other coast like to Boca Raton, wpb. But we do not know what to expect in the other coast neither do we know Sarasota that much. I have heard sometimes that there is soo many older peopler in Sarasota, we would love to find a neigborhood where there is others in our age. Happy for some advice.
Many regards
Sarah



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Old 02-06-2011, 12:41 PM
 
Location: Palm Island and North Port
7,511 posts, read 22,922,074 times
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Hi Sarah,

Sarasota county has one of the best school systems in the state of Florida. It also has Pine View School for the Gifted, which was ranked the top school in Florida and one of the top schools in the Nation. It is a public school and the requirements are that you live in Sarasota county, have an IQ of 130 or more, pass the achievement tests required and have teacher recommendations. I have two children that attend PV and we are more than pleased with the school. It services grades 2nd-12th. Here's some more info on that subject:
Welcome to Pine View School
Pine View School - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Public Elites - Newsweek.com
Pine View wraps up perfect Olympics | HeraldTribune.com | Sarasota Florida | Southwest Florida's Information Leader
America's Best High Schools: Gold Medal List - US News and World Report

There are many other fantastic school in Sarasota county. Here's a website where you can see how the schools are rated:
School Accountability Report...
or www.GreatSchools.com

Here are the school districts by zone: http://www.sarasotacountyschools.net...lrp/zones.aspx

Alright, if I were checking out schools other than Pine View these are the schools that I would look into, in order. This is also the order they fall in if you look at the stats on the state of FL.

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.

Sarasota ranks as one of the top districts in the state by a number of measures, including test scores, graduation rates and teacher compensation.

It offers distinctive programs tailored to different student needs, including Florida's only school for the gifted, the state's largest special needs school and one of a handful of career-focused high schools.

For Elementary
Southside Elementary
Venice Elementary
Ashton Elementary
Cranberry Elementary (North Port)
Taylor Ranch (southern Sarasota county)
Lakeview Elementary
Gulf Gate Elementary
Laurel Nokomis Elementary (mid Sarasota county)
Tatum Ridge Elementary
Garden Elementary
Phillipi Shores
Fruitville Elementary
Englewood Elementary (southern Sarasota county)

For Middle
Sarasota Middle

High School
Riverview

If you wanted to be in the Southside School district you would need to look around Sarasota Hospital area, close to downtown. 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.

The best website to use when searching for properties is: www.myfloridahomesmls.com

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:

Home
Sarasota Florida Downtown | Shops Downtown, Sarasota Hotel | Downtown Restaurant | Sarasota Rental
Downtown Merchants Association of Sarasota

Palmer Ranch is another good option for families. Specifically Turtle Rock, Stonebridge, Deer Creek and The Hamptons. 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.

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.

If you wanted to go a little farther south into Osprey then I would recommend checking out Rivendell. Many of the Pine View School families live in there.

Hope this helps!
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Old 02-06-2011, 12:58 PM
 
Location: Nokomis Fl
1,008 posts, read 2,634,984 times
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For the east coast take a look at St Augustine a real taste of Europe and history in Florida and best schools in the State
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Old 02-06-2011, 01:06 PM
 
17,534 posts, read 39,131,539 times
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SoFLGal gave a lot of good info. I will say we have a LOT of Europeans living here in Sarasota, and all the ones we have met really LOVE it here. We also have friends from France that bought here and live here half the year. Best place on the Gulf Coast to live, IMO.
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Old 02-07-2011, 08:32 AM
 
7 posts, read 13,206 times
Reputation: 12
Thanks a lot for all advices!
Sarah
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Old 02-09-2011, 07:47 PM
 
7 posts, read 13,206 times
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Dear SoFLGal,
Thanks so much for all the advices. Is any of those neigbourhood you mention closeby water? Do you know some nice neigbourhood close to St Almond that you could recommend?
Thanks and best regard
Sarah
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Old 02-09-2011, 08:30 PM
 
Location: Palm Island and North Port
7,511 posts, read 22,922,074 times
Reputation: 2879
You could bike to St Armand's from any of these neighborhoods and some portion of the neighborhoods are on water:

Bayview
McClellan Park
Oyster Bay Estates
Bungalow Hill
Aqualane Estates
Cherokee Park
Paradise Shores
San Remo Estates
Harbor Acres

If you're trying to be closer to St Armand's you might want to try Bird Key, Lido Key, Golden Gate Point or possibly St Armand's itself.
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Old 02-11-2011, 12:28 PM
 
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SoFLGal

Do you know anything about Wesley Chapel? We are looking to move there from NY with 2 children and love a development called seven oaks.

thanks!
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Old 02-11-2011, 03:20 PM
 
Location: Palm Island and North Port
7,511 posts, read 22,922,074 times
Reputation: 2879
Quote:
Originally Posted by goodbye NJ View Post
SoFLGal

Do you know anything about Wesley Chapel? We are looking to move there from NY with 2 children and love a development called seven oaks.

thanks!
Hi There,

No, unfortunately I'm not familiar with the real estate trends and neighborhoods in the Wesley Chapel area. Pasco county is a little north of where I service-Manatee, Charlotte and Sarasota counties.

If you'd like to DM me I can get you in touch with someone who can help you.
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Old 02-11-2011, 04:27 PM
 
7 posts, read 13,206 times
Reputation: 12
Dear SoFLGal,

We are looking at some properties in Hawks Harbor, are you familiar with this communities?
Thanks again and best regard
Sarah
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