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Old 07-10-2011, 07:20 PM
 
879 posts, read 1,953,577 times
Reputation: 188

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Quote:
Originally Posted by SoFLGal View Post
Yeah, no kidding! I actually wore my insulated parka the last two winters. I've only seen snow once in my life but I felt like it was going to snow for a few days this past winter.
we saw people wearing coats too but it wasn't that cold for us and we really didn't think it was going to snow LOL but it did get chilly and we welcomed the break since it was our first winter here
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Old 07-10-2011, 08:19 PM
 
Location: Palm Island and North Port
7,511 posts, read 22,922,074 times
Reputation: 2879
Quote:
Originally Posted by jnanner View Post
we saw people wearing coats too but it wasn't that cold for us and we really didn't think it was going to snow LOL but it did get chilly and we welcomed the break since it was our first winter here
I would guess I'm a bet of a wimp in the cold department. If it gets a degree below 60, I'm freezing. I don't tolerate cold very well. I don't know how anyone tolerates snow on a yearly basis. I suppose people say the same thing about the heat.

There's a picture a friend took of me and a bunch of the home school mommies at the park and everyone have lightweight shirts on and I had my big parka on.
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Old 07-10-2011, 09:31 PM
 
Location: Sarasota area
360 posts, read 1,909,283 times
Reputation: 229
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoFLGal View Post
I would guess I'm a bet of a wimp in the cold department. If it gets a degree below 60, I'm freezing. I don't tolerate cold very well. I don't know how anyone tolerates snow on a yearly basis. I suppose people say the same thing about the heat.

There's a picture a friend took of me and a bunch of the home school mommies at the park and everyone have lightweight shirts on and I had my big parka on.
lol I haven't had to wear a heavy coat since I've been here, just a thick hoodie or jacket the past 2 winters. But I'm used to more bitter cold up north so that's probably why.

A few mornings during those cold fronts here I've had to run out and turn on the heat in the car for 5 or 10 minutes just to toast things up inside but it's NOTHING like having to scrape and dig yourself out for 30 minutes like all those bitter winter mornings up in Ohio before going to work etc. And by noon down here it would be back up in the 70's usually and excellent outdoor weather I think.
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Old 07-10-2011, 09:46 PM
 
Location: Sarasota/ Bradenton - University Pkwy area
4,615 posts, read 7,539,060 times
Reputation: 6036
Originally Posted by narwhals
Excuse me for my really aggressive sarcasm here, and for my attitude about this place in general but this is the opinion of a 24 year old female that was born in sarasota.

yeah sarasota has so much identity, a bunch of old white people with too much money and time on their hands so they drive around slowly and aimlessly and get in your way. there are no jobs here and the "art" scene is dominated by the old people who just want to look at landscapes and pretty flowers.

oh and ps, the person that said its not a tourist trap is lying. sarasota's economy depends heavily on snowbirds and tourism, this place is dead in summers and then packed in the winter.

the ONLY saving grace of this town is the beach, and the beach alone.



Everyone is entitled to their own opinion regarding Sarasota. Having lived outside of FL for almost 30 years before moving here and traveling to many of the other 50 states, I do have a different perspective of Sarasota than narwhals.

As to the bunch of old white people, I don't know what circles you travel in, but I've found our area to be quite diverse in age groups as well as ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I've met people from Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, Japan and Viet Nam, to name a few. I see as many young families out and about as retirees.

As for traffic, I don't find the seniors any more hazardous than younger people texting while driving . You want to see traffic, visit Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta or L.A. during rush hour - I've been stuck in traffic jams in all 4 cities at one time or another. Sarasota is easy by comparison.

As to the art scene, there are many things for people to do, no matter what the age. I wouldn't call all of the events at the Van Wezel for "old folks." Nor the Sarasota Dance Theatre or FL Studio Theatre. Then there's McCurdy's Comedy Theatre. The Ringling College puts on lots of student exhibits. Towles Court has an active artist colony. Ever attend the Sarasota Blues Festival? It attracts people of all ages.

For a city it's size, Sarasota is one of the better cultural centers in Florida. Sarasota also has access to just about any type of outdoor activity you can think of to do, except maybe rock climbing or snow skiing.

As to the weather - Tampa seems to be a sort of dividing line for freezing weather (most winters). You'll find much more tropical landscaping south of Tampa than north for a reason. We're considered more of a tropical zone. The panhandle always has colder winters than we do.

I know several people that moved to states north and northeast of here in search of something "better." Over time, most have moved back. I guess sometimes you just have to see for yourself whether the grass on the other side of the fence is really greener.

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Old 07-11-2011, 07:22 AM
 
17,534 posts, read 39,131,539 times
Reputation: 24289
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunshine Rules View Post
Originally Posted by narwhals
Excuse me for my really aggressive sarcasm here, and for my attitude about this place in general but this is the opinion of a 24 year old female that was born in sarasota.

yeah sarasota has so much identity, a bunch of old white people with too much money and time on their hands so they drive around slowly and aimlessly and get in your way. there are no jobs here and the "art" scene is dominated by the old people who just want to look at landscapes and pretty flowers.

oh and ps, the person that said its not a tourist trap is lying. sarasota's economy depends heavily on snowbirds and tourism, this place is dead in summers and then packed in the winter.

the ONLY saving grace of this town is the beach, and the beach alone.



Everyone is entitled to their own opinion regarding Sarasota. Having lived outside of FL for almost 30 years before moving here and traveling to many of the other 50 states, I do have a different perspective of Sarasota than narwhals.

As to the bunch of old white people, I don't know what circles you travel in, but I've found our area to be quite diverse in age groups as well as ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I've met people from Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, Japan and Viet Nam, to name a few. I see as many young families out and about as retirees.

As for traffic, I don't find the seniors any more hazardous than younger people texting while driving . You want to see traffic, visit Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta or L.A. during rush hour - I've been stuck in traffic jams in all 4 cities at one time or another. Sarasota is easy by comparison.

As to the art scene, there are many things for people to do, no matter what the age. I wouldn't call all of the events at the Van Wezel for "old folks." Nor the Sarasota Dance Theatre or FL Studio Theatre. Then there's McCurdy's Comedy Theatre. The Ringling College puts on lots of student exhibits. Towles Court has an active artist colony. Ever attend the Sarasota Blues Festival? It attracts people of all ages.

For a city it's size, Sarasota is one of the better cultural centers in Florida. Sarasota also has access to just about any type of outdoor activity you can think of to do, except maybe rock climbing or snow skiing.

As to the weather - Tampa seems to be a sort of dividing line for freezing weather (most winters). You'll find much more tropical landscaping south of Tampa than north for a reason. We're considered more of a tropical zone. The panhandle always has colder winters than we do.

I know several people that moved to states north and northeast of here in search of something "better." Over time, most have moved back. I guess sometimes you just have to see for yourself whether the grass on the other side of the fence is really greener.
Great post - reps to you!
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Old 07-11-2011, 11:05 AM
 
14 posts, read 30,055 times
Reputation: 22
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunshine Rules View Post
Originally Posted by narwhals
Excuse me for my really aggressive sarcasm here, and for my attitude about this place in general but this is the opinion of a 24 year old female that was born in sarasota.

yeah sarasota has so much identity, a bunch of old white people with too much money and time on their hands so they drive around slowly and aimlessly and get in your way. there are no jobs here and the "art" scene is dominated by the old people who just want to look at landscapes and pretty flowers.

oh and ps, the person that said its not a tourist trap is lying. sarasota's economy depends heavily on snowbirds and tourism, this place is dead in summers and then packed in the winter.

the ONLY saving grace of this town is the beach, and the beach alone.



Everyone is entitled to their own opinion regarding Sarasota. Having lived outside of FL for almost 30 years before moving here and traveling to many of the other 50 states, I do have a different perspective of Sarasota than narwhals.

As to the bunch of old white people, I don't know what circles you travel in, but I've found our area to be quite diverse in age groups as well as ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I've met people from Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, Japan and Viet Nam, to name a few. I see as many young families out and about as retirees.

As for traffic, I don't find the seniors any more hazardous than younger people texting while driving . You want to see traffic, visit Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta or L.A. during rush hour - I've been stuck in traffic jams in all 4 cities at one time or another. Sarasota is easy by comparison.

As to the art scene, there are many things for people to do, no matter what the age. I wouldn't call all of the events at the Van Wezel for "old folks." Nor the Sarasota Dance Theatre or FL Studio Theatre. Then there's McCurdy's Comedy Theatre. The Ringling College puts on lots of student exhibits. Towles Court has an active artist colony. Ever attend the Sarasota Blues Festival? It attracts people of all ages.

For a city it's size, Sarasota is one of the better cultural centers in Florida. Sarasota also has access to just about any type of outdoor activity you can think of to do, except maybe rock climbing or snow skiing.

As to the weather - Tampa seems to be a sort of dividing line for freezing weather (most winters). You'll find much more tropical landscaping south of Tampa than north for a reason. We're considered more of a tropical zone. The panhandle always has colder winters than we do.

I know several people that moved to states north and northeast of here in search of something "better." Over time, most have moved back. I guess sometimes you just have to see for yourself whether the grass on the other side of the fence is really greener.

why does everyone compare sarasota to big cities, you said chicago, la and other people have said new york. obviously I know that those cities have a larger population and worse traffic, obviously. I wasn't comparing but all of you feel the need to compare. and your comparisions are ridiculous, sarasota is never going to compare to those cities.

I don't know why everyone is convinced Sarasota is in some way ahead artistically. I can't argue with people about this because its subjective. Maybe to all of you the art scene in Sarasota is great and flourishing but as an artist that is just breaking into the scene, it has not served me well. In high school I felt that there was much more support but I have entered a number of art shows since coming back after getting my bachelors of fine art and have been sorely disappointed by the other art being presented and the judges' choices (and I'm not saying that I don't agree with the judges not picking my art, there are other artists in Sarasota that I respect and enjoy their work but they aren't getting the support they deserve either)

Population breakdown:
76.91% White
16.02% African American,
0.35% Native American,
1.02% Asian,
0.05% Pacific Islander,
3.74% from other races

65 and over 30%
45 to 64 27%
25 to 44 21%
18 to 24 6%
Under 18 17%

So if 77% of the people are white and 57% of the population is over 45, yeah this isn't place is filled with old white people. Facts don't lie people.
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Old 07-11-2011, 12:09 PM
 
Location: Englewood, FL
1,464 posts, read 1,842,191 times
Reputation: 985
Quote:
Originally Posted by narwhals View Post
why does everyone compare sarasota to big cities, you said chicago, la and other people have said new york. obviously I know that those cities have a larger population and worse traffic, obviously. I wasn't comparing but all of you feel the need to compare. and your comparisions are ridiculous, sarasota is never going to compare to those cities.

I don't know why everyone is convinced Sarasota is in some way ahead artistically. I can't argue with people about this because its subjective. Maybe to all of you the art scene in Sarasota is great and flourishing but as an artist that is just breaking into the scene, it has not served me well. In high school I felt that there was much more support but I have entered a number of art shows since coming back after getting my bachelors of fine art and have been sorely disappointed by the other art being presented and the judges' choices (and I'm not saying that I don't agree with the judges not picking my art, there are other artists in Sarasota that I respect and enjoy their work but they aren't getting the support they deserve either)

Population breakdown:
76.91% White
16.02% African American,
0.35% Native American,
1.02% Asian,
0.05% Pacific Islander,
3.74% from other races

65 and over 30%
45 to 64 27%
25 to 44 21%
18 to 24 6%
Under 18 17%

So if 77% of the people are white and 57% of the population is over 45, yeah this isn't place is filled with old white people. Facts don't lie people.
Since when is 45 old?? Maybe to a 12 year old.
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Old 07-11-2011, 12:32 PM
 
14 posts, read 30,055 times
Reputation: 22
On the scale of age its older than me, and the percentage is stating that in all of Sarasota, 57% of the people are OVER 45. This doesn't mean they are 45. and the percentage that are over 65 is a larger percentage than those that are 45-65. My point was that there are a lot of retirees here. How can you guys possibly try to argue with this. Its a known fact that Florida is filled with retirees/snow birds. Why is this offensive? Real talk.
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Old 07-11-2011, 12:32 PM
 
Location: Montgomery Village
4,112 posts, read 4,474,745 times
Reputation: 1712
I was always curious what it is like living in a tourist town as your home. I like Destin and visit there all the time. Never been to Sarasota. I'm curious also, does everyone travel to the tampa area for work mostly if they aren't retired?
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Old 07-11-2011, 01:05 PM
 
1,235 posts, read 3,679,007 times
Reputation: 976
Quote:
Originally Posted by narwhals View Post
On the scale of age its older than me, and the percentage is stating that in all of Sarasota, 57% of the people are OVER 45. This doesn't mean they are 45. and the percentage that are over 65 is a larger percentage than those that are 45-65. My point was that there are a lot of retirees here. How can you guys possibly try to argue with this. Its a known fact that Florida is filled with retirees/snow birds. Why is this offensive? Real talk.
Respectfully, if you are 24, you'll be hard pressed to find ANY city in the US with a median demographic your age. Frankly, 40's is pretty average & not considered an old demographic. If you have never lived anywhere else besides Sarasota, I suggest you "get out there" in the world. You are not unlike many young 20-somethings that are disgruntled with the area you were raised in & can't wait to get out of. In fact, I'd say that is the norm. You are old enough to move away, so why don't you? I turned 38 last week- I know I sound old to you- but I have elementary aged children & we've had no problem finding young couples with kids here. As with anywhere in FL, you will have a large amount of retirees/snowbirds. That's just life here.
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