Naples vs Sarasota (Whitfield: condo, hotel, college) - Sarasota - Bradenton - Venice area - Florida (FL) -Manatee and Sarasota Counties - City-Data Forum

Coachgns · 11-14-2014, 03:12 PM

I am posting this in both the Sarasota & Naples forums.

Have been in Sarasota for 5 years, and thought I found Paradise. I am a "city" person, but lately, the city of Sarasota seems to be headed in the wrong direction. Every corner in Downtown has a high rise going up. Any green space is occupied by the homeless. EMpty storefronts (with more likely to come thanks to that new Mall) . Traffic is awful even out-of-season, and will surely be worse once these thousands of new units and hotel rooms are built downtown. Noise Pollution is rampant. I know - it is a City, and things like that are to be expected. To an extent, it is what I like about city living -a Vibrant, Alive environment. And I've liked it both in sarasota & manhattan. I was glad to learn that I am not alone - one of my neighbors moved here from Manhattan a year ago, and is leaving because she finds the noise & crowds worse than Manhattan. Another moved from D.C. and is looking for a different place. And yet another moved from downtown which he loved to a gated community south. I can't see myself in a gated community where I can't walk to things. Hopefully, in a couple of years when the building is finished, things will be somewhat better, hopefully with traffic & parking issues addressed by the City (OOPS - expecting too much?). And maybe they'll even do something about the Homeless.

But at the same time, there are so many great things about being downtown - FST, Ballet, Opera, Orchestra, Van Wezel, Players, wonderful restaurants that rival anything in Manhattan, the Ringling Bridge and the Bayfront.

So if anyone has experience in both Naples & Sarasota, I'd like to hear your opinions about how the downtowns compare? Does Naples have as much arts? I think of Naples as higher end galleries & restaurants. Is that right? More expensive than Sarasota? Homeless issues? Tax comparison? And what section of Naples would be the equivalent to Sarasota's downtown?
Any other comparisons would be appreciated.
THANKS

Jo48 · 11-14-2014, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coachgns

I am posting this in both the Sarasota & Naples forums.

Have been in Sarasota for 5 years, and thought I found Paradise. I am a "city" person, but lately, the city of Sarasota seems to be headed in the wrong direction. Every corner in Downtown has a high rise going up. Any green space is occupied by the homeless. EMpty storefronts (with more likely to come thanks to that new Mall) . Traffic is awful even out-of-season, and will surely be worse once these thousands of new units and hotel rooms are built downtown. Noise Pollution is rampant. I know - it is a City, and things like that are to be expected. To an extent, it is what I like about city living -a Vibrant, Alive environment. And I've liked it both in sarasota & manhattan. I was glad to learn that I am not alone - one of my neighbors moved here from Manhattan a year ago, and is leaving because she finds the noise & crowds worse than Manhattan. Another moved from D.C. and is looking for a different place. And yet another moved from downtown which he loved to a gated community south. I can't see myself in a gated community where I can't walk to things. Hopefully, in a couple of years when the building is finished, things will be somewhat better, hopefully with traffic & parking issues addressed by the City (OOPS - expecting too much?). And maybe they'll even do something about the Homeless.

But at the same time, there are so many great things about being downtown - FST, Ballet, Opera, Orchestra, Van Wezel, Players, wonderful restaurants that rival anything in Manhattan, the Ringling Bridge and the Bayfront.

So if anyone has experience in both Naples & Sarasota, I'd like to hear your opinions about how the downtowns compare? Does Naples have as much arts? I think of Naples as higher end galleries & restaurants. Is that right? More expensive than Sarasota? Homeless issues? Tax comparison? And what section of Naples would be the equivalent to Sarasota's downtown?
Any other comparisons would be appreciated.
THANKS

If you are a city person, forget Naples. They may call it a city, but I have lived in suburbs up North which had more people, and more things to do (year round) than Naples. Naples shuts down when not in Season.

imagardener · 11-14-2014, 03:48 PM

I lived in Naples 10 years and the traffic was not quite as intense as Sarasota. There are fewer year round people in Naples plus Naples is more spread out compared to Sarasota.

One of the big differences is that Naples has many large, gated communities and because they have amenities on-site (tennis, pools, some golf) fewer cars make it onto the highways.

In my opinion Sarasota is more "real" than Naples. Naples has a lot of wanna-be's. The Naples art scene is not good art (again-my opinion) I've met more good artists in the Sarasota area than I ever met in Naples. However I think Naples attracts more national rep artists, golfers, tennis players, etc. There is nothing like Ringling College or Ca d'Zan in Naples which I think raises the level of art intelligence and gallery offerings in Sarasota.

But choose Naples if you want less noise, it shuts down around 9 and the police keep it pretty quiet. I never saw any homeless in Naples, they probably put them on a bus to anywhere that isn't Naples. If your political leaning is Republican you will love Naples.

Coachgns · 11-14-2014, 04:17 PM

So far, sounds like I won't be heading to Naples! :-)

photoman_6 · 11-14-2014, 04:42 PM

rest assured, as a former Long Islander, as I think you are also, this truly is paradise compared to naples.

gypsychic · 11-14-2014, 06:05 PM

Sarasota is vibrant, Naples is not. I used to live downtown (Sarasota) years ago, now we live in Whitfield. I would ONE THOUSAND TIMES rather live in Whitfield, even with the airport, than deal with the crap downtown. It only takes 7 minutes to drive downtown. Anyway, I would never even consider Naples. But that's just me.