Lakewood Ranch Named the Nation’s Top-Selling Community (Tampa, Sarasota: transplants, sales)

[wondermint2]

https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/hom...ling-community

Many people have moved to Sarasota and Manatee counties since the Covid-19 pandemic began, and, east of I-75, the latest home sales numbers show it. Lakewood Ranch is the best-selling community in the nation, according to a mid-year survey by the national real estate firm RCLCO. There were 1,535 new home sales through the end of June 2021, surpassing last year’s numbers by 83 percent.

Buyers moving from more urban, high-density cities and communities in California, New Jersey and New York, among others, have found more square footage for their dollar, along with proximity to nature trails and amenities. To date, Lakewood Ranch has three town and shopping centers, a medical center, A-rated schools, the Premier Sports Campus and more than 1,000 businesses.

[KMerendino]

Many experts might suggest that this movement/migration/SALES EVENT accrues very little benefit to others besides developers and sales agents.


Others might argue that explosive growth is damaging the ecology, the infrastructure, the schools, the public services, and the character or Sarasota and Manatee .


Touting house sales in Lakewood Ranch doesn't necessarily translate into a macro positive occurrence many would say.


Sometimes an influx of exuberant and out of control buyers of real estate can have quite negative ramifications.....



Boasting about Lakewood Ranch's "amenities" seems strange unless people have a vested interest.


As a fact, most people here, don't live in Lakewood Ranch and have no interest in cheerleading for LWR....the area is much much more than LWR.



Natives and very long time residents seem to avoid LWR like the plague.


Newcomers are enamored which is great! I don't know if the OP lives in LWR but that's his business, but the likelihood and the overall probability based on participation here is that he does not...and that's quite fine.


In a previous post the OP stated " I live off us 41 in Nokomis" ...that's great I suppose. Touting or bragging about LWR is also great I suppose. Nokomis of course has its own attraction for sure.





As a native and longtime resident, I don't live in that PUD ...i.e. LWR and nor would I for the reasons and stats you pointed out.....among others.


To each his own.

[joshan]

Love it here! One of the best decisions I ever made.

[KMerendino]

Most newbies and transplants are welcomed and decent residents, some are not. Recent local history supports both notions



The landscape of the people moving to LWR is now littered with all kinds - all not being stand-up new citizens.


Most , you like to think and believe that every scammer and quasi-professional moving from their cold, nasty, dangerous hellhole hometowns such as Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul and a few places in NY state might absolutely become effusive and self-congratulatory about the opportunity to move anywhere close to Sarasota-Manatee - including Lakewood Ranch.



I don't blame transplants from warzone-like , poorly run Chicago to be giddy with relief to the point of disorientation....finally they have an opportunity to leave crime and chaos.


By comparison, LWR is nirvana....no doubt....what's NOT to love?



Welcome!

[BP1968]

Originally Posted by KMerendino

Most newbies and transplants are welcomed and decent residents, some are not. Recent local history supports both notions

The landscape of the people moving to LWR is now littered with all kinds - all not being stand-up new citizens.

Most , you like to think and believe that every scammer and quasi-professional moving from their cold, nasty, dangerous hellhole hometowns such as Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul and a few places in NY state might absolutely become effusive and self-congratulatory about the opportunity to move anywhere close to Sarasota-Manatee - including Lakewood Ranch.

I don't blame transplants from warzone-like , poorly run Chicago to be giddy with relief to the point of disorientation....finally they have an opportunity to leave crime and chaos.

By comparison, LWR is nirvana....no doubt....what's NOT to love?

Welcome!

If you are going to make this generalized statement:
"The landscape of the people moving to LWR is now littered with all kinds - all not being stand-up new citizens."

Please let us know how many people YOU actually know that live in LWR that fit this criteria?

[KMerendino]

Originally Posted by BP1968

If you are going to make this generalized statement:
"The landscape of the people moving to LWR is now littered with all kinds - all not being stand-up new citizens."

Please let us know how many people YOU actually know that live in LWR that fit this criteria?

"let us KNOW" ??? what? why on earth would I have an obligation or desire to do that?


Your inquiry can be easily answered by reading local newspapers such as the Herald Tribune, The Observer, and many other sources such as SNN, Sarasota Patch, Reddit, WWSB ABC 7, 8 On YOUR SIDE,
WFLA/Nextar, CrimeMapping.com, CrimeGrade.org, spotCrime.com. SarasotaCrimeStoppers.com, and others.


I do know that the Manatee Sheriff's website covers law enforcement for most all of LakeWood Ranch. It's very revealing and helpful. On this site you can even know about dispatched calls in LWR on ANY street.



Another source for you is the Office of Financial Management and the Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller...both counties.


Lakewood Ranch is not anywhere near immune from attracting shady and questionable residents - to the contrary - just ask the SAO, or the sheriff's office for direct, public information - that's the best source for accurate information about "who" fits "this criteria". I already did my own research. I suggest you might want to do the same. The information is readily available for you.

[beach43ofus]

I was once told ~4 years ago by a Realtor who lived in Lakewood Ranch that he wished he never bought there because the roads were not keeping up with all the new cars. He said he drove many miles out of his way to avoid traffic gridlock, on a daily basis.

LR was a bit too far from the beach for me this time around (I lived in LR before it existed 25 years ago!), so I wasn't really considering it anyways. I have gone to Lake Club to look at models for decorating ideas, have attended art shows and car shows in LR, and enjoyed them all.

I'm glad the developer, builders, and Realtors, are raking it in there, because it helps our local economy.

I'm wondering if the new work-from-home trend is alleviating the traffic problems there, & if that could be helping sales?

Or, has there been a of road improvements in the past 4 years?

I'm guessing most LR residents are not retirees. It seemed much younger to me, so they are still working, but I've not heard much about the traffic there in quite a while, likely due to covid.

I see the backups along I-75 at University Pwky, 70, & 64, but I dont get off the interstate, so I don't know what the local roads are like.

The new growth in LR seems to be pushing Southward into Sarasota County, but is it still pushing Eastward too?

[joshan]

I can only speak to the last 18 months or so, but the traffic in LWR itself seems pretty much non-existent. Now if you are on i-75 or in UTC, yes there is a lot of traffic in those areas during peak hours for sure. But you still get where you need to fairly easily.

Most of the roads around my house are 4 lanes wide and there are not even any houses on them yet, 70 is 6 lanes wide. They really seem to be accounting for traffic before it happens.

Now if I had to drive into Tampa every day for work, I may be talking differently... I work from Home.

The worst traffic I see, is trying to get out to the beaches in Sarasota.

[FeRail]

It's getting very crowded in Lakewood Ranch now with the development. I remember during the late 2000s that the area emitted a pure country vibe; it doesn't feel that way anymore. It was also far less crowded during that time.


Parrish used to be an ordinary Florida country town but is now experiencing major growth. Lakewood Ranch is now extending east to Lake Manatee State Park and south into Sarasota County. However, Myakka City and the far eastern portions of Manatee and Sarasota Counties really haven't changed at all over the past 15 years.



Now we have some major work on 44th Avenue East connecting Bradenton with Lakewood Ranch which would alleviate the traffic on S.R. 70 and S.R. 64.

[wondermint2]

Looks like traffic increasing in Manatee County will be inevitable.

Should developers push forward with master-planned communities in Manatee? Some residents oppose the proposals

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/...ee/7948319002/

As new residents flock to Manatee, developers are pushing forward with plans to bring tens of thousands of new homes and commercial space to land that's historically been used for agriculture.

The proposals have drawn fierce opposition from residents, including a nonprofit called Preserve Our Wildlife Environment and Resources, who oppose development in rural areas east of the urban boundary line. They fear the uptick in new development could alter the characteristics of Manatee County.

“All these impacts are there — the traffic, and the schools are very crowded,” said Meredith Barcomb, a spokeswoman for the preservation group. “We don't have (the) infrastructure yet to support everything.”