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Again, I'm not Shekkie, whatever or whoever that is. Just because you keep insisting it, does not make it true. It only shows how ignorant someone is to keep insisting something that is not true after being told many times it is not what they say it is. I joined this site for the 1st time yesterday because I have had it with all the people moving to the area and the ridiculous traffic/lights. If you want to keep saying it, then two can play at that game; YOU are Shekkie, clearly. Ow wow, it really IS easy to just say whatever crap comes to your mind without having to back it up. No wonder so many people are doing it lately...
Again, I'm not Shekkie, whatever or whoever that is. Just because you keep insisting it, does not make it true. It only shows how ignorant someone is to keep insisting something that is not true after being told many times it is not what they say it is. I joined this site for the 1st time yesterday because I have had it with all the people moving to the area and the ridiculous traffic/lights. If you want to keep saying it, then two can play at that game; YOU are Shekkie, clearly. Ow wow, it really IS easy to just say whatever crap comes to your mind without having to back it up. No wonder so many people are doing it lately...
I have no idea who you are, and I don't care.
I do know what you said, and think your argument is flawed.
The issue is not how much worse Sarasota is than it was once, the issue is how much better Sarasota is than where you are now.
Traffic: It can take twenty minutes to drive to and park on Siesta Key from the furthest corner of Sarasota at rush hour. That is as bad as it gets.
Red lights: You can get from 75 to the beach with almost no lights too. Did it last week.
Quality of people: The people here are great. They smile. They say hello. They break for animals. No one pushes you, yells at you or curses.
Not enough restaurants: There are plenty of places to eat and they are very good too. Reservations are easy to get at most. Sure, a few do not take reservations and you can wait an hour at the bar (or two on a holiday). But, that is just a few that Trip Advisor pushes. There are tons that locals know with minimal waiting. Move here and you will know them too. And your point about waiting forever to eat at restaurants is difficult to believe not being a gross exaggeration. I go out to eat here a lot, and at everything from Waffle House to Duval's. Never had a two hour wait. Not even at Walt's (which is not that good).
Not enough land: If you live in an apartment in a city, 1/4 of an acre is a lot of land.
You say the glass is half empty, sorry you are so unhappy. My glass is quite full.
Post script: I am going to the beach today for a two hour lunch break cause I can. NY has 8 inches of snow today. Enough said.
Last edited by Trying941; 02-28-2023 at 09:41 AM..
I do know what you said, and think your argument is inapposite.
The issue is not how much worse Sarasota is than it was once, the issue is how much better Sarasota is than where you are now.
Traffic: It can take twenty minutes to drive to and park on Siesta Key from the furthest corner of Sarasota at rush hour. That is as bad as it gets.
Red lights: You can get from 75 to the beach with almost no lights too. Did it last week.
Quality of people: The people here are great. They smile. They say hello. They break for animals. No one pushes you, yells at you or curses.
Not enough restaurants: There are plenty of places to eat and they are very good too. Reservations are easy to get at most. Sure, a few do not take reservations and you can wait an hour at the bar (or two on a holiday). But, that is just a few that Trip Advisor pushes. There are tons that locals know with minimal waiting. Move here and you will know them too. And your point about waiting forever to eat at restaurants is absurd. I do not believe you. I go out to eat here a lot, and at everything from Waffle House to Duval's. Never had a two hour wait. Not even at Walt's (which is not that good).
Not enough land: If you live in an apartment in a city, 1/4 of an acre is a lot of land.
You say the glass is half empty, sorry you are so unhappy. My glass is quite full.
Post script: I am going to the beach today for a two hour lunch break cause I can. NY has 8 inches of snow today. Enough said.
I cannot disagree with what Shekkie posted up there ^^^...it is mostly fact....might be his finest post ever.
He's frustrated by the extremely heavy tourist/snowbird season we are having, recurring Red Tide (its severe right now), & trying to travel by car anywhere in this forum area...but especially in the City of Sarasota, or just outside the city limits.
The traffic lights ARE purposely timed to stop all traffic at nearly every light so nobody can speed, & they dont have to spend any money enforcing speed limits. The amount of time, productivity, & gas burned by this is maddening. Your effective rate of travel is ~20 mph...like Manhattan.
The frustration magnifies for those of us who have lived here for decades. I've lived here off & on for 40 years, & I think Shekkie has lived here even longer, & w/o leaving for years at a time, like I have. His perspective deserves some respect.
To Northerners who are used to traffic gridlock, high density living, & increasing cost of living, this area will not seem so bad. To us long timers, its
I think the population density the local politicians sold out to is gross negligence. That is the root cause for every issue Shekkie lists.
I don't visit this site regularly enough to know who "shekkie" is, but it seems to me the OP ( Shekkie or not) has described the current scene in Sarasota pretty accurately. Sad, because it was once such a nice place to visit, and from what my friends who live there say, live as well.
I fear the plans are to sooner or later turn the entirety of FL's west coast into this same type of entity. I hope I'm dead by then.
I don't visit this site regularly enough to know who "shekkie" is, but it seems to me the OP ( Shekkie or not) has described the current scene in Sarasota pretty accurately. Sad, because it was once such a nice place to visit, and from what my friends who live there say, live as well.
I fear the plans are to sooner or later turn the entirety of FL's west coast into this same type of entity. I hope I'm dead by then.
Sadly, this is what I believe also. St. Pete is also turning into another Sarasota now with all the big high- rises and gentrification. I expect hubby and I will have passed on about the time that happens.
There was an article in the paper today where Sarasota is trying to figure out how to provide "workforce housing." The situation is already almost at "critical mass" Land is too expensive there for developers to have ANY incentive to provide workforce housing - they want to make their big $$$, sell and move on. Everything being built now, whether downtown or the beaches are high-rise, multi-million $$ condos (and hotels).
My thought would be to re-develop the north Trail that has been languishing for years with zero help from the city, and provide "affordable" housing there. We'll see. Sarasota has a lot of problems with infrastructure and lack of balance. This place suffers from a severe lack of good leadership, and unfortunately has been this way for decades.
I don't visit this site regularly enough to know who "shekkie" is, but it seems to me the OP ( Shekkie or not) has described the current scene in Sarasota pretty accurately. Sad, because it was once such a nice place to visit, and from what my friends who live there say, live as well.
I fear the plans are to sooner or later turn the entirety of FL's west coast into this same type of entity. I hope I'm dead by then.
If you drive up & down I-95 in Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade counties you'll see SW Florida's future, & it ain't pretty. I lived there for 5 yrs during college (in the 80's), & saw it degrading.
There's no stopping it...too much money is at stake for the top 1%.
I just leave when it gets to be too much. I left the Northern burbs of Atlanta when the surface streets became gridlock near our home during rush hour. After our Son graduated H.S., I was gone w/in days.
In season, Tamiami Trail is rough in SRQ, as is Clark, Bee Ridge, Fruitville, & University Pkwy. I try to avoid them as much as possible. I seldom travel North of Clark Road in-season.
I'll bet some retirees thinking about this forum area, come down to check it out, & are turned off by the traffic, over-crowded restaurants, & and now Red Tide. Our forum's attractiveness has recently peaked imho, but its still better than most anywhere else.
If you drive up & down I-95 in Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade counties you'll see SW Florida's future, & it ain't pretty. I lived there for 5 yrs during college (in the 80's), & saw it degrading.
There's no stopping it...too much money is at stake for the top 1%.
I just leave when it gets to be too much. I left the Northern burbs of Atlanta when the surface streets became gridlock near our home during rush hour. After our Son graduated H.S., I was gone w/in days.
In season, Tamiami Trail is rough in SRQ, as is Clark, Bee Ridge, Fruitville, & University Pkwy. I try to avoid them as much as possible. I seldom travel North of Clark Road in-season.
I'll bet some retirees thinking about this forum area, come down to check it out, & are turned off by the traffic, over-crowded restaurants, & and now Red Tide. Our forum's attractiveness has recently peaked imho, but its still better than most anywhere else.
I agree with every word.
The key for those up north is "it's still better than most anywhere else."
And, I see little reason to travel north of Clark in-season (or Proctor/Webber) actually).
If you drive up & down I-95 in Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade counties you'll see SW Florida's future, & it ain't pretty. I lived there for 5 yrs during college (in the 80's), & saw it degrading.
There's no stopping it...too much money is at stake for the top 1%.
I just leave when it gets to be too much. I left the Northern burbs of Atlanta when the surface streets became gridlock near our home during rush hour. After our Son graduated H.S., I was gone w/in days.
In season, Tamiami Trail is rough in SRQ, as is Clark, Bee Ridge, Fruitville, & University Pkwy. I try to avoid them as much as possible. I seldom travel North of Clark Road in-season.
I'll bet some retirees thinking about this forum area, come down to check it out, & are turned off by the traffic, over-crowded restaurants, & and now Red Tide. Our forum's attractiveness has recently peaked imho, but its still better than most anywhere else.
Sadly, I'm all too familiar with what they have done to the I-95 corridors in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. The job I retired from in 2011 had me driving all over those counties ( in addition to Monroe county, but not nearly as much there), it was bad then, and I can imagine it's only gotten worse in the 10 years since we left Miami Dade county for good. I guess I got numb to the traffic and crowds, having to drive in it several days a week ( got to where it would take 4+ hours to get to West Palm Beach from south Miami Dade county, where we lived), and I was convinced with all the aggressive driving and close calls, I'd be killed in a traffic mishap before I was able to retire. But I got there.
And we moved to Charlotte county after we retired, built a house on a 1 acre plot of land just off a tributary of the Peace River. So far our little piece of paradise hasn't been inundated with transplants- though I have seen there is a developer or two that have bought up a number of empty lots in the area and are building, or advertising their plans to build on Zillow and other sites. They're building smallish houses, two to a lot or duplexes in some cases, the area is zoned for low density residential use, but with the finest politicians money can buy that can always be changed. Charlotte,county doesn't have nearly the density ( or the attractiveness to the northeastern "beautiful people" with all the money) that Sarasota, or Naples does, and I always hoped that could save us from the sardine can density the politicians, realtors and investors envision for coastal FL ( probably inland as well), but seeing all the development and speculation for even more, I'm not so sure.
I find myself looking at home as our refuge these days. I don't know where we go from here.
Sadly, this is what I believe also. St. Pete is also turning into another Sarasota now with all the big high- rises and gentrification. I expect hubby and I will have passed on about the time that happens.
There was an article in the paper today where Sarasota is trying to figure out how to provide "workforce housing." The situation is already almost at "critical mass" Land is too expensive there for developers to have ANY incentive to provide workforce housing - they want to make their big $$$, sell and move on. Everything being built now, whether downtown or the beaches are high-rise, multi-million $$ condos (and hotels).
My thought would be to re-develop the north Trail that has been languishing for years with zero help from the city, and provide "affordable" housing there. We'll see. Sarasota has a lot of problems with infrastructure and lack of balance. This place suffers from a severe lack of good leadership, and unfortunately has been this way for decades.
I guess I had assumed anything in Pinellas County had already been built out, given the population. But I guess there's no such concept, there's always room to squeeze in a few more highrises with waterviews as long as there is a square inch of green anywhere around. I haven't been to St. Pete for a few years, but no surprise they are building that out too.
I have to laugh ( more in disgust than anything else) at all the talk about "affordable housing" for the masses that serve the "beautiful people" who CAN afford those multi-million dollar condos out there. As though they really give a ratz AZZ about where these people who provide their services live. I see what's labeled as "affordable" housing projects springing up here in Charlotte county- it's multifamily, high density apartments or condos, as many as can be built on a plot of land, much of it conveniently located close to I-75 exits. Guess they figure if a teacher, fire fighter or police officer can snag one of these units away from the snowbirds looking for an affordable second home, they can commute to their jobs in Sarasota or Naples.
Have they started any development on that north Trail you mentioned, or is it not prime enough real estate?
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