relocating to sarasota (North Port, Venice, Englewood: house, neighborhoods, buy)

[junegirl]

My husb and I are considering a move to Sarasota in the next year. Have checked out diff areas of Florida and this is the best place for his business at this time. We thought Sarasota seemed more family friendly than other areas, Venice/Englewood. Is this accurate? And if so, what neighborhoods would you recommend us checking out. We want safe, friendly areas. Have 2 small kids but the oldest won't be in kindergarten until next year. Any school recommendations would be helpful as well. Thanks a lot.

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by junegirl

My husb and I are considering a move to Sarasota in the next year. Have checked out diff areas of Florida and this is the best place for his business at this time. We thought Sarasota seemed more family friendly than other areas, Venice/Englewood. Is this accurate? And if so, what neighborhoods would you recommend us checking out. We want safe, friendly areas. Have 2 small kids but the oldest won't be in kindergarten until next year. Any school recommendations would be helpful as well. Thanks a lot.

I would probably stay in Sarasota, Osprey or North Port if you have kids. Recommendations for neighborhoods would be Southside Village in Sarasota, Turtle Rock or Stonebridge in Palmer Ranch in Sarasota, Rivendell in Osprey.If I'm just going on your above criteria I would suggest those areas. But there are other things that would need to be considered like your price range, style of home, if you wanted to live in a community, how far you wanted to be from the beaches, etc

No as far as schools go. One of the best schools in the Nation is right in Osprey, Pine View School for the Gifted. It's a public school that has grades 2nd-12th. It does require testing for entrance and that you live in Sarasota county. I have two children that attend and we love it.

Other schools in the area that might be of interest are: Southside Elementary, Aston Elementary and Laurel Nokomis.

You can go here: School Accountability Report... to see how the state has rated the local schools and here: www.greatschools.com for some more opinions on specific schools.

Good luck with your search!

[junegirl]

thanks a lot for the info. i have heard great things about that school in osprey----we'd like a ranch house about 275-300,000 and in a neighborhood..i would like to be 10-15 min away from beaches-----from the research i have been doing, sounds like people really like sarasota for raising kids.....what about crime? any particular areas there to rule out??

[JesseS]

Ill be honest. My wife and I moved down 6years ago. Weve lived in Venice, and Sarasota(Palmer Ranch) and in a nice area off of Bee Ridge. Its not a family friendly town. Your neighbors tend to hide, be more self absorbed. People here arnt super friendly.
Im sure ill get some interesting comments, buy we own homes in other states. And NONE of our friends or neighbors are like the people here. If it wasnt for our jobs, we wouldnt be here.

[tommy-105]

Originally Posted by JesseS

Ill be honest. My wife and I moved down 6years ago. Weve lived in Venice, and Sarasota(Palmer Ranch) and in a nice area off of Bee Ridge. Its not a family friendly town. Your neighbors tend to hide, be more self absorbed. People here arnt super friendly.
Im sure ill get some interesting comments, buy we own homes in other states. And NONE of our friends or neighbors are like the people here. If it wasnt for our jobs, we wouldnt be here.

Your not alone in thinking this about your Floridian neighbors. This topic seems to come up quite often. (You might want to fix the typo in your post so that your position is clearer).

I wonder if concerns over jobs and finances are the reason for people being "self absorbed". Could what your seeing be attributed to the low pay vs cost of living in Florida? Are people just too busy trying to make a living?
What other areas are you comparing your area to?

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by JesseS

Ill be honest. My wife and I moved down 6years ago. Weve lived in Venice, and Sarasota(Palmer Ranch) and in a nice area off of Bee Ridge. Its not a family friendly town. Your neighbors tend to hide, be more self absorbed. People here arnt super friendly.
Im sure ill get some interesting comments, buy we own homes in other states. And NONE of our friends or neighbors are like the people here. If it wasnt for our jobs, we wouldnt be here.

You probably just didn't pick the right neighborhood. We live up in Whitfield Estates, and when we moved in EVERY SINGLE ONE of our immediate neighbors came over to meet us, brought us cookies etc. at Christmas and are always there to help us any way they can. It's the friendliest neighborhood I have ever lived in. I don't think anyone should make sweeping statements about a city or town based on one neighborhood. We love it here - it is very family friendly and eclectic with people of all ages and incomes represented. We feel so fortunate to live here.

Also, maybe what one interprets as "self-absorbed" is just that some people think people want their privacy? Try being more out-going and see what happens, you just might make some friends!