St. Pete vs. Tampa vs. Sarasota (home, neighborhood, private school)

[blakesq]

HI All,

Family (wife, 3 year old boy, and grandma) and I are thinking of moving south from New England. I have my own patent and trademark law practice. Wife and mother-in-law love Sarasota, don't like Tampa, and don't know much about St. Pete. By the way, we will probably be putting our boy in private school.

For my law practice, I would prefer to be closer to large population centers, 80% of clients tend to be within 1/2 hour drive of my office here in New England, although I do have clients all over the USA.

I am worried if we move to Sarasota, that will be too far for people to come from the Tampa/St. Pete metro area. I guess one option is, if we do move to Sarasota, I can have a virtual office in Tampa/St. Pete to meet clients.

So, my questions are, how is quality of life compared between the 3 cities. How are the economies in each of the 3 cities, and do people easily drive from St. Pete and Tampa to Sarasota for business? Thanks in advance!

[algia10]

I think you would be fine in Sarasota....you have both I-75, and I-275 which if you're not stuck in the rush hour traffic, they are both very nice rides there.

If I had to choose between these 3, I would choose Sarasota.

[gulfer]

Sarasota and Tampa to me have very different feels. Sarasota is a retirement center, albeit does have other things that a smaller city would have including business, etc... Tampa is a major city with all the surrounding areas to support it. Honestly, a 30 minute drive through both areas and you will see a difference.

Do people drive from Sarasota to Tampa for work: Maybe a small number, but my guess, and it is strictly a guess, is no. If you're information shows you that clients are within 30 mins. I would say Tampa will be better for business.

I have a hard time with the quality of life question. I think that depends so much on the individual. I love going to Sarasota it just seems relaxing to me all over that area. Tampa seems 'busier'. There are plenty of locations to hit the beach, enjoy a nice dinner, walk, bike, etc... in each areas. For the Tampa area, a lot of locations outside the city have major subdivisions with thier own local stores, food places, etc...

I live North of Tampa in Land O Lakes. It is a rural feel, but I can be down to the city on a good traffic day in less than 30 mins. I am fortunate that I do not have to commute each day as traffic is 'thick' during peak periods.

[BBI]

Originally Posted by blakesq

HI All,

Family (wife, 3 year old boy, and grandma) and I are thinking of moving south from New England. I have my own patent and trademark law practice. Wife and mother-in-law love Sarasota, don't like Tampa, and don't know much about St. Pete. By the way, we will probably be putting our boy in private school.

For my law practice, I would prefer to be closer to large population centers, 80% of clients tend to be within 1/2 hour drive of my office here in New England, although I do have clients all over the USA.

I am worried if we move to Sarasota, that will be too far for people to come from the Tampa/St. Pete metro area. I guess one option is, if we do move to Sarasota, I can have a virtual office in Tampa/St. Pete to meet clients.

So, my questions are, how is quality of life compared between the 3 cities. How are the economies in each of the 3 cities, and do people easily drive from St. Pete and Tampa to Sarasota for business? Thanks in advance!

Very few people drive to Sarasota for business. Sarasota is a small town that's mostly retirees. There are few businesses there, and there are much larger legal communities in St. Pete and especially Tampa. I'm not sure how you plan to market your practice, but, in your shoes, my expectation would be that no one from St. Pete or Tampa is going to drive to Sarasota to see you.

Lots of people do commute from Sarasota and surrounding areas to Tampa or St. Pete. It's 45 minutes from downtown St. Pete to downtown Sarasota at off hours. At least an hour at rush hour; probably more like an hour fifteen. I've never driven from Sarasota to Tampa, but would expect it to be an hour at off-hours and at least an hour and a half at rush hour.

Quality of life is neighborhood-specific; it's impossible to generalize across an entire city. What neighborhood(s) in Sarasota did you like? What neighborhood(s) in Tampa did you hate? What's the ideal neighborhood for you? What's your housing budget and an acceptable home (re sqft, beds, etc.) within that budget?