Sarasota
General Overview
Sarasota is located on Florida's West Coast approximately one hour south of
Tampa and two hours from Orlando by automobile. Both residents and tourists can travel by air by all national carriers from The Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ). The Sarasota Tampa Express provides motor coach transportation in and around Sarasota.
Sarasota is the largest city within Sarasota County and accounts for 563 square miles and has a population of 315,000 residents approximately. Residents flock to Sarasota for it's reputation as the "Cultural Center of Florida" as well as its luxurious resorts, fine arts, great shopping and prestigious waterfront properties.
With over 35 miles of sandy white prestine beaches and 150 miles of waterfront, there are many recreational opportunities in Sarasota. Sarasota demonstrates a strong sense of natural environment preservation by it's many organizations.
The Myakka Conservancy,is one of the larger environmental organizations in Sarasota dedicated to the preservation of the Myakka River and its surrounding
watershed.
Sarasota Housing
The greater Sarasota area is both a resort and residential area that includes six barrier islands (known as Keys) and numerous distinctive communities. Throughout Sarasota, private dwellings reflects contemporary, Spanish and Mediterranean styles.
There are many high-rise condominiums, gated, golf and master-planned communities in Sarasota offering different types of homes such as condominiums, attached, single family homes and villas. Waterfront properties that feature private docks are plentiful and are extremely attractive to boaters.
The Sarasota area is served by a Real Estate Multiple Listing Service, (MLS) and links to them can be found on this site at: www.housesandhomes.com/real-estate/Sarasota
/tuc.listings/html.
Townships Surrounding Sarasota
Sarasota has six very distinctive areas including
Longboat Key, Casey Key, Lido Key, St. Armands Key, and Siesta Key. Within each of these locales are master-planned neighborhoods, golf communites, gated communities as well as subdivisions all with their own individual aura and style. Our towns and villages page accurately describes these areas as well as more specific descriptions on our gated, golf, condominium and new construction pages.
Sarasota Climate and Weather
Located at 18 miles above sea level, the average year-round temperature for Sarasota, Florida is 71 degrees. Temperatures in Sarasota County average 61.5 degrees in January and 80 degrees in August.
Sarasota's Average Annual Rainfall is 57.11 inches, mostly occuring in the summer afternoons.
Sarasota
Attractions
Art and Culture is abundant in Sarasota. The combination of an affluent and well educated populace has led to the development of many cultural opportunities in Sarasota as well as artist communities. Sarasota is know as the "Cultural Center of Florida" and has attracted many authors, artists and famous celebrities to visit and reside there.
For sports enthusiasts Ed Smith Stadium is the home of the Sarasota Red Sox where you can watch some great baseball. For spectators, there is The Tampa Bay Bucaneers and the Cincinatti Reds Spring Training to watch in action. Golfing is big in Sarasota and there are over 80 golf courses in the greater Sarasota area. Of course, sport fishing is big and there are plenty of public and private marinas to catch a boat charter from.
Auto Racing enthusiasts can watch some great races at the Desoto Speedway in Bradenton. For those seeking a historical visit, the Historic Spanish Point offers tours, botanical gardens, Archaeology Exhibits and nature trails. Kids will enjoy going to Circus Sarasota, The Gulfcoast Wonder & Imagination Zone, Sarasota Jungle Gardens and tours at local citrus fruit growers. There are many more attractions in the Sarasota area that is listed on our recreation page.
Sarasota
Education
From the University of Sarasota
to kindergarten, Sarasota
offers high quality education. There are twenty elementary schools, six middle school and four high schools located in Sarasota. Sarasota is part of the Sarasota County School District. For some of the best links where you can get detailed information about the school district, statistics and scores, go to http://housesandhomes.com/real-estate/Sarasota/tuc_scroll_school.html.
Sarasota
Employment
Sarasota County offers numerous business and employment opportunities with room to grow. Fortunate to have a wealth of options for office and industrial space, Sarasota County has more than 7,500 acres of land that have been earmarked for business development. Commercial parks that are already established in Sarasota include: Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park, Laurel-Nokomis Industrial Park, Sarasota Interstate Regional Office Park, Jacaranda Commercial Center, Sarasota County Interstate Business Center, The Laurel Interchange Business Center, and North Port Industrial Park.
In the recent past, there have been many publications such as Money magazine naming Sarasota as the 21st Best Place to Live in the U.S..Additionally,Expansion Management magazine’s Annual Education Issue (December 1998) named the Sarasota County public school system as the best public school system in the state of Florida, two years consecutively. Sarasota County School system can be grouped with some of the best school districts in the nation. Having a well-ranked school system is a very strong pull for companies seeking new employees as well as retaining existing personnel.
Another plus for Sarasota county in terms of employment is the continual upward job growth rate which currently is approximately 6.83%.
