City of Sarasota, ST Armands and LongBow Key..

[Teacher Terry]

Shock, I was thinking the same thing. I like to leave the house around 10-11. I don’t want to be out early or have to shop in the rain.

 

[Huston55]

Years ago I worked for a great guy who old me he wanted to retire in the city. As a country boy at heart It was always difficult for me to understand. The city to me was crime, congestion and expense and of course no fishing (yeah I am that simple guy). I can see the lure of it now... allow me to explain.

DW & I visited the Sarasota area (downtown Sarasota + Siesta & Longboat Kesey) three times from ~2000-2013 with an eye toward FIREing there. We long ago became “city dwellers” because we saw the allure of being able to live in a vibrant, walkable place that enabled us to minimize time in the car; we’ve been able to do that several times, and much prefer it to sterile suburban living. During our last trip ~2013, we focused on downtown Sarasota & found a place that would meet all our requirements...except for personal connections (we have none there). So, we returned to the SF Bay Area instead. However, downtown Sarasota checked all the other boxes for us and, would be a great fit for many folks looking for a vibrant urban lifestyle.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Shock, I was thinking the same thing. I like to leave the house around 10-11. I don’t want to be out early or have to shop in the rain.

That really is the ONLY disadvantage of the West Coast of FLA. It is such a beautiful area, but the crowds and traffic during the on season was the biggest and only deterrent, which is why we chose the Northeast. We are fortunate as about 30-50 miles north (JAX) and south (Daytona) of us is getting bad. For some reason it has not reached us yet, we do get a lot of snowbirds, but way less than the West coast.