As of right now, I'll be moving there for a job in Jan.

Can those who are from there answer the following questions for me?

- How's the area in general?
- Where are the good fishing spots?
- How's the nightlife?
- How's the cost of living?
- What are some decent apt. complexes? Any w/garages?

I've been there before (went to Ringling 2 yrs. ago) and I thought the area was nice, but I wasn't there long enough to look around.

Any other info. you can give me would be great. Thanks.

 

I'm from Sarasota but now live in Orlando. It's a nice place in general, known for Siesta Beach, a lot of golf courses and Ringling as you know. The night life is way below average IMO, I always ended up at the Cheetah club :-). One small mall (Sarasota Square) . Its close to Tampa area where the night life picks up. Drag strip is about 20 miles away in Bradenton depening on where is Sarasota you are. Anyone I knew who really liked to fish had there own boat, not may lakes that I know of or some fish off the bridge which I never thought was a good place. The area stretches a good distance from Bradenton to Venice so its hard to tell about apartments, I would say the area is generaly over priced. Where are you working?

 

1. smaller town that is growing fast..........bradenton drag strip is 15 mins away, thats always a bonus!

2. i know theres plenty, but i dont fish so i cant help ya

3. nightlife is pathetic at best, theres about 3-5 nightclubs (which are good on certain nights), and a handful of bars (which all are pretty lame). you end up seeing the same crowd every week. if you want more, tampa is only 45 mins away.

4. i would say average.....the low price rental apt or house (that isnt a complete dump) would be around the $6-700 per mo range.

5. just depends what you want to spend..........the newer ones with garages are pretty expensive........if you want a garage, expect it to start at $8-900 a month

 

Forgot to ask the all mighty question, How many cops are there? If you like to street race (which is stupid to begin with) don't. I went on my weekly cruise route, about 30 miles, 29 cops. I don't know about other areas, here you go to jail and they take your car, on the spot for street racing. Stay away from New Town (by Ringling Art School)and a mile radius around it. Depending how far into Sarasota you work, you could live in Bradenton (Manatee County) and save big time on rent and everything else for that matter. Sarasota is one of the west coast areas, money flocks too. The beaches are beautiful, (unfortunitly, the rest of the country knows this too!)the night life isn't soo bad, you can find you thing easly enough. The season is starting again, so watch your blind spots and side roads, you WILL have to lock your brakes to keep from T boning a blue hair. Manatee County (just North of Sarasota county) is the most dangerous place to drive in the country because of the mass of elderly people that live and still drive here. Good luck and welcome aboard.

 

thats no joke!!!!!!............and they have no real police work to do (unless you count munching donuts and drinking coffee as police work)........so they spend their time harrasing people with any sort of traffic citation you can think of.

 

Thanks for the info. so far guys.

I don't street race, so I won't have to worry about having my car taken away and going to jail. Now how bad would that suck?

I was looking into living in Bradenton too; on average, how far is that from Sarasota? The rent there seems slightly cheaper than Sarasota and it looks like there's more apts. to choose from. Also, how far is St. Pete from Sarasota?

If Manatee Co. is the most dangerous place to drive, then my car ins. will most likely go up. Is Sarasota much worse?

Also, what do all of you do for fun out there?

No one answered my question about the fishing yet! I won't be bringing a boat, so are there any jettys or decent places on the intracoastal to go there?

 

bradenton is only like 10 mins north of sarasota........you really cant tell when you leave one and into the other........alot of people live in one and work in the other.

st pete is about 35-45 mins on the highway north.

manatee isnt really any more dangerous than sarasota.

as for the fishing..........theres jettys down in venice (15 mins south of sarasota), and in sarasota there are a few bridges that guys fish off of..........or you can go 30 mins up the highway and theres a lot of fishing off the sunshine skyway pier.

 

Anna Maria Island (accessible from Sarasota or Bradenton) has 3 piers to fish off of. Don't worry about places to fish. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting four bait shops. Plus the local cable has a show or two about local fishing. If you like, give me a email when you get to town, I'll be more than happy to show you around. If you're thinking about living in St Pete and working in Sarasota. You have to include the cost of the skyway 1$ each way (.75, if you buy the sunpass system). The drive gets old, quick, I promise you. I live in Bradenton and work at Bayfront Hospital in St. Pete. Also, a state bear sits on top of the skyway or around the access roads to and from. Where, is your guess. It's about 10 miles long and always under const., so the fines are doubled. Hope that helps.

 

i live in sarasota ...i love it....live east of the 75 about 5 miles.....i dont find it that expensive but i live on Hilton Head Is (South Carolina) so i am comparing it to that ......but good luck hope u find a nice place