Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Sarasota Real Estate:Living in Sarasota

Sarasota is a small city in the Tampa Bay are and tourists have considered it as ?the ultimate beach town,? with its sun-kissed location on the Gulf of Mexico, more than 200 sunny days annually and an average year-round temperature of 71 Fahrenheit. The Sarasota county, which includes Venice, Northport, Longboat and Siesta Keys, has its own ballet, symphony, and opera companies. The 1800 seat Van Wezel Performing Arts Center attracts productions like the Broadway road company of Chicago. The Ringling Museum of Art, which was established by circus baron John Ringling who settled in the area in the 1920s, features an extensive collection of American and European art. If you are a sports aficionado, just an hour away from Sarasota you can witness games of the NFL?s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and arena football's Storm. The lifestyle is relatively affordable than other busy cities in the United States. With respect to other towns and cities within the Tampa Bay area, however, Sarasota does not fair much. In a cost of living composite index published in the first quarter of 2005, Sarasota scores at 105.7, which is higher than Bradenton, St. Petersburg-Clearwater and Tampa. The national average is at 100. In terms of housing, Sarasota also did not come out cheap with a 119.8 index as compared to less than a hundred for St. Petersburg-Clearwater and Tampa. Nevertheless, real estate agents in Sarasota apparently boast of low median housing prices, typically advertised around $126,000. Furthermore, Sarasota is the kind of place where one can acquire a nice, brand-new home for $200,000. Living in Sarasota is quite locally expensive, but nonetheless affordable in terms of the benefits that you can derive from living in a small city with a subtropical climate. A hefty volume of retirees have an interesting preference for living in Sarasota.

Transportation also costs relatively higher in Sarasota than in other localities around the Tampa Bay area. A recent survey on July of last year administered over residents living in Sarasota County found more people thinking that the county has become a worse place to live than it was five years ago. The respondents commonly agree that traffic in Sarasota County is among its primary headaches.

If you are a working couple with schooling kids, living in Sarasota is a recommended choice in terms of its education services and employment opportunities. The schools in Sarasota are considered to be outstanding, and the job market is invigorating. While Sarasota County's public school students in key grades outscored 95% of their peers in the whole of Florida, the city also posted job growth of 5% in the past year. Albeit a small city, Sarasota had been ranked among the top 25 metropolitan areas in the United States. Forecasts for the next 10 years see Sarasota to experience a 30.5 % increase in jobs that will effectively catapult its status to No. 7 in the entire country. Many of those jobs will come from the retail and service sectors. Sarasota may be a thriving tourist destination, but it also can compete in other industries.

Sarasota has maintained its natural treasures. Living in Sarasota provides you with the benefit of enjoying the pristine environment by enjoying activities such as canoeing and kayaking, fishing at the bay, traveling the waterways. Several islands are arrayed on the bay waters creating a sanctuary for many bird species. The waters abound with many varieties of fish including snook, tarpon and mangrove snapper. Sarasota also boasts of its dolphins and manatees. With the blessings of Mother Nature, living in Sarasota is like being on vacation every day with sunny days, blue skies, the gulf coast breeze, and miles of the best beaches.

Earl Juanico sarasota-realestate.biz


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