Bustling Sarasota, Florida Beckons
to Residents Seeking Sugary White Beaches, Great Shopping, Cultural
Amenities and Golf
Cost of Living: Above the National Average
Health care is excellent as there are six fully
accredited hospitals, including Doctors Hospital of Sarasota and
Sarasota Memorial Hospital, one of the nation's largest public
hospitals (1,000 beds).
Sarasota is the cultural focal point of this area
of Florida, and the theater and arts community is well funded by
local wealthy residents, ensuring residents from all walks of life
a bounty of exciting things to do and see year round. The most well-known landmark in town is the Ringling Museum, once
the estate of Mabel and John Ringling. Today this exquisite
Italian Renaissance structure houses 1,000 art treasures that
include Renaissance and Baroque periods paintings. The
museum also has a fun collection of antique circus wagons and
memorabilia. The Sarasota Opera House hosts the acclaimed
Sarasota Opera Company in its restored 1920s Spanish style
building, and the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright, presents a variety of productions and is home
to the Sarasota Ballet of Florida and the Florida West Coast
Symphony.
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DeSoto National Memorial commemorates early
Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, and the Marie Selby Botanical
Gardens shows off a beautiful display of thousands of orchids,
tropical and colorful plants. The Venice Art Center hosts
rotating art exhibits, and more than thirty commercial art
galleries dot the downtown's theater district and the upscale
shopping district St. Armands Circle. The city also sees a
number or annual festivals, including the wonderful Asolo Theatre
Festival that runs from November through May, the Sarasota
Festival of the Arts that takes place in February, and the unique
Sarasota French Film Festival that runs in November. There
are a number of malls and trendy shopping districts; major
department stores are not in short supply. |
The recreational activities offered here are
nearly endless. The nation's first golf course was built in
Sarasota, and today there are 48 courses, private and public
(roughly 2/3rds of Sarasota's courses are public), nine hole and
eighteen hole, within close proximity. Sarasota's glimmering white beaches stretch for 35 miles along the
Gulf of Mexico and draw vacationers from around the world,
providing world-class opportunities for fishing, snorkeling, scuba
diving, sailing and nearly any other water activity imaginable.
Myakka River State Park is an excellent fishing location. Maris Selby Gardens features a collection of 6,000 orchids and
20,000 plants. Oscar Scherer State Recreation Area is
home to nearly 1,400 acres of woodland and a great spot for
hiking, camping and bicycling. Baseball fans will
enjoy the fact that the Cincinnati Reds spend spring training in
Sarasota.
In the winter and fall, the weather here is quite
magnificent, with temperatures in the 60s and 70s and little
precipitation. Humidity is in the 60% range. Summers
are another story and are sweltering with temperatures in the 90s
and 8 to 9 inches of rain per month. The sun shines
60% to 80% of the time. Sunsets are dazzling.
Sarasota has some drawbacks. The summer heat
will deter some from living here. Crime rates are high,
although not in the more expensive areas; most crime is confined
to poorer neighborhoods northeast of downtown. The
city is growing which can contribute to crime rates as well as
traffic congestion. No one here seems to know how to drive.
Hurricanes are rare, but tropical storms do occasionally occur.
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