I’m thinking about leaving the northeast for greener pastures, warmer weather, no income tax, and better gun laws. I have a friend in Tampa and he recently moved to Lakewood Ranch, a pre-planned community on man-made lakes. He loves it and keeps telling me to check it out.

I was thinking of making a trip down there to see the area but don’t want to waste my time if it doesn’t pass the arfcom litmus test.

My criteria:

- Decent schools
- Close to international airport (I travel for work)
- Ocean nearby
- Low taxes (income and property taxes)
- Close enough to jobs/industry

Any thoughts on the area?  Any of you guys live around there?

My parents live out in Panther Ridges which is a little bit further east than the Ranch, so the times I am quoting is close to their house.  There is a lot of restaurants and shops around that area with the mall and stuff there.  The HOA's may be a bitch out there b/c that is considered one of the nicer area's in Bradenton/Sarasota.  If your in the medical field, there is a nice hospital in that area.

I have zero clue about schools in this area since I don't have any kids.  I live in Palmetto, which is just north of that area.

Lakewood Ranch is what it is. A very nice planned unit development. Personally, I like Sarasota. As a lifelong Floridian I have never lived in Sarasota, but I have spent a lot of time in the area. The downtown is nice. Restaurants and entertainment. The beaches overall are arguably some of the nicest in the world. The airport is big enough to get in and out of quickly, and if for some reason a larger airport is needed, TIA is about an hour away. If you made me move somewhere else in the State, I could argue that Sarasota would be the right choice for me. The are more enticing areas (Nature Coast), but with your criteria, I think Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch could fit the bill.

I live 15 minutes from Lakewood Ranch. It's a very nice area. It's a little too cookie cutter for me (nice but it all looks the same) but it is nice.

The HOA is full of Karens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAxWmViXSN0

Watch the movie "Stepford Wives'

Planned community, expensive, loads of rules, lots of scheduled events to keep you occupied. It caters to upper middle class that wants an easy life with few concerns. Very similar to the Villages except for middle class still working and not so randy crowd. I wouldn't mind living there.
Oh, gyms, walking/biking paths, mainstreet business/restaurant/spend your money on overpriced crap here area. Low crime too.

Thanks guy, seems like a nice place. The property taxes and HOA are a little high, but compared to the Northeast taxes, it seems like a huge upgrade.

The plan from here is to broaden the search a little. I’m also going to check out Ponte Vedra Beach on the way down to FL the next time I’m down that way. I have 2 colleagues that have moved down there and love it.

Sarasota overall is very nice, beaches are some of, if not the nicest in the United States, and a large majority of the schools are highly rated.  We have lived here for the past 10 years, relocated from the East coast of Florida and enjoy it much more than the congestion of Palm Beach/Broward/Dade.  With that said, we have seen this area explode since we have lived here.  Sarasota's population also heavily fluctuates during season, upwards to 100,000 more people during the cooler months, up from around 400,000, so a 25% increase, and you can certainty tell by driving around.  The Benderson/University Park has a lot to offer as far as dining and shopping goes but is pretty congested in the off season; during season forget about it, its a mad house.

Lakewood Ranch is actually in Manatee County and is also extremely nice, although very cookie cutter and comprised of almost entirely HOA communities with very high fees and higher taxes than any of the surrounding areas.  There is plenty of access to shopping, dining, and SRQ International is only about a 15-20 minutes drive away.  It is small enough you aren't fighting huge crowds and parking, but large enough they have a decent selection of flights.  It they don't have the flight you are looking for TPA is about an hour away.

I'd look around some of the unincorporated areas and communities in more central Sarasota that do not have deed restrictions (which could always be a good or bad thing depending on your neighbors).  If you look out East of I75 five or so miles there are more rural communities with larger plots of land if that is something you are looking for, many still have HOAs though.  In my opinion stay away from the City Limits of Sarasota, they have many more restrictions, permitting, their PD and overall politics in the city are very much left leaning SJWs.  It is also comprised of the more, lets say, lower economically privileged neighborhoods on the North side of the city.

Love it in LWR! Join Manatee Guns and Archery Club. Great private property range and terrific people!

Yeah. Lakewood ranch is a bunch of NE and MW transplants who want to make FL exactly like it was where they left.

deleted  There was no need for that.  

About the travel:

I've been living a couple mile west of there (Mote Ranch) since 2005.   I traveled every week for work for many of those years before retiring about 2 yrs back.  

It was nice having SRQ right down the road.  I would arrange my flights and conference schedule Monday/ Friday to accommodate working out of the Sky lounge in ATL on layover.  I found this much more convenient than driving up to TPA all the time. If I needed to arrive or return early, or when I was doing the red eye from LAX, I'd use TPA.  

Still, TPA and RSW were viable options when weather went sideways up north and I had to find alternate routes/airlines home.

About local industry:

Not a whole lot local, but there's the Safran Aerospace plant over on Whitfield.   A lot more industrial companies closer to Clearwater.  But if you're a frequent flyer and can work remote, Sarasota is a great place to live.