[Wwanderer]

Hi,

I am new here. I am searching through endless threads on varoius towns and gathering great information, what a wonderful forum this is! We are close to retirement and looking for an affordable winter home.

But, I thought I'd tell you what we're thinking and see if I can find some advice.

We are doing a preliminary 4-day snoop around the gulf coast in a few weeks, planning on driving over from Ft. Lauderdale to Naples and then up the coast to Tampa.

We are urbanites, mostly, and thus walkability is very high on our list of factors. Want a condo, pet friendly, 55+ is okay, but we are fairly active, so bike trails and easy drive to beaches would be good. Somewhere with a downtown core that's pleasant. Cultural activities would be good too, especially music (and not just symphonies, but local bands.)

Being Canadian, we are used to ethnic diversity. Also not sure a gated community is really our style. Our price range is under $100K for 2 bedrooms. Don't mind a bit funky and laid-back if the area is pleasant and safe

We know the east coast around Daytona fairly well; my Mum wintered there for years, but I've only ever driven thru places like Sarasota before, not really stayed.

So, here are the places we're looking, if there are any specific towns or communities where we should look, I'd love for advice on this:

Fort Myers
Punta Gorda
Port Charlotte
Englewood
Venice
Sarasota
St. Pete's
Dunedin
Tarpon Springs

Thanks for any advice--I continue to search the forums for pearls of wisdom!

[marcopolo]

You can find what you want in Pinellas County, in your price range. Do not miss Dunedin, with the causeway to Honeymoon Island, on the Pinellas Trail for hiking/biking.

[gypsychic]

Do check out Sarasota - this small city has one of the best and most walkable downtowns in Florida. Lots of everything you are looking for. All kinds of art/culture for every taste.

What I love about living here is that Sarasota is a small city with big-city amenities, kind of a rare find here really. Anyway, that's how I feel about it, and based on your post I think you might like it, too! And did I mention what beautiful beaches we have here? And no matter where in Sarasota you live, you are only minutes away from the beaches.

[Wwanderer]

Any suggestions for neighbourhoods in Sarasota? Close to downtown? Any areas to avoid?

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Wwanderer

Any suggestions for neighbourhoods in Sarasota? Close to downtown? Any areas to avoid?

Good neighborhoods near downtown are Laurel Park just south, then a bit further south the area around "Southside Village." Not sure if you will find anything in your price range there, but then you can look just a bit east of downtown (stay just east or southeast) and it opens up more options.

Basically the boundaries for the "bad" neighborhoods here are Tamiami Trail (US 41 to the West, 301 to the east, University Parkway to the north, and Fruitville to the south. Newtown and Bayou Oaks fall into these boundaries and are poor and have crime. Anything west of the Trail is desirable and usually expensive.

Come down and have a look and see what area you like. For a small city it is pretty cosmopolitan, with quite a few people who live here part or full time from many other countries. Not sure how much you can see if you are only in Florida for a few days and trying to see all those other cities. It usually takes a bit more time, I find.

[Wwanderer]

Yeh, I know, but it's all the time we have. We're coming off of a cruise in Ft. Lauderdale and driving across, but need to get home a few days before Xmas.

We will probably make another trip down in May, assuming we don't find somethng we fall in love with (and then we'd still go down in May!)

[SoFLGal]

Gypsychic has some good suggestions but I doubt there will be much in Southside in your price range. You might want to try the South Gate or Gulf Gate neighborhoods.

Good luck with it

[Wwanderer]

I admit I'm particularly attracted to Dunedin for a few reasons. For one thing there's lots of Canadians there, I hear, and we also have a friend who lives there and she is quite persuasive.

Anybody have an opinion of Tarpon Springs?

SoFLGal and Gypsychic, thanks the Sarasota neighbourhood tips! How high would I have to go to get closer to central Sarasota?

[Wwanderer]

Oh, and anybody have any intelligence about the big condo complex in Venice called "Woodmere at Jacaranda". It gets a high walkability score. There are quite a few units for sale there.

[SoFLGal]

The prices west of the trail start at $160k and go up from there.

Woodmere at Jacaranda is a nice area but there are a few things to consider if you are looking at that complex. First, is that you probably won't be able to get financing due to the high number of units in foreclosures and as short sales. Next are the fees. There is a monthly HOA fee of $562 and a monthly maintenance fee of $1252. So, although the prices may seem good you need to consider all the fees associated.