About Sarasota

According to Money Magazine, the Sarasota area ranks among the nation’s 15 most desirable communities to live. Sarasota County enjoys a prime location on the West Coast of Florida, about 60 miles south of Tampa and just two hours west of Orlando’s Disney World. The county’s approximately 600 square miles stretch west from sprawling ranch land to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and Sarasota Bay. Sarasota’s 36 miles of coast line are home to the World’s finest, whitest and softest sand beaches. No other town in Florida offers as much as Sarasota.

• Money Magazine called Sarasota, “The Best Small City in America.
• AARP Magazine says, “Sarasota is among the best places to reinvent your life.”
• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked Sarasota 3rd in the nation for job growth.
• The Washington Post said, “Given its size, Sarasota, with a year round population of about 50,000, is amazingly cosmopolitan, with its own ballet company and an acclaimed opera house.”

Whether you seek powdery sand beaches and balmy waters, a bustling cultural center, golf heaven or just a place to relax, you will find your heart’s desire here in Sarasota. I welcome you and invite you to discover Sarasota and the world of opportunities that await you.

For more than a century Sarasota has been attracting people. In 1905 Sarasota’s founder J. Hamilton Gillespie built the Nations first golf course in what is now down town. In 1927 the Circus magnet John Ringling made his home in Sarasota and along with him many others with a penchant for the arts.

Today Sarasota boats numerous museums, five theater companies, two music festivals, two film festivals, a ballet, an opera, symphony orchestra, a major performing arts hall, one of the largest wine festivals in the country, dozens of art galleries, an annual off shore grand prix boat race and much more.

With 700,000 people the greater Sarasota area has become one of the nations fastest growing job markets. When not working or while at play golf can be enjoyed on more than 80 golf courses that were inspired by Gillespie’s original course.

Sarasota continues to grow and set new standards in this new millennium. We have a new Ritz-Carlton at the edge of Sarasota’s beautiful down-town bay front. New developments such as Palmer Ranch and Lakewood Ranch provide new homes in luxuriously master planned communities.

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