My husband has been approached about and offered a new job, new company the whole nine yards. We now have to relocate to Florida. We are looking at Clearwater, Sarasota and a few other areas. He needs to be about an hour drive to Tampa but will only be there a couple days a week at most. We have elementary aged kids, so obviously school is important. During our searches though, we see that there are MANY schools in each city, which a variety of rankings.
We are contacting some property management companies because we plan to rent a year. But we are hoping to find an area that we plan on staying in so we don't keep moving the kids around.
This is quite an overwhelming process for us, so I thought I'd reach out and hope to find some mom's familiar with the areas and give me some helpful information. TIA :)
My aunt and uncle and cousins all live in Clearwater. They love it but it's too sleepy a town for my taste. I think Sarasota is too old of a town. There are nearby towns to Tampa and Clearwater like St Petersburg and Palm Harbor that I think are a little better. Check this website:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/
It's really good for area info.
Also trulia.
Good luck!
It might help if you worded your headline:
Moving to Clearwater, Sarasota FL area need suggestions.
I'm in clearwater and LOVE it! It's gorgeous here
Added: my sons school is one of the top schools in Pinellas county :)
Sarasota, no question. My mom lives there and it is gorgeous, the best beaches and a ton to do in Sarasota itself. In her development we see plenty of kids so I would not worry about that at all. I know nothing at all about the schools.
I do not live in Florida, in fact I live on the TOTAL opposite side of the country! BUT, my grandmother lives in Sarasota and I went to visit her there about 10 years ago. My only experience there was that I saw no YOUNG people. Seriously! We went to the grocery store and everyone was about 70 and over. My grandma said that it was a retirement area.
Whether or not it still is, I have no idea.
I would suggest maybe flying out there and checking out the area and schools before making your final decision on where you want to relocate to.
L.
