Questions about the Sarasota Community

HI there-

We are a family of five (kids ages 5, 3, and 1) who are in the process of very consciously deciding where to live, after having spent our entire lives in and around the Chicago area.

We are looking for a community that has natural beauty, good weather, beaches, is progressive, liberal, has a vibrant arts scene, easy access to health food and healthful living and a Waldorf school.

These criteria have lead us to Sarasota. My husband's business has a branch in town and as a violinist, I can play/work anywhere, so career-wise, there are no issues. We are looking for an area that we would fit into and that is conducive to a slower,easier pace of life in which to raise our family. I think we may have preconceived notions about Florida so I was hoping we could talk to like-minded people who actually live here and get their perspective.

If you have any opinions or experience with any of the aspects of community life that we listed and you have a spare moment, we'd love to hear from you and would be grateful for any insight you may provide.

Thanks in advance, Lynn & Mike

the waldorf school here in Sarasota is great, my son goes there once a week, and i'm pretty active in the waldorf community. its difficult to get a spot in it because sarasota is such a large community and there is only one school. there is also newgate montessori school which is rather progressive. island village montessori school is another great one in town.
there is vast natural beauty, in the span of my time here (8yrs) Sarasota has become pretty developed...lots of big corporations taking over and filling in areas where there was once nice greenery.
Myakka park is great for hiking, the beaches are amazing...the weather here is sweet during the winter, and it gets pretty intense during the summer months. but you'll aclimate over time.

the arts scene here is pretty vibrant between the Ringling College of Art and Design, as well as many local contemporary galleries. I"m not sure how "progressive" we are as a city. we're getting more and more bike lanes, the city of sarasota is making efforts of create more trails and scenic bike rides throughout town. in this town your'e either poor or rich. the in betweens are few to come by, which causes for a lot of segregation and classism. depends of which side of 41 you live on.

life here is pretty slow paced, compared to that of Chicago or New england (where i'm from)
there is a plethora of organic food, and health food stores here in town. Whole FOods, Richards Whole Foods, and the Granary. as well there is a saturday market which has some local organic growers. we have saturday artists markets, a sweet independent film niche, and some nice new coffee shops with a metropolitan artsy feel. we're seriously lacking on good live music because of the sound ordinances that are put in place.

there is a active green party in town, always organizing something, and between new college, usf, ringling and MCC there are always amazing guest speakers and people coming through doing presentations.

I enjoy being in sarasota, although personally i'd like some land, chickens, goats etc...and that doesnt happen too much around here. only east of the interstate.
its pretty centralized, easy to get to tampa, orlando etc...which makes it nice if you want to go to a bigger city where there is more going on.
mellow vibe down here in Sarasota, artsy fartsy, lots of hippie folk in the woodwork.

so thats about all for that.
oh, and yes...our Sarasota Conscious Parenting group is getting bigger and bigger and meeting reguarly....so come to a meetup if you do decide to come on down, we love to see new faces

namaste
jamie love