Sarasota is the name of both a city and a county in Southwest Florida. Geographically, the area is mostly flat. On the west side, Sarasota is graced by 35 miles of pure white-sand gulf beaches and six barrier islands. The most famous of these barrier islands are Siesta Key and St. Armands Key.

Founded in the early 1900's, Sarasota has quickly grown to one of the most popular tourist and retirement communities in the United States. Consequently, Sarasota is still very segregated. Residents of Northern Sarasota are mostly Black and Hispanic while Southern Sarasota has primarily Caucasian inhabitants. Property values range from the under one hundred thousand to tens of millions.

The service industry serves as the backbone of the economy. The availability of cheap housing allows for cheap labor; thus the service industry does rather well.

Most long term residents refer to this place as a "place where old people come to die". Nightlife is generally dull; there are a few exceptions to this rule (mostly bars on the beach). For any serious fun, it's only a 75 mile drive to Ybor City.

Sarasota is generally a good place to live with low taxes, good restaurants, and senile old drivers.

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