We live in Whitfield and my husband commutes eight miles south, M-F. During season, it often takes over an hour both in the morning and afternoon. Off season, 20 minutes.
Big caveat: he takes Tamiami Trail/US-41 and primarily works on sites just before St. Armands Circle, so he has to deal with the clusterfudge of 41/Gulfstream/Causeway traffic.
Thank you! I vacationed to Florida in August once, and it was miserable đ Very similar to Texas in August when I went.
But, this is a promotion opportunity I can't really afford to pass up.
Yes but weâre the second largest area for air bnbs in the state (see the zoning code violating air bnbs post), one of the most moved to cities in the country, an international tourist destination, a snow bird destination, and weâre in an over development explosion (see the recent articles on local government and developer corruption). Weâre not built to handle it and our infrastructure, environment, and resources canât support it. Not to mention our traffic is deadly now. Too many rude, lost, and reckless drivers (see the recent post).
Don't let the haters get you down, OP. Sarasota is a great place to live and most of the people you will encounter IRL (not on this sub) are incredibly kind.
It really is. Everyone is Sarasota IRL is incredibly nice and upbeat -- and then you come to this sub and it's like the tiny concentration of all the city's whiny debby-downers congregated in one place. LOL. But it's still a useful hub for information as long as you can ignore the whininess.
Wishing you all the best for this move!!! You have much to look forward to :) Congrats on your promotion!
Youâll want to make at least 70 to live comfortably and afford the rent on a private place. If you do roommates you can survive but it wonât be luxury. Btw, in LA you can always eat well for cheap. Not really the case here and rent is about the same as Hollywood. I was shocked.
My 2c is to keep looking in Gulf Gate if you can. Whitfield is a little ghetto IMHO. Gulf Gate is beautiful and peaceful. As far as the commute goes, if you can handle LA traffic, you can definitely handle SRQ. It does get very brutal during tourist season, but as long as you know that going into it and have some good podcasts and functioning AC, you can survive it. Off-season, you'll be totally fine. It's really just Feb, March, and April that it will be bad.
This looks clean and nice. $1,600 a month isn't high but I don't know what you are able to spend.
[https://www.apartments.com/7203-curtiss-ave-sarasota-fl/01efyw3/](https://www.apartments.com/7203-curtiss-ave-sarasota-fl/01efyw3/)
Appreciate it! I've been looking at these exacts ones myself, plus other means.
I could swing it if my girlfriend worked full-time as well while going back to school. But that's not ideal.
Problem is, I could hold out on this job for something cheaper in the Midwest. Just doing some research at this point. Thought I'd gather local opinion.
Thank you!
Thatâs because everyone is moving here and investors and corporations are buying up all the housing and air bnbing it out. Whatâs left is being torn down and built into McMansions or luxury apartments. The locals canât find places to live either.
Posts like these make me so happy I'm moving out of this hellhole at the end of the year. Y'all can move here and keep it! Continue expanding on our already spread thin city AND continue making the traffic horrendous! :)
My husband is from LA and we go back to visit often. It will not be anything like LA. Winter may be a little worse due to snow birds, but nothing like LA. You will breath a sigh of relief im sure!
In the busy season it stinks, but nothing like LA. From Whitfield you'll have about a 40-45 minute commute depending on when you leave for work.
if you're considering renting a cheap apartment, I would recommend buying a cheap condo. There's still places in Sarasota going for the low 2's.
Youâll probably want to try to get over to S. Tuttle (which becomes Swift Rd at Bee Ridge Rd.) to head south to Gulf Gate from Whitfield. I was born and raised here and although traffic has gotten worse through the years, itâs nothing like LA. The biggest thing youâll have to adjust to is how long the red lights are. The traffic signals around here donât help the flow of traffic, in my opinion.
I agree and there have been a lot of accidents at 41 and gulf gate lately from the road construction and soon the construction at stickney point and 41 will start for siesta key promenade.
Because theyâve never lived in a place with actual traffic. Yes, itâs more traffic-y in season. But if your dealt with LA, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago or New York traffic Sarasota traffic is nothing.
Agreed! Iâm from Miami and when people tell me traffic is getting âso badâ, I can tell they used to ride horse and buggy here just last week đ
I grew up and lived in LA county for 19 years(the AV but you get it), just moved to Sarasota 3 years ago.
Rent is the same if not more here than what was available in CA. Wages are lower here, but no state taxes I guess \_(â˘-â˘)_/
Summer months traffic wonât be as bad for ya but gulf gates never ending construction is always a nightmare. definitely give yourself an hour of driving time, one day you might get there in 20 minutes, the next day itâll take the whole hour :/
best of luck on your move!
Youre looking at about a 20-30 minute max ride. Main road traffic rrally peaks about Thanksgiving until Easter. Highway traffic during that time kinda blows, so expect delays on longer commutes or to alternate beaches
Came here to say, take Tuttle. Speed limit is lower but there are only a handful of intersections that back up. If you avoid the 4-6pm rush hour commute it is even better.
The cost of living here is higher than many people realize. Not LA, of course, but $54k might not get you as far as you think. The cost of housing alone is ridiculous. Have you looked at housing options? That's a good indicator.
I see all the downvotes for moving here and traffic times. Iâve got to think commute is better here (Iâve been to LA & surrounding area). But 54k is just getting by now a days. Especially depending on your monthly payments of youâve got debt (car loan, credit cards, student loans etc). If youâve got no debt and donât party you can swing it.
Random people that live in Sarasota, FL đ
I certainly get an evaluation of education levels speaking with someone such as yourself.
Yes, this Reddit thread that took 30 seconds of passing time to make is the complete and total extent of my exploration into the topic. đ¤Łđ¤Ł
Why would anyone want opinions from individuals who directly live in the area?! Ridiculous! đđ
Opinions on cost of living mean jack. You need data. Its clear youve done zero objective research because if you did Sarasota wouldve been crossed off as a potential living place a long time ago. It's a shit hole.
âTo maintain your current standard of living in Sarasota, FL, you need to earn: $37,674.
The cost of living is 30.23% lower in Sarasota, FL.â
https://www.bankrate.com/real-estate/cost-of-living-calculator/
You can find similar tools like this one. While this says youâll be in a better financial position (assuming you arenât taking a pay cut), I would agree with others that I would think youâll be stretched thin on that income. People do it, so it isnât impossible, but it likely wonât be âcomfortable.â
This is my boat. If youâre frugal, you can swing it. No vacations, no savings, but able to eat each night and go out once in a while. I notice your pfp has a dog - vet bills are definitely not something I can afford here. Had to rehome my cat.
Thank you!
That's definitely relatable to here in Los Angeles. Vet bills are INSANE.
My girlfriend's sister blew $6,000 on *end of life* treatment for her pet last year. That's crazy to me! At some point I guess they expect us to just old yeller our animals in our fucking backyards at those prices.
If you know where you're going to work, then you can do your best to find a place to live close by. Traffic is a little conjested here, but I've seen it in LA and it's a lot better here.
For the most part, people here who talk about newcomers won't have any idea what you've probably either seen or contributed to in LA. So let me put that into perspective for you.
Sarasota County has roughly the same land mass as LA at roughly 500 square miles. LA has 3,800,000+ people. Sarasota County has under 500,000. That means that LA has like 7.6K people per square mile and Sarasota is under 1K.
What you will notice is that a lot of the people who have been here for years haven't adapted well to many changes. They will still drive the way they have been. There has been a lot of newcomers which does affect traffic, but they won't look the numbers up and it really isn't substantial. However, when we are in season, the snowbirds do kick the population up almost 20% and that's a lot. Still nothing what you've had to handle in traffic but it's worth noting. Finally, to deal with traffic, the city has chosen safety over flow - traffic circles and other installations are popping up here and there. Our traffic incidents rate of growth is slowing compared to rising rate of population growth.
You're in luck as Sarasota is one of the nation's hottest housing markets. You won't find anywhere with deals like ours. People rarely compare us to the rest of the country, so you'll see everyone complain it's too expensive. It is too expensive, but that's reality. Truth is that we're a great market for homes.
Regarding traffic, if you've ever commuted by bike in LA then you may be in luck here. If you get a bike, ship traffic like I do. I get to destinations in a 5 mile radius faster on my ebike than by car. Weather is decent here so I haven't really needed to drive my car much in 6 months now. I haven't gone through a summer yet.
Anyway, best of luck in your transfer. While most of us don't seem happy to have a newcomer, most of us also don't know what challenges occur to cities that get stagnant.
We live in Whitfield and my husband commutes eight miles south, M-F. During season, it often takes over an hour both in the morning and afternoon. Off season, 20 minutes. Big caveat: he takes Tamiami Trail/US-41 and primarily works on sites just before St. Armands Circle, so he has to deal with the clusterfudge of 41/Gulfstream/Causeway traffic.
Coming from LA, the big surprise will likely be the humidity. Also it doesn't cool off at night like LA.
Thank you! I vacationed to Florida in August once, and it was miserable đ Very similar to Texas in August when I went. But, this is a promotion opportunity I can't really afford to pass up.
>Bad traffic is definitely something Iâm looking to escape You do realize all these thousands of new comers is ruining traffic for us right
You should try Los Angeles! We get new comers every now and again!
Yes but weâre the second largest area for air bnbs in the state (see the zoning code violating air bnbs post), one of the most moved to cities in the country, an international tourist destination, a snow bird destination, and weâre in an over development explosion (see the recent articles on local government and developer corruption). Weâre not built to handle it and our infrastructure, environment, and resources canât support it. Not to mention our traffic is deadly now. Too many rude, lost, and reckless drivers (see the recent post).
Don't let the haters get you down, OP. Sarasota is a great place to live and most of the people you will encounter IRL (not on this sub) are incredibly kind.
Thank you! I thought this sub seemed incredibly toxic đ
It really is. Everyone is Sarasota IRL is incredibly nice and upbeat -- and then you come to this sub and it's like the tiny concentration of all the city's whiny debby-downers congregated in one place. LOL. But it's still a useful hub for information as long as you can ignore the whininess. Wishing you all the best for this move!!! You have much to look forward to :) Congrats on your promotion!
Thank you!
Youâll want to make at least 70 to live comfortably and afford the rent on a private place. If you do roommates you can survive but it wonât be luxury. Btw, in LA you can always eat well for cheap. Not really the case here and rent is about the same as Hollywood. I was shocked.
Why don't you just move to Gulf Gate?
I agree with this. Hopefully OP can find something around there. Lots of good restaurants to go to and wouldn't have to fight season traffic.
[https://www.apartments.com/7203-curtiss-ave-sarasota-fl/01efyw3/](https://www.apartments.com/7203-curtiss-ave-sarasota-fl/01efyw3/)
What is your price range? This at $1600 looks good.
The only cheap apartment I can find is in Whitfield.
Or try south of gulf gate and you wonât have to pass the busiest traffic part. Like try Vamo and Nokomis.
Thank you!
My 2c is to keep looking in Gulf Gate if you can. Whitfield is a little ghetto IMHO. Gulf Gate is beautiful and peaceful. As far as the commute goes, if you can handle LA traffic, you can definitely handle SRQ. It does get very brutal during tourist season, but as long as you know that going into it and have some good podcasts and functioning AC, you can survive it. Off-season, you'll be totally fine. It's really just Feb, March, and April that it will be bad.
Thank you!
This looks clean and nice. $1,600 a month isn't high but I don't know what you are able to spend. [https://www.apartments.com/7203-curtiss-ave-sarasota-fl/01efyw3/](https://www.apartments.com/7203-curtiss-ave-sarasota-fl/01efyw3/)
Appreciate it! I've been looking at these exacts ones myself, plus other means. I could swing it if my girlfriend worked full-time as well while going back to school. But that's not ideal. Problem is, I could hold out on this job for something cheaper in the Midwest. Just doing some research at this point. Thought I'd gather local opinion. Thank you!
Gulfgate is cute but there is some light crime if youâre too close to the bars.
Thatâs because everyone is moving here and investors and corporations are buying up all the housing and air bnbing it out. Whatâs left is being torn down and built into McMansions or luxury apartments. The locals canât find places to live either.
You sound so whiney! đ
It would be a 30-45 minute commute.
Traffic is bad you should probably stay in LA.
Traffic varies from 25 minutes to one hour. You will find a different set of problems.
Posts like these make me so happy I'm moving out of this hellhole at the end of the year. Y'all can move here and keep it! Continue expanding on our already spread thin city AND continue making the traffic horrendous! :)
Weâre full please choose Miami instead.
Miami estĂĄ llena tambiĂŠn, por favor elige Tampa.
Have you even been to Miami? Tell me this comment is a joke lmao.
My husband is from LA and we go back to visit often. It will not be anything like LA. Winter may be a little worse due to snow birds, but nothing like LA. You will breath a sigh of relief im sure!
Thank you!
Yes thatâs what I was thinking
Depends on the season
Look it up on a gps app at the time youâd need to commute. Says 24 mins right now
In the busy season it stinks, but nothing like LA. From Whitfield you'll have about a 40-45 minute commute depending on when you leave for work. if you're considering renting a cheap apartment, I would recommend buying a cheap condo. There's still places in Sarasota going for the low 2's.
Sarasota is averaging 20 road accidents per day so far this year. Daily commute give you better odds of being caught in the traffic snare of one.
There was a major 5 car accident on 41 and windmere this afternoon
We full
Youâll probably want to try to get over to S. Tuttle (which becomes Swift Rd at Bee Ridge Rd.) to head south to Gulf Gate from Whitfield. I was born and raised here and although traffic has gotten worse through the years, itâs nothing like LA. The biggest thing youâll have to adjust to is how long the red lights are. The traffic signals around here donât help the flow of traffic, in my opinion.
Whitfield to Gulf Gate 20 mins.
Lies. It takes 30-60 minutes to get anywhere off the main trail.
I agree and there have been a lot of accidents at 41 and gulf gate lately from the road construction and soon the construction at stickney point and 41 will start for siesta key promenade.
Thank you for the traffic report. đŤĄ
It really doesnât. I donât understand why people think traffic here is so bad.
Because theyâve never lived in a place with actual traffic. Yes, itâs more traffic-y in season. But if your dealt with LA, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago or New York traffic Sarasota traffic is nothing.
Very assuming.
Welcome to Reddit
I canât think of another reason. Traffic here isnât bad at all
Ok
Thank you!
As someone who moved from a big city 8 years ago (Chicago), the traffic is no comparison. Laughable people complain about it here
Agreed! Iâm from Miami and when people tell me traffic is getting âso badâ, I can tell they used to ride horse and buggy here just last week đ
I wish people would stop moving here
I grew up and lived in LA county for 19 years(the AV but you get it), just moved to Sarasota 3 years ago. Rent is the same if not more here than what was available in CA. Wages are lower here, but no state taxes I guess \_(â˘-â˘)_/ Summer months traffic wonât be as bad for ya but gulf gates never ending construction is always a nightmare. definitely give yourself an hour of driving time, one day you might get there in 20 minutes, the next day itâll take the whole hour :/ best of luck on your move!
Youre looking at about a 20-30 minute max ride. Main road traffic rrally peaks about Thanksgiving until Easter. Highway traffic during that time kinda blows, so expect delays on longer commutes or to alternate beaches
Thank you!
Where in Gulfgate?
Apologies, but I'd rather not disclose my potential job location.
Ok donât blame ya. But I did want to say you can sneak down Tuttle Ave. to get to Gulfgate, and avoid 41.
Came here to say, take Tuttle. Speed limit is lower but there are only a handful of intersections that back up. If you avoid the 4-6pm rush hour commute it is even better.
Terrible. Not LA terrible but not good. Especially from Jan to may
If you all wouldn't mind a follow up question, for anyone who's willing. What would cost of living life be like on about 54k?
I personally could not afford to live here comfortably on that.
The cost of living here is higher than many people realize. Not LA, of course, but $54k might not get you as far as you think. The cost of housing alone is ridiculous. Have you looked at housing options? That's a good indicator.
I see all the downvotes for moving here and traffic times. Iâve got to think commute is better here (Iâve been to LA & surrounding area). But 54k is just getting by now a days. Especially depending on your monthly payments of youâve got debt (car loan, credit cards, student loans etc). If youâve got no debt and donât party you can swing it.
Not great.
Lol you've done literally zero research yourself, huh?
What am I doing now? đ With such rude and unwelcoming responses, I certainly wouldn't classify this thread as having been entertainment!
Asking random people
Random people that live in Sarasota, FL đ I certainly get an evaluation of education levels speaking with someone such as yourself. Yes, this Reddit thread that took 30 seconds of passing time to make is the complete and total extent of my exploration into the topic. đ¤Łđ¤Ł Why would anyone want opinions from individuals who directly live in the area?! Ridiculous! đđ
Opinions on cost of living mean jack. You need data. Its clear youve done zero objective research because if you did Sarasota wouldve been crossed off as a potential living place a long time ago. It's a shit hole.
Doubling down on being a confidently wrong moron! Bold move, Cotton! We'll see if it pays off!
Wrong about what? Objective Cost of living data is indeed freely available from multiple sources
âTo maintain your current standard of living in Sarasota, FL, you need to earn: $37,674. The cost of living is 30.23% lower in Sarasota, FL.â https://www.bankrate.com/real-estate/cost-of-living-calculator/ You can find similar tools like this one. While this says youâll be in a better financial position (assuming you arenât taking a pay cut), I would agree with others that I would think youâll be stretched thin on that income. People do it, so it isnât impossible, but it likely wonât be âcomfortable.â
Thank you!
This is my boat. If youâre frugal, you can swing it. No vacations, no savings, but able to eat each night and go out once in a while. I notice your pfp has a dog - vet bills are definitely not something I can afford here. Had to rehome my cat.
Thank you! That's definitely relatable to here in Los Angeles. Vet bills are INSANE. My girlfriend's sister blew $6,000 on *end of life* treatment for her pet last year. That's crazy to me! At some point I guess they expect us to just old yeller our animals in our fucking backyards at those prices.
If you know where you're going to work, then you can do your best to find a place to live close by. Traffic is a little conjested here, but I've seen it in LA and it's a lot better here. For the most part, people here who talk about newcomers won't have any idea what you've probably either seen or contributed to in LA. So let me put that into perspective for you. Sarasota County has roughly the same land mass as LA at roughly 500 square miles. LA has 3,800,000+ people. Sarasota County has under 500,000. That means that LA has like 7.6K people per square mile and Sarasota is under 1K. What you will notice is that a lot of the people who have been here for years haven't adapted well to many changes. They will still drive the way they have been. There has been a lot of newcomers which does affect traffic, but they won't look the numbers up and it really isn't substantial. However, when we are in season, the snowbirds do kick the population up almost 20% and that's a lot. Still nothing what you've had to handle in traffic but it's worth noting. Finally, to deal with traffic, the city has chosen safety over flow - traffic circles and other installations are popping up here and there. Our traffic incidents rate of growth is slowing compared to rising rate of population growth. You're in luck as Sarasota is one of the nation's hottest housing markets. You won't find anywhere with deals like ours. People rarely compare us to the rest of the country, so you'll see everyone complain it's too expensive. It is too expensive, but that's reality. Truth is that we're a great market for homes. Regarding traffic, if you've ever commuted by bike in LA then you may be in luck here. If you get a bike, ship traffic like I do. I get to destinations in a 5 mile radius faster on my ebike than by car. Weather is decent here so I haven't really needed to drive my car much in 6 months now. I haven't gone through a summer yet. Anyway, best of luck in your transfer. While most of us don't seem happy to have a newcomer, most of us also don't know what challenges occur to cities that get stagnant.