I'm convinced that Sarasota County offers an outstanding lifestyle and excellent business climate. But don't just take my word for it.  Here's what others have said about Sarasota:

One Of The Best Places to Live

• Inc. Magazine saw Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice ranked No. 8 on a list of 292 “boomtowns.” (2007)

• Inc. Magazine ranked Sarasota No. 3 among mid-size cities. (2007)

• Forbes’ list of the top 100 cities for jobs, places the Sarasota-Bradenton area at 11th place, or the third best in Florida. (2007)

• Sarasota and Bradenton were tanked among the Top 100 places to live in the U.S. by Relocate-America.com. (2007)

• Relocate-America.com’s list of the Top 25 places to live to go to school ranked Sarasota No. 8. (2007)

• Sarasota ranked No. 14 in Milken Institute/Greenstreet Partners “Best Performing Cities Index.” (2007)

• Bizjournal named Sarasota the second-best place to start a small business. (April 2007)

• Money Magazine named Sarasota-Bradenton as the top place to retire young. (April 2007)

• Forbes.com/ Milken Institute has ranked the Sarasota-Bradenton area as the 39th "Best Place to Live" out of 294 U.S. metro areas (2002).

• Money Magazine named Sarasota one of the nation's "Best Places to Live" ranking the community seventh on a list led by New York City. (December, 2001)

• Money Magazine named Sarasota the "Best Small City in the United States." (December, 2000)

• Named one of the "Top 25 Terrific Places to Bring Up a Family" by Mothering Magazine (July-August 2001).

• Modern Maturity named Sarasota as the "3rd Best Big City in Which to Retire." (May-June, 2000)

• Expansion Management named Sarasota-Bradenton as one of their "Five-Star Communities for Quality of Life." There were only 50 communities nationwide awarded the five-star designation, the highest in this rating category. (November, 2000)

• Expansion Management named Sarasota the "6th Best Metropolitan Area for Standard of Living" in the Country. (November, 2000)

• Money Magazine named Sarasota as the "21st Best Place to Live in the United States."

• Money Magazine ranked Sarasota as one of the "Top 20 Places to Retire."

• Entrepreneur Magazine placed Sarasota as the "6th Best Medium-sized City in the United States." It also named Sarasota as the "8th Best City in the South" (regardless of size).

• The U.S. Housing Market has ranked Sarasota "20th in the United States for its Hotness Index."

• Venice was named one of the top 10 small towns in Florida by Florida Trend Magazine in April 2001.

• Venice was honored with the Accessible America Award in 2002. The award was presented by the National Organization on Disability on May 14, 2002. Venice competed against nine other finalist cities: Berkeley, California; Bloomington, Indiana; Charlotte, North Carolina; Eugene, Oregon; Houston, Texas; Irvine, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Montgomery County, Maryland.

Top Choice For Business Relocation

• Forbes Magazine named Sarasota the 44th "Best Place to Live and Do Business" out of the largest 150 U.S. Metro Areas (2003).

• Expansion Management Magazine has rated Sarasota a four star community, one of only two to achieve this rank in all of Florida (2003).

• Business Development Outlook Magazine has selected Sarasota as one of the "25 Choice Cities " - the most desirable cities into which a business can relocate or expand for 2001-2002. (November/December, 2001).

• Sarasota was ranked "37th Best Place for Business and Careers" out of 200 metro areas nationwide by Forbes Magazine. (May, 2001).

• Forbes Magazine named Sarasota the "47th Best Place for Business and Careers" out of the top 200 U.S. Metro areas.

• Employment Review and BestJobs.USA has selected Sarasota as the "Best Place in Florida to Live and Work" and the "3rd Best Place in the Nation to Live and Work." (June, 2001)

• Employment Review and BestJobsUSA's 2000 Annual Report named Sarasota the "Number 1 Best Place to Live and Work in the United States." (USA Today, April, 2000)

• For the third straight year, Expansion Management Magazine has chosen the Sarasota-Bradenton area as a "Five-star Community on their Quality of Life quotient - Best Places to Live and Work." (May, 2001)

• BizMiner Business Vitality Review ranked the Sarasota/Bradenton metro area as the "3rd Best Second-Tier Metropolitan City for Business Relocations Nationwide." It is ranked 1st in Florida. (May, 2001)

• Sarasota/Bradenton MSA received 5 stars (the highest rating) by www.bizjournals.com. (September, 2000)

• BizMiner Business Vitality Review ranked Sarasota-Bradenton MSA "3rd on their Small Metro Business Migration Index." (December, 2000)

• Expansion Management awarded Sarasota County's School District a GOLD MEDAL. The GOLD MEDAL is the highest level of achievement awarded to a school district by the magazine, and Sarasota was the only district in Florida to receive the honor in 2000. (November, 2000)

• Sarasota County has been ranked among the country's best employment generators by DRI/McGraw-Hill and the University of Arizona.

• PC World and Money Magazine named Sarasota as the "23rd Best Place for Telecommuting" (working from home).

• In November 1997, Arizona State University's Blue Chip Job Growth Update reported that the Sarasota/Bradenton metropolitan statistical area overtook Las Vegas as the number one job producer from August 1996 through August 1997. The reported job growth for Sarasota was 6.83 percent, compared to perennial leader Las Vegas at 6.44 percent. " The Economist Magazine ranked Sarasota "7th Best for Private-sector Job Growth."

• The Kiplinger Letter reported a lifestyle study by management consulting firm Runzheimer International, showing upscale Sarasota 2 percent below the U.S. average cost.

• Expansion Management magazine chose the Sarasota/Bradenton area as the only community in Florida worthy of its Five Star Community ranking. For executives at companies looking to move or expand their businesses, Sarasota/Bradenton scored high for its "Quality of Life Quotient," judging crime levels, housing affordability and availability, education levels, cost of living, employment opportunities, continuing education opportunities and accessibility to air travel. Sarasota schools also received a BLUE RIBBON, the highest rating of any school system in the state."

Excellent Educational Opportunities

• Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine ranked New college the seventh best value in public higher education. It is the only public college in Florida named a "best buy" in the noted Fiske Guide to Colleges 2003.

• Money Magazine also included the Sarasota County School District on the list of "Top 100 Schools in the United States."

• Time and Money Magazine both named Sarasota's New College as the "2nd Best College Bargain in the Country." New College outranked such schools as the University of California, Berkeley and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked the Sarasota/Bradenton area "3rd in the Nation in Job Growth."

• A New Business Opportunity Index developed by two professors in the College of Business Administration at the University of Texas at El Paso ranks Sarasota "7th among 316 Metropolitan areas in the U.S." for a variety of key conditions that positively influence business climate.

• Money Magazine placed Sarasota Schools in the "Top 100 in the Nation" as well as naming the Sarasota/Bradenton area as the"21st Best Place to Live in the U.S.", and one of the "Top 20 Places to Retire."

Top Quality Health Care

Sarasota Memorial Hospital won the "Sterling Award" in 2001. Sarasota Memorial Hospital is one of two organizations that have won the 2001 Governor's Sterling Award for organizational excellence. The hospital also won the award of "Role Model for Performance Excellence."

Sarasota Schools