Smart Moves

I don't golf, haven't played tennis since my first knee twinge 20 years ago, rarely get out on the water and can't bait a hook to save my life. Still, I count my lucky stars (and my parents, who brought me here) that I ended up in the liveliest, most interesting and appealing spot in one of the most beautiful states in America.

Sarasota and Bradenton have been home for 32 years and, to me, the area keeps getting better.

My husband's and my favorite things-a sunset stroll around Sarasota's Bayfront Park, a tramp along the unspoiled trails at Myakka River State Park, an open-air concert at Selby Gardens on a beautiful Sunday afternoon or just plain sitting on our front porch with the newspaper-may be very different from yours. But whatever piques your interest and prompted you to move to this area, I promise you will find it here. The restaurants are superb, the art scene's diverse, the shopping's first rate, and the beaches boast the whitest, most sugary sand anywhere. (We didn't make that up. Dr. Stephen Leatherman, aka Dr. Beach, regularly includes Siesta Key's beaches in his annual America's Top Beaches lists.) People flock in huge numbers to the area's seven professional and community theaters, the Sarasota Opera, Florida West Coast Symphony, Sarasota Ballet, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art-most of which offer terrific low-cost educational programs for youngsters, by the way. Art fairs and reading festivals, thought-provoking lecture series, and classes in just about anything you want to learn about are available. The people are friendly, too, since just about everybody comes from someplace else and knows what it's like to be new.

From golf villas to Gulf-front mansions, the housing options are equally varied and abundant. Sarasota and Manatee counties are in the middle of a housing boom that rivals any other decade. And that's good news for you, the homebuyer, because the range of building styles, prices and locations has never been wider.

That's where Homebuyer comes in. Homebuyer is the most comprehensive guide to choosing your new Sarasota or Sarasota" target="_blank">Manatee County home. Within these pages you'll find insider tips on the hottest neighborhoods, the latest architecture and design trends, a roundup of local schools, maps and reader-friendly listings of communities, builders and new home products.

Homebuyer is published by the same creative team that brings you SARASOTA Magazine, the award-winning lifestyle magazine that covers the area's liveliest people, places and leisure pursuits. So you know you're in good hands.

Welcome to the neighborhood-you've made a very smart move.