Sustainable Sarasota: Harnessing Demographic Assets

You don't have to be a marketing guru to know that youth sells. Everything it seems, including cities, are sold to the youth. Picture crowded sidewalks in the vaunted Creative City—a bunch of stylish 20 and 30 somethings, right? But as important as the energy and...

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New Year’s Resolutions to Improve Your Neighborhood

{photo source} There's a Greek proverb that says, "A city grows great when men plant trees under whose shade they will never sit." The idea, of course, is that for future generations to thrive present generations must be proactive. If done right, change in cities...

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New Year’s Eve in Downtown Sarasota

Looking for options for ringing in the New Year? Come celebrate in downtown Sarasota as the city of Sarasota begins its 98th year! Presented by the Downtown Sarasota Alliance, the Downtown New Year's Eve Block Party is a great place to meet your neighbors, bring the...

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SRQ’s New Creative HuB

photo source Instead of blabbing on about The HuB, "a warehouse space on Boulevard of the Arts in Sarasota that has become a combination new-media incubator and gathering spot for hip people," we thought we'd excerpt a recent Herald-Tribune article detailing the young...

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Sarasota Chalk Art Festival—The City as Canvas

(photo source) Where were you on Halloween weekend? We certainly hope that Laurel Park residents made the short stroll to Burns Square to check out the incredible chalk art created by artists from all over the world. The renowned 3D chalk artist Edgar Mueller even...

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Owen Burns Week!!

photo source It's hard to live in Sarasota and not have heard of Owen Burns, the man for whom Burns Court (and by extension Burns Court Cinema) is named, and the honoree of the week-long Owen Burns Week fete November 8-14, 2010. But how much do you know about one of...

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Follow-up: Keeping Payne Park Skate Park Open

photo source Found this article from the Pelican Press on Dan Giguere, who we mentioned in the last post, and the future of the Payne Park Skate Park. We at Laurel Park Management think that Payne Park as a whole and the Skate Park in particular have been...

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Featured Property: Seven Gables

Looking for a place to live near downtown Sarasota? Afraid your budget will force you to choose between the charm of a historic building and being able to walk to Main Street? Why not have it all? Laurel Park Management rents a variety of unique affordable apartments—many in historic homes and buildings—all within walking distance of Main Street, the Bayfront, Whole Foods, and everything downtown Sarasota has to offer.

Today, we’re featuring one of a handful of Laurel Park’s “Grand” historic structures that dates back to the early 1920s. Seven Gables is the beautiful yellow home at 405 South Osprey Avenue. Originally constructed for a wealthy doctor, the house has since been divided into five apartments with ten off street parking spaces. Its name name is derived from the seven gable roof dormers built within the roof line and accessible from the second floor apartments. see property page for more pictures

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Slow Sarasota?

Today is Cittaslow Sunday, the First International Day of Good Slow Living. How are you planning to celebrate?

Cittaslow, or Slow City, is an organization that celebrates and promotes a human-speed, human-scale alternative to unchecked speed and limitless growth. A couple decades ago some folks in Italy decided they didn’t want fast food chains in their towns, so they created the Slow Food movement to celebrate the culture, tradition, and joy of growing, harvesting, cooking, and sharing local food. Slow Food spread to Slow City, and Cittaslow International now counts more than 130 towns worldwide as part of its network. Sonoma, California, became the first Slow City in the United States in 2009.

So, what is a Slow City? and why should I care?

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