La Buona Vita

La Buona Vita

One of the true pleasures of living in Laurel Park is the independence from cars that it offers. In Laurel Park we can walk. We can bike. We can hop the bus. And we can get pretty much anywhere we need to be without the hassle  and expense of driving, and with the joy...

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I ♥ SRQ: The Perfect Saturday Morning

The morning sun wakes me. It is warm but no longer carries the burn of summer; the orange light is pleasant, inviting. I wake gradually, as does the dog. The cat is stretched out on the wood floor in a bath of warm light. He half opens a single eye to watch me walk...

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Occupy Sarasota?

{click image for source} There are interesting stirrings afoot in the United States these days. From the Tea Party movement to the current Occupy Wall Street protests, Americans are making themselves heard. These two populist uprisings are generally thought to have...

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Sustainable Sarasota: Sell a Car, Buy a Bike (part one)

   {image source} Anyone who's read this blog from its inception knows that we at Laurel Park Management are big supporters of bicycles and the folks who ride them. To clear up a quick issue of nomenclature, I tend to use cycling when I mean higher speeds, longer...

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Sustainable Sarasota: Is Old the New Young?

 {image source} NEW YORK (AP) — America's cities are beginning to grapple with a fact of life: People are getting old, fast, and they're doing it in communities designed for the sprightly. To envision how this silver tsunami will challenge a youth-oriented society,...

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Hawkins Court: A Diamond in the Rough

Some places just feel right. The buildings, the street, the proportions, the trees, the aesthetics, the uses—in some places they all converge to create little nuggets of urban perfection. Certain medieval Italian vias and French boulevards come to mind, but so do many...

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Andres Duany and the Sarasota-to-be

{image source} Andres Duany has been a polarizing figure in Sarasota ever since he and his firm helped author the downtown master plan in 2000. While some of his recommendations warrant criticism, it is probably more his demeanor that creates controversy. After all,...

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Featured Property: Gillespie Park

Our latest featured property is actually multiple properties, all of which are located a short walk or bike ride north of Main Street, toward Ringling College of Art + Design and New College of Florida, and close to the Rosemary District. And you thought Laurel Park...

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Sarasota City Commission Election Recap

{photo source} Sarasota residents came out in force on March 8th to elect three new city commissioners, and now that the dust has almost cleared— Actually, that's a bit of a fib. The dust hasn't cleared. And not because the runoff vote in District 1 has yet to happen...

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