MONEY
MAGAZINE
Sarasota wins
title 'best little city' in U.S.
posted 11/13/00
By
Margaret Ann Miille
STAFF WRITER
from NEWSCOAST
Money magazine has
named Sarasota the best little city in the nation.
In its December issue
of best places to live, the monthly publication touts Sarasota
for more than its sun-drenched beaches and balmy weather.
Money noted the city
has its own symphony, ballet and opera companies, is home to
the Ringling Museum of Art and is within an hour of Tampa Bay
and its Buccaneers professional football team.
Though the article
never mentions Manatee County, it is clear from the statistics
cited by Money writers that Sarasota's northern neighbor is
included.
The quoted numbers,
such as a population of 530,900, describe the Sarasota-Bradenton
Metropolitan Statistical Area -- statistician jargon for the
area that includes population centers surrounding Bradenton
and Sarasota.
Regardless of what
the statistics describe, economic developers in Sarasota plan
to make the most of the designation, which reaches a large national
audience.
Kathy Baylis, vice
president of the Sarasota County Committee for Economic Development,
said making the Money list will help the city overcome its reputation
as a destination solely for retirees and tourists.
"This is just another
thing to help us build an image outside the community," she
said.
Baylis also expects
employers recruiting in a tight labor market to use it as a
marketing tool.
Money writers described
the lifestyle in the Sarasota area, where the median home price
is $126,000, as affordable. The magazine mentioned that the
area's job growth last year reached 5 percent and is projected
to increase by 30.5 percent during the next decade.
In focus groups led
by economic development experts in Sarasota and Manatee counties,
technologists said they chose to move to the area because it
was an ideal place to raise families.
"They are looking
for smaller, quaint, and not so crowded places," Baylis said.
A diversification
of business sectors beyond retail and services is also attracting
younger workers and creating higher-paying jobs, she added.
Alan Mirabella, assistant
managing editor at Money, said Sarasota won its designation
by topping about 24 other cities with populations less than
250,000.
Criteria included
job growth, quality of life, education, economy and home Rates.
"This year we focused
on cities that are managing their growth very well," he said.
"We looked at cities that are not yet overcrowded, that are
not spoiled by things like gridlock. We talked to dozens of
people in each of the cities, and we got the sense that people
who live in Sarasota really like it."
Mirabella acknowledged
that the Money rankings can be controversial, recalling the
ire raised last year when New York and San Francisco were named
the best places to live.
Others have quibbled
with the magazine's methodologies, which it has admitted are
not necessarily meant to be a scientific or statistical approach.
This year, the No.
1 choice among 300 of the country's largest metropolitan areas
is Portland, Ore.
Regional winners
are Providence, R.I., in the Northeast; Chicago, in the Midwest;
Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, in the South; and Salt Lake City,
in the West.
Other rankings include
lowest violent crime rates, highest home Rates, and most single
people -- a list on which Gainesville was named No. 2.
Besides the national
and regional winners, the magazine named seven other five-star
cities: Austin, Texas; Bloomington, Ind.; New York City; Phoenix;
Rochester, Minn.; San Diego, and San Francisco.
