Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota, Florida | |
|---|---|
Skyline of Sarasota from Bird Key in 2018 | |
| Nickname(s): Paradise, SRQ, Circus City | |
| Motto(s): "May Sarasota Prosper", "Where Urban Amenities Meet Small-Town Living" | |
Location in Sarasota County and the U.S. state of Florida | |
| Coordinates: 27°20′14″N 82°32′7″W / 27.33722°N 82.53528°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Florida |
| County | Sarasota |
| Zarazote | 1763 |
| Fort Armistead | 1840 |
| Sara Sota | 1842 |
| Sarasota (town) | October 14, 1902 |
| Sarasota (city) | May 13, 1913 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Commission–Manager |
| • Mayor (ceremonial, rotating yearly) | Liz Alpert |
| • Vice Mayor | Jen Ahearn-Koch |
| • Commissioners | Kathy Kelley Ohlrich, Kyle Battie, and Debbie Trice |
| • City Manager | Douglas Jeffcoat (interim) |
| • City Clerk | Shayla Griggs |
| Area | |
| 24.08 sq mi (62.38 km2) | |
| • Land | 14.70 sq mi (38.07 km2) |
| • Water | 9.39 sq mi (24.31 km2) 42.58% |
| Elevation | 16 ft (7 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| 54,842 | |
| • Density | 3,731.51/sq mi (1,440.74/km2) |
| • Urban | 779,075 (US: 57th) |
| • Urban density | 1,927.1/sq mi (744.0/km2) |
| • Metro | 833,716 (US: 71st) |
| • Metro density | 542.0/sq mi (209.3/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP codes | 34230–34243, 34249, 34260, 34276-34277 |
| Area code | 941 |
| FIPS code | 12-64175 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0290675 |
| Website | www |
Sarasota (/ˌsærəˈsoʊtə/) is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Bay and several barrier islands between the bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Sarasota is a principal city of the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 U.S. census, Sarasota had a population of 54,842, up from 51,917 at the 2010 census.
The Sarasota city limits contain several islands, called keys, including Lido Key, St. Armands Key, Otter Key, Coon Key, Bird Key, and the northern portion of Siesta Key as well as Bay Island. Longboat Key is the largest key separating Sarasota Bay from the Gulf of Mexico but is a separate municipality.
The city limits expanded significantly with the real estate rush of the early twentieth century, reaching almost 70 square miles (180 km2). The speculation boom began to crash in 1926 and the city limits began to contract, shrinking to less than a quarter of that area.