Baseball

Speaking of walking...walked from downtown to McKechnie Field to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates play the Baltimore Orioles in Spring Training (Grapefruit League) last night.  First, the walk was refreshing, second, the weather was beautiful and, third, even though the Pirates lost, there was a great fireworks display after the game.

March is our biggest month for tourists in this area, for the weather, but also for the baseball fans!  The Pirates have returned to Bradenton for over 40 years now.  And, Sarasota is the new winter home of the Orioles. Avid fans follow their teams and enjoy foot long hot dogs, peanuts, popcorn and singing "Take me out to the Ball Game" an extra month of the year down here.  McKechnie Field now has lights and is available for rent for events too...imagine a wedding at home plate...happened here last year!

And, of course, the icing on the cake for the locals is that these teams bring in revenue for their counties and the teams are active contributors to local events and needs.

Walkable Communities

This morning I attended a very interesting presentation by Dan Burden, the guru of walking/biking communities.  Sarasota and Bradenton have a wealth of water ways and water fronts and water activities.  The livability of our communities depends on the future success of our civic leaders further developing these fine cities into walkable/bikable communities.  Sarasota, St. Armand's and Bradenton Beach have led the way with their wonderful walkability and Bradenton is working hard to develop it's riverfront and downtown.  There are lots of wonderful ideas, including public art and social gathering areas and volunteerism that need the support of the community.

Mr Burden has a wonderful web site http://www.walklive.org/ that I recommend.  This concept embraces many walks of life...public health, social services, transportation, commercial and residential real estate, merchants, store owners and governmental workers...all working in concert to encourage developing our downtowns as destinations and not as cities to  drive through. 

"Season"

Wow, the social calendar is in full swing around here! And the real estate market is coming back to life! Snowbirds are moving in and the hunt for real estate is beginning in earnest now for those who have been "hovering" for the past few years. The buyers are competing with investors for properties under 100K and cash is still king. Lots of interesting things are happening here so I will start blogging on a regular basis now.

One topic I am particularly interested in is the new building for the Manatee Players! With the downturn of the economy they have struggled to keep their donations coming in and the current season is still being held in the old building. Good things are starting to happen for them too and they are now beginning to finish up the exterior of the building. If you get a chance to drive by the new location be sure to check out their progress!