North Port Florida Real Estate

North Port, Florida is located on the west coast of Florida in the southernmost part of Sarasota County midway between Sarasota and Fort Myers. US 41 and I-75 provide easy access to airports in Tampa, Sarasota and Fort Myers. At 103 square miles, North Port is the second largest city in Florida in land size, but it still retains the friendliness and convenience of a small town since it is only 18% developed.

North Port, Florida visitors and residents find the Gulf of Mexico only 20 minutes away on Manasota Key, which has miles of beautiful beaches for boating, shelling, and picnic areas. North Port, Florida is criss-crossed by a network of canals and greenbelts providing breathing room between homes. Water lovers enjoy the canoeing the miles of canals and lakes that wind through the city. Streets were laid out with many cul de sacs and U-shaped sections to minimize traffic in residential neighborhoods. Charlotte Harbor is also close by and is a favorite of boaters and sports fisherman alike. Imagine living in a place where the average temperature in January is 63 degrees and a balmy 82.5 degrees during the month of August.

North Port, Florida became a city in 1959, and its population has more than tripled in the last fifteen years. North Port’s population is around 46,000 now but projected to climb to 250,000 in the next 10-25 years. Concerned with urban sprawl, the city of North Port, Florida is extending more sidewalks and encouraging walking by planning smaller neighborhoods within the city. With a vast inventory of new homes, resale homes and land, North Port, Florida is a fast growing area where you will get more bang for your buck.

Among the city’s attractions is the North Port Library, a beautiful new building with over 50,000 books in print and access to over 500,000 through the Sarasota County Library system. A second library is planned in another part of town.
 
Another draw to North Port, Florida are twelve parks and recreation areas, where you can bike, hike and bird watch to your heart’s content. The newest one is the Garden of the Five Senses. Kids enjoy the North Port Skate Park, and a dog park is planned for the future. Most of Florida’s Myakka State Forest is within the city limits of North Port, Florida and provides 8592 acres of unspoiled land for hiking and primitive camping along the river.

Each year residents enjoy the Freedom Festival which is held July 4th with a parade and fireworks, and the annual Christmas Parade second Saturday in December ending at Dallas White Park with a community block party.

The new North Port High School and Heron Creek Middle School will be joined by another middle school this year and another high school in the near future. Cranberry Elementary, Toledo Blade Elementary, Glenallen Elementary and Lamarque Elementary meet the needs of grade school students. To meet the demand of a younger population, a new elementary school has opened nearly every year for the past few years with a total of four now and another planned. North Port has a new high school, a performance arts center, and is close to Manatee Community College, which plans a North Port campus by 2010. You will also find numerous pre-school and day care facilities.

To accommodate future growth, new commercial complexes are unveiled constantly along US 41 and in the Price Boulevard and Toledo Blade areas, the two access points to I-75. A new shopping center making a third Publix and numerous other retail stores just opened on Toledo Blade, and a theater and medical complex are in the permitting stage of construction. A second YMCA and library will also be in this vicinity. More specialty restaurants and major chains like super Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Perkins, Walgreen’s, ABC Liquor and Lowe’s are opening every few months, and a major mall in Port Charlotte is only 10 minutes away.

Here in North Por