Longboat Key Real Estate

One of Sarasota County's four incorporated cities, Longboat Key, Florida, actually lies split among both Manatee and Sarasota counties, along the state's central west coast in the Gulf region. The city is found on a barrier island of the same name between Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

Longboat key  was incorporated in 1955 and is part of the Bradenton–Sarasota–Venice Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is  south of Anna Maria Island and north of St. Armands Key. Estimates taken in 2004 measured the population of the key to be around 7,500, although that number increases drastically when accounting for part-time residents as well. 

With Sarasota nearby, getting to Longboat Key is easy by way of driving or flying into the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. The city encompasses an area of just over 17 square miles, but only about five square miles of that are land; the rest include water area. Most of the Gulf side of Longboat Key is lined with beautiful beaches that attract visitors here year-round.  Longboat Key has some of Sarasota County's best shopping and dining options as well.

The land in Longboat Key is mostly dotted with single-family homes or condominiums. Residents here are quite wealthy, as the median annual household income for those here in 2000 was measured to be more than $90,000. Attractions on the key include Bayfront Park Recreation Center, Longboat Key Tennis Center, Bicentennial and the Joan M. Durante Community parks and Quick Point Nature Preserve. Children living here are served by institutions in the Sarasota County Public School system. For higher education nearby, there are the New College of Florida, a public liberal arts college; Ringling College of Art and Design, a private art school; and the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus.