Lakewood Ranch, Florida
Encyclopedia
Lakewood Ranch is an unincorporated
master planned community in southeastern Manatee County
, Florida
, United States
, built on part of what was once a timber
ranch
owned by members of Milwaukee's Uihlein family
. It is part of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population for the 34202 ZIP Code Tabulation Area
, in which Lakewood Ranch is located, was 15,335 at the 2000 Census.
Started in 1995, Lakewood Ranch has an 8500 acre (3,439.8 ha) master-planned community within it. It is an up-and-coming family-oriented community, consisting of seven villages with a variety of housing types. The most recognizable feature about Lakewood Ranch is its award-winning green community, elected as the largest green-certified community in the United States as of 2009. Some other features about this neighborhood include recreation, shopping and dining, events and festivals, health and fitness, arts and culture, schools and colleges, employment, and worship opportunities.
Along with transportation development came a rapid growth in population during the early 1920s. Others saw the area as a vacation destination and retirement place. Also, with the warm southern climate as an asset, baseball became a popular sport there, along with spring training camps and professional teams would travel down there. A few years later, after the Great Depression
in the 1930s and World War II
, other industries expanded, such as agriculture and fishing. Other developments in the industries were retail, education, and tourism. As the area expanded over the years, along with the population, a master-planned community was recently created called Lakewood Ranch.
About Lakewood Ranch
Along with parks and trails that make up most of the land, Lakewood Ranch has also put great importance on golf and tennis. Four notable country clubs are Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club, Legacy Golf Club, the Ritz Carlton’s Members Club, and The Concession Golf Club. Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club provides three levels of courses to cater the right amount of difficulty to every player. The names of the three are King’s Dunes, Cypress Links, and Country Club East. These courses are private, along with the Ritz Carlton’s Members Club course. The Ritz Carlton is 315 acre (127.5 ha) of magnificently sculpted land capturing the natural beauty of its tropical environment. A non-membership course in Lakewood Ranch is the Legacy Golf Club, which is Arnold Palmer’s signature course. Lastly, the finest course with a very private community is the Concession Golf Club and Residences. It is a 1200 acre (485.6 ha) reserve with 236 homes. Jack Nicklaus
contributed it in association with Tony Jacklin
. The unique features about the course are its inspiring and famous contributors, as well as the greens are air-conditioned and heated.
Tennis
is not to be forgotten at Lakewood Ranch. The Athletic Center at Lakewood Ranch offers state of the art facilities along with 18 tennis courts. Sixteen of these courts are fast-dry and two are classic clay with HydroGrid watering for optimal playing conditions.
Other recreational activities include polo
and cricket
. Lakewood Ranch has nine world-class fields and a regulation size arena that can be played on throughout the winter season. The polo fields are located on 35 private ranches with over 600 horses stabled around the Club during the season.
Cricket at Lakewood Ranch is worthy of the world-class competition there. Founded more than 25 years ago, the Sarasota International Cricket Club houses its permanent facility at Lakewood Ranch. The fields have even been laser-leveled to improve the players’ match play and practice wickets.
Along with the Lakewood Ranch Athletic Center, another workout facility is the YMCA
, just a couple miles away. Lakewood Ranch has its own Medical Center.
The Sarasota-Bradenton area in general has been famously known for its Arts and Culture, which have bled into Lakewood Ranch. Some recognizable names of the area are The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the ancestral Wallenda family circus troupe, and The Sarasota Film Society.
Main Street has its own theatre of six screens and shows new release movies, as well as independent films from the Sarasota Film Society. Other events at Main Street include the following: Music on Main, Evening Under the Stars, Suncoast Wine Festival, and Art at the Ranch. During the Christmas
season, Main Street attracts locals by creating a huge tree in the middle of its circle drive, festive decorations, fake snow that fall from the store’s rooftops, and even Christmas music is piped in through speakers on the street.
Public Schools
Private Schools
College
Vocational School
The Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club offers a unique program that helps import workers from South Africa
to create job opportunities. In an effort to provide opportunities to young adults in Cape Town, South Africa, Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club created a system to hire people for a short-term time period. The newly transferred employees from Cape Town
are provided with housing within walking/biking distance to the Club. Other advantages of the program include: traveling to the United States
and taking in the different culture, meeting and conversing with the members of the Club, paid in fair wages and hours, as well as, at the end of their time in the States, they are allowed to travel to other parts of the United States
before returning home on their visa.
Places of Worship:
- Bayside Community Church
- Chabad Lubavitch of Bradenton
- Christ Presbyterian Church
- Lakewood Church on the Ranch
- Cooper Creek Christian Church
- Cornerstone Church of Lakewood Ranch, PCA
- Evangel Baptist Church
- Faith Christian Church
- Harvest United Methodist Church
- Living Lord Lutheran Church
- Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church
- Peace Presbyterian Church PCUSA
- Risen Savior Lutheran Church
- Sarasota Baptist Church
- Shepherd's Creek Churc
- St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church
- Temple Emanu-El
- The Family Church Christian Retreat
- West Coast Community Church
- Woodland Baptist Church
Dick Vitale can be seen having brunch at Lakewood Ranch's Broken Egg restaurant. He is very fond of the Lakewood Ranch place and has given many donations to help sustain its reputation.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
master planned community in southeastern Manatee County
Manatee County, Florida
Manatee County is a county in the state of Florida. According to the 2010 census by the U.S. Census Bureau there are 322,833 people living in Manatee Country.Manatee County is part of the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, built on part of what was once a timber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
ranch
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
owned by members of Milwaukee's Uihlein family
Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company
The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company was an American brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was once the largest producer of beer in the world. Its namesake beer, Schlitz, was known as "The beer that made Milwaukee famous" and was famously advertised with the slogan "When you're out of Schlitz,...
. It is part of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population for the 34202 ZIP Code Tabulation Area
ZIP Code Tabulation Area
ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are statistical entities developed by the United States Census Bureau for tabulating summary statistics from Census 2000. This new entity was developed to overcome the difficulties in precisely defining the land area covered by each ZIP code...
, in which Lakewood Ranch is located, was 15,335 at the 2000 Census.
Started in 1995, Lakewood Ranch has an 8500 acre (3,439.8 ha) master-planned community within it. It is an up-and-coming family-oriented community, consisting of seven villages with a variety of housing types. The most recognizable feature about Lakewood Ranch is its award-winning green community, elected as the largest green-certified community in the United States as of 2009. Some other features about this neighborhood include recreation, shopping and dining, events and festivals, health and fitness, arts and culture, schools and colleges, employment, and worship opportunities.
History
Lakewood Ranch is located within the Manatee County region in Florida. The area was the likely landing site for the Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto along with his crew of conquistadors in 1539. Other explorers like Josiah Gates landed on the area as well, but it was later unofficially founded in 1855. Manatee County stretches almost 900 sq mi (2,331 km²) including waterways, which provided an exceptional source of transportation. Railroads, bridges, and roadways were eventually added for an easier access in and out of the area.Along with transportation development came a rapid growth in population during the early 1920s. Others saw the area as a vacation destination and retirement place. Also, with the warm southern climate as an asset, baseball became a popular sport there, along with spring training camps and professional teams would travel down there. A few years later, after the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
in the 1930s and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, other industries expanded, such as agriculture and fishing. Other developments in the industries were retail, education, and tourism. As the area expanded over the years, along with the population, a master-planned community was recently created called Lakewood Ranch.
About Lakewood Ranch
- First neighborhood development went up in 1995 (Summerfield)
- Emerging town that's great for young couples, families, and retirees
- Boasts an award-winning master-planned community (Lakewood Ranch Country Club)
- Its Main Street features several boutique-style shops, restaurants and a movie theater
- Minutes from Sarasota and the Gulf Coast beaches
Recreation, health and fitness
Lakewood Ranch has dedicated half of its land for parks, trails, and recreational fun. The trails alone stretch over 150 miles of the land.Along with parks and trails that make up most of the land, Lakewood Ranch has also put great importance on golf and tennis. Four notable country clubs are Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club, Legacy Golf Club, the Ritz Carlton’s Members Club, and The Concession Golf Club. Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club provides three levels of courses to cater the right amount of difficulty to every player. The names of the three are King’s Dunes, Cypress Links, and Country Club East. These courses are private, along with the Ritz Carlton’s Members Club course. The Ritz Carlton is 315 acre (127.5 ha) of magnificently sculpted land capturing the natural beauty of its tropical environment. A non-membership course in Lakewood Ranch is the Legacy Golf Club, which is Arnold Palmer’s signature course. Lastly, the finest course with a very private community is the Concession Golf Club and Residences. It is a 1200 acre (485.6 ha) reserve with 236 homes. Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...
contributed it in association with Tony Jacklin
Tony Jacklin
Anthony Jacklin CBE is an English golfer, who was the most successful British player of his generation. He was also the most successful European Ryder Cup captain ever.-Early life and education:...
. The unique features about the course are its inspiring and famous contributors, as well as the greens are air-conditioned and heated.
Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
is not to be forgotten at Lakewood Ranch. The Athletic Center at Lakewood Ranch offers state of the art facilities along with 18 tennis courts. Sixteen of these courts are fast-dry and two are classic clay with HydroGrid watering for optimal playing conditions.
Other recreational activities include polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
. Lakewood Ranch has nine world-class fields and a regulation size arena that can be played on throughout the winter season. The polo fields are located on 35 private ranches with over 600 horses stabled around the Club during the season.
Cricket at Lakewood Ranch is worthy of the world-class competition there. Founded more than 25 years ago, the Sarasota International Cricket Club houses its permanent facility at Lakewood Ranch. The fields have even been laser-leveled to improve the players’ match play and practice wickets.
Along with the Lakewood Ranch Athletic Center, another workout facility is the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
, just a couple miles away. Lakewood Ranch has its own Medical Center.
Shopping, dining and entertainment
Main Street is the local downtown shopping, dining, and events center. It offers amenities like clothing and retail, food (grocery, wine, and spirits), restaurants (coffee shops, ice cream parlors, family-style, international cuisine), and art festivals.The Sarasota-Bradenton area in general has been famously known for its Arts and Culture, which have bled into Lakewood Ranch. Some recognizable names of the area are The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the ancestral Wallenda family circus troupe, and The Sarasota Film Society.
Main Street has its own theatre of six screens and shows new release movies, as well as independent films from the Sarasota Film Society. Other events at Main Street include the following: Music on Main, Evening Under the Stars, Suncoast Wine Festival, and Art at the Ranch. During the Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
season, Main Street attracts locals by creating a huge tree in the middle of its circle drive, festive decorations, fake snow that fall from the store’s rooftops, and even Christmas music is piped in through speakers on the street.
Schools and colleges
The primary reason families live in Lakewood Ranch is the multitude of education it provides.Public Schools
- Lakewood Ranch High School
- R. Dan Nolan Middle School
- Braden River Middle School
- Braden River Elementary School
- Robert E. Willis Elementary School
- Gilbert W. McNeal Elementary School
- Imagine School at Lakewood Ranch (public charter school)
Private Schools
- Out-of-Door Academy
- http://www.thepinnacleacademy.com/
College
Vocational School
Business and international opportunities
Lakewood Ranch houses 1,200 businesses around the ranch, including many independently owned shops.The Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club offers a unique program that helps import workers from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
to create job opportunities. In an effort to provide opportunities to young adults in Cape Town, South Africa, Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club created a system to hire people for a short-term time period. The newly transferred employees from Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
are provided with housing within walking/biking distance to the Club. Other advantages of the program include: traveling to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and taking in the different culture, meeting and conversing with the members of the Club, paid in fair wages and hours, as well as, at the end of their time in the States, they are allowed to travel to other parts of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
before returning home on their visa.
Worship
Lakewood Ranch has 21 places of worship:Places of Worship:
- Bayside Community Church
- Chabad Lubavitch of Bradenton
- Christ Presbyterian Church
- Lakewood Church on the Ranch
- Cooper Creek Christian Church
- Cornerstone Church of Lakewood Ranch, PCA
- Evangel Baptist Church
- Faith Christian Church
- Harvest United Methodist Church
- Living Lord Lutheran Church
- Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church
- Peace Presbyterian Church PCUSA
- Risen Savior Lutheran Church
- Sarasota Baptist Church
- Shepherd's Creek Churc
- St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church
- Temple Emanu-El
- The Family Church Christian Retreat
- West Coast Community Church
- Woodland Baptist Church
Notable residents
- Ken DorseyKen DorseyKenneth Simon "Ken" Dorsey is a former football quarterback. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami. A two-time Heisman Trophy finalist at Miami, Dorsey played for the Cleveland Browns from 2006–2008...
, former NFL quarterbackQuarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line... - Dick VitaleDick VitaleRichard J. "Dick" Vitale , also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well-known as a college basketball broadcaster and for the enthusiastic and colorful remarks he makes during games. He is known for his...
, basketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
broadcasterPresenterA presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
Dick Vitale can be seen having brunch at Lakewood Ranch's Broken Egg restaurant. He is very fond of the Lakewood Ranch place and has given many donations to help sustain its reputation.