Face It, North Port; Island Walk Just Isn't That Into You

"If this sign makes your blood run cold, you might be an Island Walk resident." Jeff Foxworthy

Revolution is afoot in South Sarasota County. Again. First, Casey Key wants to be its own kingdom, now Island Walk residents want to distance themselves from the grand city of North Port and glom onto Venice. Like Venice would want them!

As is always the case here in Sarasota, the issue at stake here is the privilege of wealth. More precisely, those who reside behind the gates and walls of the upscale DiVosta Homes development don't want to be associated with anything that smacks of North Port. A proposed sign outside their front gate on Rt. 41 would share their dirty little secret of being residents of that fair city. Oh, the indignity of it all.

"We would not have bought there if it said, 'North Port,' " says Rachel Gregitis. I wonder if they would have bought there if they knew their property values were going to sink like a rock, North Port or no. Lady, you can call it 'Naples,' 'Boca Raton' or 'Hooterville,' it still won't make a difference if you want to sell your house in this market.

Why don't the good people of Island Walk contact Casey Key to see if they can throw in with them. Casey Key doesn't want to be part of Sarasota County anymore--too much riff raff. Then again, it's people like the Island Walkers that Casey Key wants to get away from.

"One West Villages homeowner even said that if the sign says North Port, he is going to let his house go into foreclosure." Ahhhh, spoken like a true North Porter!

Those people in Island Walk better not piss off North Port too much. The city commission is considering ending the ban on ATV riding within the city limits. How'd ya like North Port to declare Island Walk the designated off-road area?

A word of advice for all you wannabes in Island Walk: Groucho Marx, when told he couldn't join an exclusive Beverly Hills country club because he was Jewish, said, "I wouldn't want to belong to any organization that would have me as a member."

"Helloooooo, neighbor......"