Puerto Ricans Flock to Sarasota

Florida’s burgeoning Puerto Rican population traditionally has been rooted in and around the Orlando housing market.

But that is changing, and the Southwest Florida housing market is feeling the effects, both with an increased Puerto Rican population and business presence.

Puerto Ricans are spreading out across Florida to places like Sarasota and Manatee in search of affordable Florida mortgages, jobs, small-business opportunities, good schools and beaches that remind them of the island.

The new Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce of Sarasota County and Manatee County officially launched in February as Florida’s 12th chapter. While business support will be a primary focus of the group, social networking will be a key component as well.

“It’s good progress,” said Luis Fernandez, co-founder of Yellow Strawberry Global Hair Salons in Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch. “Now, Puerto Ricans are in all sectors here as teachers, bankers, accountants, doctors, politicians.”

Politically and economically, Puerto Ricans are gaining a foothold in Florida, primarily because of the sheer numbers relocating here.

Chamber members plan to use that power base to connect Puerto Ricans to jobs, training, scholarships, grants and social services, and to make certain that their members get fair treatment on Florida mortgage rates and other transactions in which minorities are often targeted.

In both counties, Puerto Ricans are the second-largest and fastest-growing Latino group after Mexicans. In 2006, there were an estimated 3,746 Puerto Ricans in Sarasota County, and an estimated 4,913 in Manatee, according to a market analysis report by marketing research company Claritas.

• The company’s projections for 2011 show that Sarasota County could have about 5,403 Puerto Ricans, a 44 percent increase.
• Meanwhile, Manatee County could have 6,630, a 35 percent increase.

Luis Martinez-Fernandez, a history professor at the University of Central Florida, said the Orlando housing market is often viewed as a “mecca” for Puerto Ricans, but he said that’s changing fast.

“That is true to a certain extent, but if you look at the Puerto Rican population in Florida and compare that to the population in Orlando, the city only has a fraction,” Martinez-Fernandez said.

Rising Florida home loan costs in Orlando are causing many Puerto Ricans to relocate to other parts of Florida, including Tampa and Deltona, northeast of Orlando, and beyond.

Martinez-Fernandez said more Puerto Ricans are choosing to leave the island to come to the states, especially Florida, due to unemployment and crime at home.

“Many professionals are attracted to, say, Florida for example, because of its expanding economy,” he said.

SOURCE: Sarasota Herald-Tribune