Being in the vinyl fence industry, I tend to notice the vinyl projects around town, especially here in Arizona.  I often comment on the look and feel of each project (much to the dismay of my wife!), especially critiquing those projects that we here at Buy Direct did not supply!  That being said, I had the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to travel with my family to Florida to visit my wife’s sister and family near the Sarasota area. Sarasota is about 45 minutes south of Tampa on the Gulf Coast and is a fabulous place to live or vacation.  The beaches are spectacular and there are many sights to see. My sister-in-law just moved from Arizona to Lakewood Ranch, which is a fantastic master-planned community just minutes east of Sarasota with 8,500 acres of developed property and thousands more acres of property waiting to be developed. It is essentially a ‘new city’, with nearly all of its development happening within the last 10 years.  There are some fabulous neighborhoods (or ‘villages’ as they call them) within Lakewood Ranch, from gated golf communities to apartment complexes and everything in between. Along with the residential communities there are some great commercial sites as well, from office space to great restaurants (namely an amazing breakfast place with 100 different types of pancakes!).

Being a west-coaster for most of my life, this was my first trip to Florida.  Now, I knew that vinyl fences are popular in Florida. What I didn’t know is that basically this entire master-planned community was developed using vinyl fencing and other vinyl features throughout the community. As I drove through each village, I couldn’t help but notice the amazing character that they possessed, and quite honestly, it was the vinyl fencing that made that community stand out.  Being in vinyl, I am obviously biased, but what was even more surprising was that even my wife referred to how great the Florida vinyl fencing looked on more than one occasion, and my sister-in-law mentioned that they absolutely love the vinyl look in the community—a great change from the block that inundates Arizona communities. As I mentioned, I love to criticize other vinyl projects that we don’t install or supply the fence for, but I couldn’t have been more pleased with the way the vinyl was laid out in this community. Every home that had a fenced-in yard (many homes in Florida don’t have fences—I guess they like to be one with the gators!) was vinyl fence, from classic privacy to closed picket. Every street sign and stop sign was vinyl.   All of the directional signs were made of vinyl, and even all of the entry monuments to the villages and commercial areas had vinyl features. The curb appeal was absolutely astounding. It is no wonder that this is still a thriving community despite the Florida real estate woes. I am sure the developers are happy that they didn’t cheap out and go with wood just to save some money in the short-term.  I couldn’t help but think what kind of better shape my residential community would be in with that type of curb appeal. My wife and I both fell in love with this community. Although our reasons for falling in love were obviously different, it is safe to say that Florida vinyl fence makes all the difference in the world!

I have attached some pictures of the community for your viewing pleasure…Enjoy!


4’ Classic Privacy in my sister-in-law’s backyard.


6’ classic privacy at a neighbor’s home

Some smart homeowners with Florida vinyl fence to keep the alligators off their playground equipment!

Beautiful Vinyl street sign.

6’ Closed Picket at a school in the neighborhood.

3’ closed picket vinyl view fence on the other side of the school.

Even the home builders are smart enough to use vinyl address signs.

Entry monument at the local pharmacy with some crossbuck ranch rail.

Closeup of crossbuck. These monuments were really sharp-looking from the street.

Vinyl stop sign post

What would a Florida vinyl fencing themed community be without some 3-rail ranch rail? My camera ran out of batteries before I could take all the pictures of the miles of ranch rail! (You’re welcome…)

Some 6’ straight picket that stretched along the road up to a community. This fence was probably a good mile long!

Another shot of the straight picket.