Water, Water Everywhere

PINELLAS COUNTY AT A GLANCE

LAND AREA (SQUARE MILES): 280
PERSONS PER SQUARE MILE (2000): 3,292
POPULATION (2004 ESTIMATE): 926,146
POPULATION INCREASE (1990-2000): 8.2 percent
COLLEGE GRADUATES: 22.9 percent
MEAN TRAVEL TIME TO WORK (MINUTES): 23.6
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME (1999): $37,111

BEACHES

Some of the region's best beaches lie on the west side of Pinellas County, stretching 35 miles from Fort De Soto on the southern tip of the peninsula and stretching north to Fred H. Howard Park in Tarpon Springs. There are 12 beachfront communities from Dunedin south, each with its own government and its own idiosyncrasies. Here are some beach community highlights.

Fort De Soto, a county park, was chosen the best beach in the United States again in 2005 by "Dr. Beach," a.k.a. Dr. Stephen Leatherman, a coastal scientist who comes up with a Top 10 list of beaches each year. A visit to Fort De Soto will easily prove the wisdom of his choice; think generous drifts of sugar-soft sand combined with incredible views. There's also a beachfront campground where even dogs are welcome.

For those seeking more luxurious beachfront accommodations, head a little south to the historic Don CeSar Beach Resort, a pink confection of a structure opened in 1928.

Then, for a less formal drink and stroll, Pass-A-Grille's Hurricane Restaurant is a perfect stop-off point. Climb to the top of this landmark eatery for a panoramic beach view.

There are three other substantial beach parks in Pinellas County. Sand Key Park, on the tip of the Sand Key barrier island, overlooks Clearwater Pass as well as the Gulf of Mexico. Honeymoon Island State Recreation Area, just across the causeway from Dunedin, was originally marketed in the 1940s as a getaway for newlyweds, who were invited to ensconce themselves in quaint thatched huts.

If you're looking to get even farther away, head to Caladesi Island. Accessible only by private boat or a ferry from Honeymoon Island, Caladesi is one of the few completely unspoiled islands left along Florida's Gulf Cost. You can loll by the seashore or hike the three-mile nature trail through the island's interior. Serious beach aficionados consider Caladesi's shoreline to be pretty much unsurpassed.

If you're looking for a single-family home along the Pinellas beaches, you'll find little new construction. Condominiums, however, are popping up in many areas.

Madeira Bay, a new waterfront development located across from the John's Pass Village shopping area, will include townhomes, condos, two restaurants and a 2,000-square-foot conference center. Across the street, construction of a 325-space parking garage and retail complex at John's Pass is proceeding.

In St. Pete Beach, the TradeWinds Resorts is converting 288 of the 585 units at Island Grand to condominiums following extensive renovations in 2004.

CENTRAL PINELLAS

While Pinellas residents play at the beaches, many live, work and shop in Central Pinellas. The cities of Seminole, Largo and Pinellas Park all seem to blend together, but their location in the middle of the Pinellas peninsula certainly make them convenient.

Much of the county's industrial heart is in the central region as well. While tourism remains Pinellas' biggest industry, manufacturing is making inroads. In fact, the county is second in the state in number of manufacturing employees.

Location has made condominiums near the west side of the Gandy Bridge popular for buyers who need to commute to Tampa, yet want to remain close to Pinellas' beaches and other amenities.

This densely populated area began booming in the late 19th century, when the Orange Belt Railroad made it a vital center of the Florida citrus industry.

Heritage Village in Largo is a testament to that era, where a park encompasses a village made up of 22 structures, some dating back to the mid-19th century. There's a log house, said to be the oldest existing structure in the county, and the Victorian-era Seven Gables House. You can even visit an old school, church, railroad depot and store.

CLEARWATER

When Scott Daniels met his future wife in Clearwater more than 20 years ago, he asked her to move up north with him and start their lives together. The idea received a less-than-enthusiastic response.

"I would never leave paradise!" Marcy Daniels emphatically told her husband-to-be.

Taking stock of the situation, Scott saw what his future bride saw and needed no further convincing. Today, Scott and Marcy are realtors for Coldwell Banker, selling Clearwater as their personal vision of the Garden of Eden.

The area's charms were spotted early. Spanish explorers discovered freshwater springs burbling from tall bluffs overlooking the harbor, and named the area "Clear Water." The springs are now gone, but the name lives on.

Fort Harrison occupied the bluffs during the Seminole Indian War. The fort was built as a recuperation center for soldiers, and offered views of Clearwater Harbor and the barrier island that is Cleawater Beach. Indeed, it's hard to imagine a nicer place to heal. These days, that same harbor view is accessible to everyone at Clearwater's Coachman Park, home to the annual Clearwater Jazz Holiday Weekend, held every October, as well as other musical and athletic events year round.

Clearwater became the county seat when Pinellas County separated from Hillsborough County in 1912. It's now the county's second-largest municipality, behind St. Petersburg.

Tourism also arrived early in Clearwater. When Henry Plant brought the railroad to town in 1897, he also built the Belleview Biltmore Hotel on a bluff just south of Clearwater proper in Belleair. The 247-room wooden structure, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, remains in business under the name Belleview Biltmore Resort.

While Clearwater is most famous as a winter tourist destination, it has also evolved into a bustling year-round community. The housing selection varies, but a popular address remains Countryside, a master-planned country-club community started by US Home in the late 1970s. Although it's now completely built-out, the average price for resale homes is approaching $300,000, with million-dollar sales around the golf course becoming more common.

"The library, the mall and the schools are nearby, so it's a very convenient location," says Joyce Lower, a RE/MAX Mutual realtor. "When I bought my house in Countryside from a retiree, the people next door were retirees and everybody on the street had gray hair. But now we have plenty of families. It's much more mixed than it used to be. It's a very pleasant place. I love it here."

With land ever more scarce, new residential development in Clearwater tends to be multifamily. Condominiums planned along the city's waterfront and in its downtown will continue to alter the skyline. The $40 million Station Square, with 126 units, is the first major new residential development downtown in 40 years.

But it's the beaches, across the newly built Clearwater Memorial Causeway Bridge from downtown, that are seeing the most activity as mom-and-pop motels are replaced with high-rises. Many of these projects are selling out long before the first earth is turned. The new fixed-span bridge to Clearwater Beach, which replaced the old drawbridge, makes access to these hot new communities even easier.

DUNEDIN

Dunedin's small but robust downtown should be the envy of many other cities that have tried but failed to breathe new life into their city centers.

The catalyst for this downtown's renaissance was the Pinellas Trail, an abandoned railroad corridor that now delivers gaggles of thirsty skaters and bicyclists directly to Dunedin's Main Street. There are plenty of restaurants to accommodate the crowds, some featuring outdoor seating. Popular choices include Casa Tina's, Kelly's for Just About Everything, Flanagan's Hunt Irish Pub, Dunedin Brewery and the Black Pearl.

Lucky Dunedin residents also have quick access to nationally ranked beaches across a causeway to Honeymoon Island State Park and via a ferry to Caladesi Island State Park.

Dunedin is the oldest city in Florida south of Cedar Key. It became a major seaport in the mid-1800s after a dock was built large enough to accommodate schooners and sloops. Originally called "Jonesboro," after a general store owner, it got its present name in 1882 when two Scottish merchants circulated a petition calling for the post office to be named Dunedin, after the city in Scotland.

Still proud of its Scottish heritage, modern-day Dunedin hosts a Highland Games each spring. In addition, art lovers flock to the Dunedin Art Harvest each fall while the Toronto Blue Jays come to town each year for spring training.

Waterfront properties, both single-family homes and condos, are extremely desirable in Dunedin but inventory is tight.

Susan Littlejohn, owner and broker of Susan Littlejohn Realty, has lived in Dunedin since 1952. "Through all the development, the downtown has stayed very charming," says Littlejohn, who's also president of the Dunedin Historical Society. "We went into a slump in the early '90s, and the Dunedin Merchants Association remade its image as cute and artsy. We lured new restaurants and we succeeded."

Most homes in the immediate vicinity of downtown are older. Of special interest are the vintage charmers lining Victoria Drive, many of which were built in the 1880s. "It's a wonderful, shell-crunched drive that hasn't changed in all this time, and nobody wants it to change," Littlejohn says. "If you were visiting downtown you would never know this drive was there. When I'm showing clients our city, I save it for last."

And what would a town with ties to Scotland be without a golf course? Donald Ross designed the original Dunedin Country Club course in 1927. The Dunedin Isles Country Club was privately held until the course was deeded to the city in 1938. Seven years later, the PGA leased the course and changed its name to the PGA National Golf Club, where it was headquartered during the 1950s.

In the 1970s, retirement condominium complexes such as Patrician Oaks, Heather Lakes, Douglas Arms and Heather Hills were built.

"Very few condos there are not intended for seniors," Littlejohn says. "There are hundreds of these units; you're lucky if there's one on the market on any given day."

But there are some luxurious new condominium projects under way that aren't age-restricted. The Dunedin Grand, for example, has just 18 units, and prices range from $950,000 to $2.7 million.

EAST LAKE/PALM HARBOR

East Lake and Palm Harbor sit side-by-side in northern Pinellas County, divided by huge Lake Tarpon. Both communities are unincorporated, although Palm Harbor boasts a charming downtown with a number of historic buildings. Thousands come there for its many festivals during the year, including the Palm Harbor Chamber Arts, Crafts and Musical Festival in December.

While most of Palm Harbor is built-out, two quaint villages with eclectic housing remain. Ozona, west of Alternate U.S. 19, is older than Palm Harbor and boasts its own post office as well as a popular circa-1900 recreation center, which was financed largely by bake-sale proceeds. The community, which began as a fishing village, was originally called "Yellow Bluff" because it sat on a high mound of yellow sand visible from the bay. The name was discarded because boosters feared it would bring to mind Yellow Fever.

The current, less-frightening moniker may have been suggested by two doctors from Chicago and St. Louis who brought asthmatic patients to the area for treatment. Although "ozone" doesn't have entirely favorable connotations today, at the time it was thought to suggest invigorating breezes.

A little north of Ozona-and decidedly off the beaten track-is Crystal Beach, a tiny, Key West-style community with an eclectic assortment of homes.

"Somebody local has to take you by the hand to show you where it is," says Lori Polin, a realtor with RE/MAX Mutual. "It's definitely worth the trip."

Until about 20 years ago, there were more cows than people in East Lake, which was home to sprawling Boot Ranch. Today, the only vestige of the community's ranching heritage is the "Boot Ranch" name on a subdivision and an Albertsons/Target complex. A huge orange concrete cowboy boot that once marked the edge of Boot Ranch now welcomes grocery shoppers.

Most homes here are newer and built on larger lots or in master-planned communities. However, the county managed to keep one piece of land in the area pristine, to remind residents what the area looked like before development. The 8,000-acre Brooker Creek Preserve, located on the Pinellas County border with Pasco County, is truly a wilderness oasis in the midst of suburbia.