Venice is a city in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The city includes what locals call "Venice Island", a portion of the mainland that is accessed via bridges over the artificially created Intracoastal Waterway. The city is located south of Nokomis and north of Englewood. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,746. It is noted for its large snowbird population and was voted as a top 10 Happiest Seaside Towns by Coastal Living. Venice is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton metropolitan statistical area.
Geography and climate
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which is land and, or 8.19%, is water. The climate of Venice is Humid Subtropical, bordering very closely on a Tropical Savanna climate and features pronounced wet and dry seasons.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,764 people, 9,680 households, and 5,362 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,948.8 inhabitants per square mile. There were 13,516 housing units at an average density of 1,482.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 98.14% White, 0.55% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.24% from other races, and 0.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.10% of the population. There were 9,680 households out of which 7.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.2% were married couples living together, 4.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.6% were non-families. 40.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 30.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.76 and the average family size was 2.25. In the city, the population was spread out with 6.9% under the age of 18, 2.3% from 18 to 24, 10.2% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 57.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 69 years. For every 100 females, there were 76.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $37,536, and the median income for a family was $46,898. Males had a median income of $35,271 versus $26,132 for females. The per capita income for the city was $28,220. About 3.7% of families and 5.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.4% of those under age 18 and 3.7% of those age 65 or over.
Arts and culture
Annual cultural events
Venice has been listed in several publications as being the "Shark's Tooth Capital of the World". It hosts the Shark's Tooth Festival every year to celebrate the abundance of fossilized shark's teeth that can be found on its coastal shores.
Venice Theatre – The Venice Theatre is the largest per-capita community theater in the United States with an operating budget of almost three million dollars
Venice Symphony
Media
Venice's newspaper is the . It is published twice each week, and has a circulation of 13,500 copies. Tampa Bay's Univision affiliate WVEA-TV is licensed to Venice, though it is based in Tampa and broadcasts from Riverview.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Venice is served by U.S. Highway 41, which runs north-south on the western side of Florida; Interstate 75 is a short distance east of Venice. Passenger railroad service, served by the Seaboard Coast Line, last ran to the station in 1971, immediately prior to the Amtrak assumption of passenger rail operation. Previously Venice was one of the Florida destinations of the Orange Blossom Special. Venice Municipal Airport is a city managed public-use airport located south of the central business district.
Law enforcement
Venice is patrolled by the Venice Police Department, Tom Mattmuller is the current Chief of Police. The small department has special units for bike patrols, traffic patrols, and boat patrols, amongst the normal police services provided. There are a total of 47 sworn officers that protect the citizens of Venice.
