That's right, Snooty the oldest living manatee on Earth, lives in a place called Bradenton, Florida in Manatee County. Snooty recently celebrated his 62nd birthday in Bradenton and helped spread the news about wildlife awareness. Environmental efforts are especially near and dear to the people living in Manatee County because of how important the water is to them. There is also to enjoy while in the neighborhood of the Gulf Islands because you can expect to swim, fish, boat, jet ski and whatever you feel like doing in the water. These beautiful and quiet waterways also attract a healthy amount of visitors that help out the local and state economy. Bradenton is a beautiful paradise that not a lot of people know about in terms of vacation spots.
Economy:
There is a high unemployment rate in Bradenton, Florida that a lot of the locals are worried about. Complaints about the area are as follows: too many people are moving to Bradenton—while keeping the local Bradenton moving companies happy—not everyone can feel the same why. There are fewer jobs to go around, people say, and that isn't helping lower the cost of living. The Manatee County Economic Development Council is taking up the challenge of creating jobs, however, by placing great initiatives on businesses moving here with jobs to fill. Over the past decade, the EDC has assisted over 170 businesses and continues to care for the area's economy.
Tourism:
People come to Bradenton, Florida to boat, fish, sail, parasail, canoe and kayak on Florida's Gulf Coast. There are also treasures on land, you will discover, if you go into the area's many shops, boutiques and vintage stores. In Downtown Bradenton, there are museums such as the South Florida Museum and Bishop Planetarium, as well as preserves such as Emerson Point Conservation Preserve and the Palma Sola Botanical Park and Robinson Preserve. The Emerson Point Conservation Preserve is an old temple made out of shells that used to be a main piece in worship ceremonies of the Native Americans. The Palma Sola is land that has been restored to host acres jackfruit, Panama res passion fruit, kumquat and black sapote trees.
History:
As the story goes, Bradenton was founded by the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto when he was actually looking for El Dorado—the Lost City of Gold. But, discovering the southern tip of Tampa Bay was what Soto ended up with. Bradenton was not named after Soto but after Joseph Braden, a man who owned lots of sugarcane crops.