I’ve lived here since 1978 and I have seen a lot of ups and downs. In my mind, hurricane Charlie stands out as the beginning of the economic downward turn. I’ll never forget living under a dark wet cloud for months on end.  We had storms, flooding, fires, people living in pods, trailers, property insurance go sky high, stock market crash, ponzi schemes, flippers,suicides,  a cement shortage, oil spill, chinese drywall, piracy and so forth.
Have a look for yourself at the economic forecast in Downtown Sarasota:
http://www.sarasotaeconomy.com/Downtown-Real-Estate-Development-in-Progress-Report/Downtown%20Real%20Estate%20Development%20Projects.pdf