Dude - after living in Rottenchester NY for 30+ years ALMOST anywhere is paradise. My sister was just down here for a week - she lives in Philly, she is planning on moving here after a week that wasn't all that great weatherwise, we had cold and rain, lotso rain but she still was major impressed with the area. Ya downtown Bradenton isn't much to scream about but I am almost in Sarasota and I am less than 20 mins from the gulf, a marina in my development with crazy cheep dock fees if I wanted to own a boat - (Break Out Another Thousand) and it is nicely laid back here. Traffic very manageable here, hard to say that in most places and Tampa is less than an hour away.
I saw a billboard the other day that summed it up quite nicely, Live where Others vacation. I am and I am happy!