Citrus County, Florida

3 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2 C itrus County, Florida is a little different than most counties in the Sunshine State. “One of the things you notice when you come to Citrus County is it’s a lot less hectic than what most people know Florida to be,” says Miles Saunders, Media and Content Manager for Discover Crystal River Florida. “We are about an hour and 45 minutes from Orlando International Airport and about an hour and 15 minutes from Tampa, but other than that, we have very little in common in terms of lifestyle with those two very busy places.” Life goes at a slower pace for the west-central Florida county, which includes Crystal River, Inverness, Floral City, and Homosassa. The semi-rural community has a population of around 154,000 with about half of its land dedicated as publicly held property including state forests, national wildlife refuges, and the 28,000-acre Crystal River Preserve State Park. “Even if we were fully developed out, we would still be a smaller place than say, Hillsborough County where Tampa is, or Pinellas where St. Petersburg is, or Orange and Osceola Counties where Orlando and AT A GLANCE CITRUS COUNTY, FLORIDA WHAT: A semi-rural county of 154,000 WHERE: Located in west-central Florida, along the Gulf Coast WEBSITE: www.citrusbocc.com citrus county F L O R I D A Florida’s sweet spot