JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville is the most boring city in the United States, at least that’s a new study’s determination.
Finance Buzz ranked Jacksonville last on its excitement scale when comparing the country’s 75 most populous cities, and locals we spoke with Friday weren’t too surprised to see Jacksonville earn the designation.
The study looked at five key factors, including population makeup, culinary scene, outdoor activities, nightlife, and things to do.
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Jacksonville local Zach Leyh agreed with the city being dubbed the most boring, especially when it comes to nightlife.
“I have a kid, so I don’t really go to the nightlife like that, but even when it was, the nightlife is a bunch of ratchet people out there. So, I don’t really like to go,” said Leyh.
Others, such as Shannesh Williams and Huyta Diaz, had a more optimistic outlook.
They argued the city has a lot of potential to grow.
“We could get an aquarium. Like, let’s get a lot more nightclubs. We need more themes in Jacksonville to pursue,” said Williams.
“But there’s time to change, a lot of spaces for changes here,” said Diaz.
Katie Mitura with Visit Jacksonville definitely disagreed with Jacksonville’s ranking.
“I don’t think that any of these surveys really do due diligence for the city or tell the story of the city,” said Mitura.
She also noted Jacksonville’s culinary scene and nightlife, the two categories where it scored the lowest, are the same areas where Visit Jacksonville is actively working to flip the script.
“So, it’s so funny that this came out now because we’re about six months into a really hard sell on those things, and so, I think that we’ll see a change if this survey happens again in a year or two,” said Mitura.
And Mitura added, when you consider Jacksonville’s strengths like its beaches, fishing, and other outdoor activities, perhaps this study just wasn’t designed with Jacksonville in mind.
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“Is that something that makes us boring? Okay, maybe. But is that something that we all love? Yes,” said Mitura.
We reached out to Mayor Donna Deegan’s office for her thoughts on the report. Action News Jax received the following reply:
“This is an uninformed study that doesn’t take into account the significant progress being made to develop downtown and ensure Jacksonville is a place where young people choose to plant roots.”
Jacksonville wasn’t alone in terms of Florida cities being designated as boring.
Tallahassee came in at number nine.
Meanwhile, Miami and Orlando both earned spots in the top five most interesting cities in the US.
Atlanta earned the top spot for the most interesting city in the country.
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