Why St. Augustine is becoming a millennial hotspot

[thelakelander]

Just a few years ago, St. Augustine was primarily a tourist destination for baby boomers who spent their nights at area bed and breakfasts and their days walking around St. George Street.

Now, the historic city, buoyed by a growing craft cocktail and beer industry, an emerging culinary scene and growing live music culture, is attracting more and more individuals from the younger demographic, said Richard Goldman, president and CEO of the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau.

"It all combined at a time when millennials kind of discovered St. Augustine," Goldman said. "We tie that moment into [Mumford & Sons'] Gentlemen of the Road tour. We've seen a significant impact. The way we're able to see that is the growth in that demographic, which we had not previously had much of a footprint in."

Since the Gentlemen of the Road tour in 2012, that's only increased. Goldman said the amount of visitors has doubled in the last three years, and a significant portion of that growth is in the millennial sector.

Full article: http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2016/03/07/why-st-augustine-is-becoming-a-millennial-hotspot.html

[Captain Zissou]

They're citing gentlemen of the road and not economic recovery, the growth of St Johns County for millennial residents, The Ice Plant, Mojos, Dos Gatos, etc... opening in the historic area? 

[E_Dubya]

They're citing gentlemen of the road and not economic recovery, the growth of St Johns County for millennial residents, The Ice Plant, Mojos, Dos Gatos, etc... opening in the historic area?

These are huge, especially when you couple it with retaining Flagler students after graduation. The head of IT for the company I'm now with was speaking the other day about the abundance of IT grads from UNF and the large amount of IT openings with comapnies in the community. There's no real bridge between the school and the workforce in that specific industry. Finding a way to bridge that gap is essential to building a thriving, young, urban environment.

[Tacachale]

They're citing gentlemen of the road and not economic recovery, the growth of St Johns County for millennial residents, The Ice Plant, Mojos, Dos Gatos, etc... opening in the historic area?

These are huge, especially when you couple it with retaining Flagler students after graduation. The head of IT for the company I'm now with was speaking the other day about the abundance of IT grads from UNF and the large amount of IT openings with comapnies in the community. There's no real bridge between the school and the workforce in that specific industry. Finding a way to bridge that gap is essential to building a thriving, young, urban environment.

Shameless work plug: have them contact UNF Career Services. We have a portal where companies can post jobs targeted to UNF students and alums. They should also come to one of the career fairs or host info sessions if they haven't done that. Computing is one of the areas we typically have no trouble with placing students, in IT or any of the majors. If they call the Career Services front desk at 620-2600 they should be able to connect them to the right folks. You can also shoot me a PM.

[Tacachale]

They're citing gentlemen of the road and not economic recovery, the growth of St Johns County for millennial residents, The Ice Plant, Mojos, Dos Gatos, etc... opening in the historic area?

Oh, he's just tying it into a big event that got a lot of notice and attention, especially with the demographic in question (and that the county tourist bureau spent a good deal of money and effort on). Obviously no one thing is bringing in an entire generational demographic.

I think this article is making an unnecessary distinction between Millennial tourists and Millennial locals (both St. Augustine residents and others from the county and metro area). Sure, maybe St. Augustine is seeing more young tourists than it used to. But a lot of the stuff they mention - the concert scene, the bars and distillery - are getting a lot of support from people who actually live in or near the area. The St. Augustine Amphitheater in particular would flop pretty quickly if it weren't people from the rest of the metro area coming down. Thousands of people aren't driving from Orlando or Georgia or father to go to the St. Augustine Amphitheater, at least not every week.

[Captain Zissou]

I don't subscribe to the business journal (and i'm over my 3 article a month limit), so i couldn't see past the pay wall.  I can say that I go down there more in the last 3 years because I have the disposable income to do so. 

[JaxJersey-licious]

A big part of St Augustine's problem attracting younger affluent tourists was how it compares to what most visitors think about  Florida. While theme parks and resorts were screaming "Newer, Faster, Bigger, Awesomer", many people in the region who didn't go to St. Augustine on a regular basis associated the town with long field trips walking for what seemed like miles while listening to dry stories by people (some in cheesy historical costumes) about Minorcans and Huguenots and what have you (plus the disappointment of blowing a good chunk of your souvenir dough on lunch and snacks and barely scraping enough for a rubber alligator or something shitty like that). And the negative perceptions continued as they grew older
: how anachronistic it is, small, crowded, tacky, not hip, stores  cater to the elderly, the town's idea of fine dining is The Santa Maria restaurant, etc.

I agree that events as the Gentlemen Of The Road tour, the huge success of the amphitheatre, and the St Augustine Distillery have helped raise the profile of city with Millennials, they were able take advantage of the popularity of TV travel and food shows plus the rise of vacation, travel, and food websites and blogs that have made Millennials and other generations see St. Augustine in a much better light than before. And younger travelers are more apt to take a look at places that may be a little under the radar but have their own unique quirks and it appears to be working (just look for example at Yelp! reviews for popular local bars and restaurants and the many reviews from folks outside the region).

All of that on top of a healthy economy and that it's a one gas tank trip for millions could only mean another record-setting number visitors this tourist season for the Oldest City.

[Sonic101]

They're citing gentlemen of the road and not economic recovery, the growth of St Johns County for millennial residents, The Ice Plant, Mojos, Dos Gatos, etc... opening in the historic area?

These are huge, especially when you couple it with retaining Flagler students after graduation. The head of IT for the company I'm now with was speaking the other day about the abundance of IT grads from UNF and the large amount of IT openings with comapnies in the community. There's no real bridge between the school and the workforce in that specific industry. Finding a way to bridge that gap is essential to building a thriving, young, urban environment.

Shameless work plug: have them contact UNF Career Services. We have a portal where companies can post jobs targeted to UNF students and alums. They should also come to one of the career fairs or host info sessions if they haven't done that. Computing is one of the areas we typically have no trouble with placing students, in IT or any of the majors. If they call the Career Services front desk at 620-2600 they should be able to connect them to the right folks. You can also shoot me a PM.

I don't think many schools push their career services enough and I can't stress how important it is to get a co-op or an internship during college in your field of study. During my short time at FSU, I had no information from career services about what they did, but the school that I graduated from REQUIRED me to get a co-op in my field of study and work there starting your freshman year. My co-op manger helped to get my resume out there, along with the career fair, and the school's job board helped me to learn the ropes. Having that experience helps to find out if this is really the field for you and to get experience to help land a job upon graduation.  I wish more schools would stress the importance of co-ops and internships and how valuable it is to the local companies in getting talented employees.

[Tacachale]

A big part of St Augustine's problem attracting younger affluent tourists was how it compares to what most visitors think about  Florida. While theme parks and resorts were screaming "Newer, Faster, Bigger, Awesomer", many people in the region who didn't go to St. Augustine on a regular basis associated the town with long field trips walking for what seemed like miles while listening to dry stories by people (some in cheesy historical costumes) about Minorcans and Huguenots and what have you (plus the disappointment of blowing a good chunk of your souvenir dough on lunch and snacks and barely scraping enough for a rubber alligator or something shitty like that). And the negative perceptions continued as they grew older
: how anachronistic it is, small, crowded, tacky, not hip, stores  cater to the elderly, the town's idea of fine dining is The Santa Maria restaurant, etc.

I agree that events as the Gentlemen Of The Road tour, the huge success of the amphitheatre, and the St Augustine Distillery have helped raise the profile of city with Millennials, they were able take advantage of the popularity of TV travel and food shows plus the rise of vacation, travel, and food websites and blogs that have made Millennials and other generations see St. Augustine in a much better light than before. And younger travelers are more apt to take a look at places that may be a little under the radar but have their own unique quirks and it appears to be working (just look for example at Yelp! reviews for popular local bars and restaurants and the many reviews from folks outside the region).

All of that on top of a healthy economy and that it's a one gas tank trip for millions could only mean another record-setting number visitors this tourist season for the Oldest City.

Like a lot of older tourist attractions, St. Augustine definitely suffered from the Disneyfication of Florida's tourism industry. Tourist shops, small scale attractions and mom-and-pop motels came to seem anemic and lame compared to the big corporate theme parks. Though it held up a lot better than, say, the Jax Beach boardwalk area, Marineland and Daytona's old waterfront.

Stuff like the distillery, breweries, good restaurants, and the concert venues are definitely the reason the city is more attractive to younger people now than, say, 10 years ago. But what they still seem to miss is the fact that none of that is driven by tourism alone. Locals are providing a lot of the support for the stuff that's attractive to younger people, and they're not coming/staying in St. Augustine for its tourist economy. I expect the real factors are the explosive growth of St. Johns County and the lack of any remotely comparable communities anywhere else in the county. And while the St. Johns job market is still lagging for its size, St. Augustine isn't so far away from Jax that people can't commute to work (I work with several people who do that). Obviously the tourist board is going to talk about stuff through the filter of tourism, but it suggests there's a lack of understanding about what makes really makes St. Augustine attractive.

[JaxJersey-licious]

A big part of St Augustine's problem attracting younger affluent tourists was how it compares to what most visitors think about  Florida. While theme parks and resorts were screaming "Newer, Faster, Bigger, Awesomer", many people in the region who didn't go to St. Augustine on a regular basis associated the town with long field trips walking for what seemed like miles while listening to dry stories by people (some in cheesy historical costumes) about Minorcans and Huguenots and what have you (plus the disappointment of blowing a good chunk of your souvenir dough on lunch and snacks and barely scraping enough for a rubber alligator or something shitty like that). And the negative perceptions continued as they grew older
: how anachronistic it is, small, crowded, tacky, not hip, stores  cater to the elderly, the town's idea of fine dining is The Santa Maria restaurant, etc.

I agree that events as the Gentlemen Of The Road tour, the huge success of the amphitheatre, and the St Augustine Distillery have helped raise the profile of city with Millennials, they were able take advantage of the popularity of TV travel and food shows plus the rise of vacation, travel, and food websites and blogs that have made Millennials and other generations see St. Augustine in a much better light than before. And younger travelers are more apt to take a look at places that may be a little under the radar but have their own unique quirks and it appears to be working (just look for example at Yelp! reviews for popular local bars and restaurants and the many reviews from folks outside the region).

All of that on top of a healthy economy and that it's a one gas tank trip for millions could only mean another record-setting number visitors this tourist season for the Oldest City.

Like a lot of older tourist attractions, St. Augustine definitely suffered from the Disneyfication of Florida's tourism industry. Tourist shops, small scale attractions and mom-and-pop motels came to seem anemic and lame compared to the big corporate theme parks. Though it held up a lot better than, say, the Jax Beach boardwalk area, Marineland and Daytona's old waterfront.

Stuff like the distillery, breweries, good restaurants, and the concert venues are definitely the reason the city is more attractive to younger people now than, say, 10 years ago. But what they still seem to miss is the fact that none of that is driven by tourism alone. Locals are providing a lot of the support for the stuff that's attractive to younger people, and they're not coming/staying in St. Augustine for its tourist economy. I expect the real factors are the explosive growth of St. Johns County and the lack of any remotely comparable communities anywhere else in the county. And while the St. Johns job market is still lagging for its size, St. Augustine isn't so far away from Jax that people can't commute to work (I work with several people who do that). Obviously the tourist board is going to talk about stuff through the filter of tourism, but it suggests there's a lack of understanding about what makes really makes St. Augustine attractive.

The fact that the recent housing and job boom of St. Johns County has contributed to the local St. Aug economy was never in doubt and shouldn't be overlooked. But you need to keep in mind these facts when making correlationswith the recent housing booms and the vitality of St. Augustine:

* Most of the growth in the county recently have been in areas further away from the city's core. For most of them, Ponte Vedra Beach, The Avenues, Mandarin, and even Orange Park are considered by these residents as more "every day" shopping and dining options.

* While the growth is healthy north and northwest of town, there are virtually no large scale residential developments of those magnitudes  being built or proposed directly west or south of St. Augustine. The city would have a virtual lock on business from these residents with very little around those parts of the county and no big bad JAX enticing them nearby.

* Although there are quite a number of residents in and around the Historic district, the St. Augustine preservation board and all other planning committees will never, ever approve 220 Riverside-esque mid-rise or high-rise apartments or condos to meet demand.

* Do you realize there are literally over 100 food and drink options available in the Historic district? From stalls to food gifts to dive bars to fine dining establishments, most of these places managed to stay open all year even though the city lacks big city residential density. Oh, and that's not counting the ever growing number of establishments in West Augustine, North Marco, Vilano, Anastasia Island, St Aug's Beaches, and the typical suburban dining fare.They couldn't churn out enough Nocatee's to keep supporting theses businesses by themselves.

And that's where tourism and it's continued growth becomes crucial in not only the success of St. Augustine, but for offering local residents and visitors alike more and better dining and hanging out options locals could never sustain or attract themselves.Long term visitors, on top of all that, tend to contribute more than locals because they pay bed taxes on top of those for sales. Their importance can't be overlooked because as tourism goes, so does the health of the St. Augustine local economy.

[Tacachale]

A big part of St Augustine's problem attracting younger affluent tourists was how it compares to what most visitors think about  Florida. While theme parks and resorts were screaming "Newer, Faster, Bigger, Awesomer", many people in the region who didn't go to St. Augustine on a regular basis associated the town with long field trips walking for what seemed like miles while listening to dry stories by people (some in cheesy historical costumes) about Minorcans and Huguenots and what have you (plus the disappointment of blowing a good chunk of your souvenir dough on lunch and snacks and barely scraping enough for a rubber alligator or something shitty like that). And the negative perceptions continued as they grew older
: how anachronistic it is, small, crowded, tacky, not hip, stores  cater to the elderly, the town's idea of fine dining is The Santa Maria restaurant, etc.

I agree that events as the Gentlemen Of The Road tour, the huge success of the amphitheatre, and the St Augustine Distillery have helped raise the profile of city with Millennials, they were able take advantage of the popularity of TV travel and food shows plus the rise of vacation, travel, and food websites and blogs that have made Millennials and other generations see St. Augustine in a much better light than before. And younger travelers are more apt to take a look at places that may be a little under the radar but have their own unique quirks and it appears to be working (just look for example at Yelp! reviews for popular local bars and restaurants and the many reviews from folks outside the region).

All of that on top of a healthy economy and that it's a one gas tank trip for millions could only mean another record-setting number visitors this tourist season for the Oldest City.

Like a lot of older tourist attractions, St. Augustine definitely suffered from the Disneyfication of Florida's tourism industry. Tourist shops, small scale attractions and mom-and-pop motels came to seem anemic and lame compared to the big corporate theme parks. Though it held up a lot better than, say, the Jax Beach boardwalk area, Marineland and Daytona's old waterfront.

Stuff like the distillery, breweries, good restaurants, and the concert venues are definitely the reason the city is more attractive to younger people now than, say, 10 years ago. But what they still seem to miss is the fact that none of that is driven by tourism alone. Locals are providing a lot of the support for the stuff that's attractive to younger people, and they're not coming/staying in St. Augustine for its tourist economy. I expect the real factors are the explosive growth of St. Johns County and the lack of any remotely comparable communities anywhere else in the county. And while the St. Johns job market is still lagging for its size, St. Augustine isn't so far away from Jax that people can't commute to work (I work with several people who do that). Obviously the tourist board is going to talk about stuff through the filter of tourism, but it suggests there's a lack of understanding about what makes really makes St. Augustine attractive.

The fact that the recent housing and job boom of St. Johns County has contributed to the local St. Aug economy was never in doubt and shouldn't be overlooked. But you need to keep in mind these facts when making correlationswith the recent housing booms and the vitality of St. Augustine:

* Most of the growth in the county recently have been in areas further away from the city's core. For most of them, Ponte Vedra Beach, The Avenues, Mandarin, and even Orange Park are considered by these residents as more "every day" shopping and dining options.

* While the growth is healthy north and northwest of town, there are virtually no large scale residential developments of those magnitudes  being built or proposed directly west or south of St. Augustine. The city would have a virtual lock on business from these residents with very little around those parts of the county and no big bad JAX enticing them nearby.

* Although there are quite a number of residents in and around the Historic district, the St. Augustine preservation board and all other planning committees will never, ever approve 220 Riverside-esque mid-rise or high-rise apartments or condos to meet demand.

* Do you realize there are literally over 100 food and drink options available in the Historic district? From stalls to food gifts to dive bars to fine dining establishments, most of these places managed to stay open all year even though the city lacks big city residential density. Oh, and that's not counting the ever growing number of establishments in West Augustine, North Marco, Vilano, Anastasia Island, St Aug's Beaches, and the typical suburban dining fare.They couldn't churn out enough Nocatee's to keep supporting theses businesses by themselves.

And that's where tourism and it's continued growth becomes crucial in not only the success of St. Augustine, but for offering local residents and visitors alike more and better dining and hanging out options locals could never sustain or attract themselves.Long term visitors, on top of all that, tend to contribute more than locals because they pay bed taxes on top of those for sales. Their importance can't be overlooked because as tourism goes, so does the health of the St. Augustine local economy.

When I say locals, I don't mean people living within the City of St. Augustine. For one thing, while there are only around 10k people in the city, there are now around 70k in the immediate area. Within the city there's also the issue of gentrification. Downtown and Lincolnville get younger, whiter, and wealthier every year. Additionally, the number of people close enough to come in for a night out, a show, a day trip, etc., includes a large amount of Duval and Clay residents and virtually everyone in St. Johns County. Considering that there's nothing remotely cool anywhere else in St. Johns, St. Augustine has a solid pull for folks looking for that.

I'd argue that proportionately fewer young locals are attracted to St. Augustine because it's a tourist hotbed, they go because it's cool. Without them, the restaurant, alcohol, and concert scene would not be what it is. And without that scene, the town wouldn't be attracting younger tourists.

All that is to say, tourism isn't the end-all be-all in making St. Augustine cool, it's just a piece of it. Similarly, tourism doesn't make similar towns like, say, Savannah or Thomasville, GA what they are, it's a piece of it. But the comments in the article talk only about tourism, which suggest the higher ups don't really get it.

[JaxJersey-licious]

I agree that there is not one magic bullet that makes any particular place prosper. A multi-faceted approach by a strong focused unified responsive community reaching out to tourists and locals alike utilizing various unique events, venues, dining, shopping, and entertainment options making it more attractive and hip laying the groundwork for even more investment and ultimately more visitors.

TAPTAPTAP!! IS THIS MICROPHONE ON, DT JACKSONVILLE?