It’s no surprise that we count the gulf coast community of St. Petersburg as one of the country’s most livable communities. In recent years, the city has been named as “One of the Best Communities for Young People,” as well as one of the hottest cities to retire. Its revitalized downtown has been lauded as one of the best in the south. St. Pete has been named as Florida’s first and only “Green City,” and annually appears among the top list of cities for arts, culture and its creative vibe. St. Petersburg has emerged as a national model for its neighborhood programs, its youth recreational offerings and initiatives to support its public schools. St. Petersburg has worked hard to uphold its legacy of excellent urban planning, its beautiful natural environment and its energetic civic involvement as it redefines an identity for itself in the new millennium.

St. Petersburg, developed early in the last century as a seaside vacation resort, has been welcoming visitors for a century. Famous for its warm hospitality, today it offers much more than beaches, baseball and postcard sunsets. A compact city of 250,000 – the fourth largest city in Florida – it rests at the heart of the St. Petersburg/Clearwater/Tampa metro, the largest market in the state. This dynamic metropolitan area is fueled by significant job growth, a high-tech workforce, strong manufacturing base, a large and diverse cultural community and specialized industries such as marine and oceanographic research. Fueled by a red-hot arts scene as well as careful city planning and investment, St. Petersburg’s transformation from a seasonal tourist and retirement destination to a leader in the economic growth of the region is a testament to the quality and attractiveness of what is now aptly described aptly described as an urban resort.