The Jacksonville Florida market is exploding!

On Nov. 30, 1993, the National Football League awarded the city of Jacksonville, Fla. with a team franchise. A decade later, the city with only the 53rd largest television market is making plans to host the league’s premier event — Super Bowl XXXIX — on Feb. 6, 2005. In this short time span, the blue-collar, military town has blossomed from a small market NFL city into an economically and culturally booming Super Bowl City that is preparing to take the world’s center stage.

Jacksonville’s downtown skyline is changing daily, especially with $2.2 billion in public works infrastructure improvements including a new arena, county courthouse, library and baseball park. The city is now a homeport for the cruise industry with two different cruise lines, Celebrity and Carnival, originating service from Jacksonville. Downtown housing development is taking off. New home construction is at an all-time high.

During this 10-year span of the Jacksonville Jaguars franchise, Jacksonville has become:

The Top Ranked City in America for Business Expansion, Relocation
Jacksonville has ranked in the top ten for five straight years and is the only city to be ranked No. 1 three times, according to a national survey of site consultants in Expansion Management magazine. In fact, more than 60,000 new jobs have been created in the last five years by companies expanding and relocating to Jacksonville.

A Haven for the Relocation of Fortune 500 Companies
Leading business executives praise Jacksonville’s positive business climate, quality of life and cost of living, which is lower than any other major Southeastern city, according to recent cost of living reports. It’s no surprise CSX Corporation and Fidelity National Financial announced their headquarters moves to Jacksonville in 2003, joining Fortune 500 Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.

A Boom for Intermodal Transportation
Jacksonville's port ranks with Port of New York as the top two vehicle-handling ports in the U.S. Ranked as one of the nation's most logistics-friendly cities, the Jacksonville region is home to four airports including Jacksonville International Airport, three seaports, three major interstates and three major rail lines.

An Innovative Leader with a Favorable Business Climate
Jacksonville is one of a few cities in America with a consolidated city/county government that enhances the business climate and is key to uniting the community and reducing red tape. Public/private partnerships thrive. Local utility provider JEA is a national leader in implementing circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology, which produces higher capacity for lower cost. JEA's Northside Generating Plant is the most environmentally clean power plant of its kind and has continued to maintain the level of efficiency that has allowed electric rates to remain unchanged for 13 straight years.

A Thriving Destination for Eco-tourism, Recreation
Jacksonville and the Northeast Florida region is home to the largest urban park system in the country and is an outdoor paradise with white sandy beaches, rivers, streams, Intracoastal Waterway and miles of wooded trails. Additionally, Golf Digest recently named Jacksonville one of the top 50 golf destinations, and Runner’s World ranked Jacksonville fifth among the best running cities in America.