thedrifter
08-07-06, 07:45 AM
Jacksonville ranks as America’s most youthful city
August 07,2006
DANIEL MCNAMARA
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Aristotle said it’s easily deceived. The Bible said it’s a good time to bear a yoke. Shakespeare wrote sonnets about it. And many middle-agers wish they still had theirs.
It’s youth, and Jacksonville has evidently got quite a lot of it.
Unlike Cary, Jacksonville didn’t make Money Magazine’s Top 100 List for Best Places to Live in America. But the city was deemed the youngest place to live in America in the study, of which age was one of the factors looked at in examining what makes up the nation’s favorite towns of 300,000 people or less.
In taking the top spot for youthfulness, Jacksonville — and its median age of 22.9 years — beat a field of mostly collegiate locales.
Rounding out the top 5 were Provo, Utah, (home to Brigham Young University); New Brunswick, N.J., (home of one of Rutgers University’s three campuses); Florence-Graham, Calif., (a Los Angeles borough); and the self-explanatory College Station, Texas, (home of the Aggies of Texas A&M).
Unlike its counterparts, however, higher education isn’t wrecking the age curve in Jacksonville. But one institution fits that description.
“You’ve got to realize it’s military,” said Cathy McDonald, a sharp-eyed out-of-towner who had been in Jacksonville mere days at the time she issued this observation from her Jacksonville Mall kiosk, situated in a stream of baby-faced devil dogs from Camp Lejeune.
Residents may not want to go out and buy “Youngest City” T-shirts just yet, however.
According to the survey, the median commute time here is 12.8 minutes, a measure base-bound leathernecks would take issue with. The report also says that Jacksonville has three movie theaters within 15 miles, a measure movie-goers might take issue with.
But locals generally accepted the superlative status.
As a Naval Hospital employee, Debbie Steele regularly sees younger couples having babies.
“I do think this is a younger crowd here,” Steele said.
Keeping things fresh
Youth in and of itself may not be that interesting, but some of its manifestations can be.
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing — you’ve got to have young people to keep things fresh,” said Jonna Kriegler of Jacksonville. “It gets a little rowdy sometimes, but you’ve got to expect that.”
A Coastal Carolina Community College instructor commented on the impact the local lack of age may have had on some of the other figures Money Magazine published. Those figures were compiled from a variety of sources including the U.S. Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and InSource marketing survey data.
Compared to other towns, the median income of a local family is about half the Best Places average $76,893. And while development may be stamping along, the dwellings aren’t exactly castles, as is evident by the $127,900 median home price — compared to $259,568 averaged in the study.
The lack of home-buying-based sticker shock could be partly responsible for the area’s exceptional cardiac health: Jacksonvillians are 33 percent less likely to die of a heart attack than the other Best Places.
The financial figures didn’t come as a surprise to Dr. Annette Heishman, an instructor at Coastal Carolina, who suspected that a youthful population may manifest itself in such a way.
One item that did startle Heishman was the crime rate which, despite the lack of age, was relatively low.
According to Money Magazine, the personal crime rate is 25 percent lower in Jacksonville than the rest of the nation, while the property crime rate is a slim 1 percent below the national average.
“People tend to age out of criminal activity because they participate in more-legitimate activities such as marriage, jobs and education,” Heishman said.
Well, maybe not marriage.
Jacksonville also placed in the Most Singles category with the 20th-highest percentage of unwed residents among the cities studied.
“If they’re not married, they’re in the Corps,” said Nick Zucal, a Marine who has been stationed aboard Camp Lejeune for the past two years. “This is not really the place to be for single men, that’s for sure.”
The unfavorable ratio of women to men can leave leathernecks with little to do on the weekends.
“Go to the beach, get a tattoo… that’s pretty much about it,” said Mike Roberts, another Marine. Roberts later attached going to the mall or Wal-Mart to the still-short list.
If there’s nothing to do in Jacksonville, it’s not for a lack of trying on behalf of base brass. For the past 10 years, the Single Marine Program aboard Camp Lejeune has sought to keep local troops occupied through such events as Sand Jam and trips around town.
“I believe there’s stuff out there for them to do,” said program director Michael Saunders. “It’s just all about going out and finding it.”
As for the unfavorable ratio, issuing consorts along with carbines just isn’t practical, meaning Marines may need to be just as imaginative if they want to slip past 21-ranked Camden, N.J. next year on the singles list.
It’s home to one of Rutgers’ other two campuses.
Contact staff writer Daniel McNamara at 353-1171, ext. 237, or at dmcnamara@freedomenc.com.
Ellie
August 07,2006
DANIEL MCNAMARA
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Aristotle said it’s easily deceived. The Bible said it’s a good time to bear a yoke. Shakespeare wrote sonnets about it. And many middle-agers wish they still had theirs.
It’s youth, and Jacksonville has evidently got quite a lot of it.
Unlike Cary, Jacksonville didn’t make Money Magazine’s Top 100 List for Best Places to Live in America. But the city was deemed the youngest place to live in America in the study, of which age was one of the factors looked at in examining what makes up the nation’s favorite towns of 300,000 people or less.
In taking the top spot for youthfulness, Jacksonville — and its median age of 22.9 years — beat a field of mostly collegiate locales.
Rounding out the top 5 were Provo, Utah, (home to Brigham Young University); New Brunswick, N.J., (home of one of Rutgers University’s three campuses); Florence-Graham, Calif., (a Los Angeles borough); and the self-explanatory College Station, Texas, (home of the Aggies of Texas A&M).
Unlike its counterparts, however, higher education isn’t wrecking the age curve in Jacksonville. But one institution fits that description.
“You’ve got to realize it’s military,” said Cathy McDonald, a sharp-eyed out-of-towner who had been in Jacksonville mere days at the time she issued this observation from her Jacksonville Mall kiosk, situated in a stream of baby-faced devil dogs from Camp Lejeune.
Residents may not want to go out and buy “Youngest City” T-shirts just yet, however.
According to the survey, the median commute time here is 12.8 minutes, a measure base-bound leathernecks would take issue with. The report also says that Jacksonville has three movie theaters within 15 miles, a measure movie-goers might take issue with.
But locals generally accepted the superlative status.
As a Naval Hospital employee, Debbie Steele regularly sees younger couples having babies.
“I do think this is a younger crowd here,” Steele said.
Keeping things fresh
Youth in and of itself may not be that interesting, but some of its manifestations can be.
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing — you’ve got to have young people to keep things fresh,” said Jonna Kriegler of Jacksonville. “It gets a little rowdy sometimes, but you’ve got to expect that.”
A Coastal Carolina Community College instructor commented on the impact the local lack of age may have had on some of the other figures Money Magazine published. Those figures were compiled from a variety of sources including the U.S. Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and InSource marketing survey data.
Compared to other towns, the median income of a local family is about half the Best Places average $76,893. And while development may be stamping along, the dwellings aren’t exactly castles, as is evident by the $127,900 median home price — compared to $259,568 averaged in the study.
The lack of home-buying-based sticker shock could be partly responsible for the area’s exceptional cardiac health: Jacksonvillians are 33 percent less likely to die of a heart attack than the other Best Places.
The financial figures didn’t come as a surprise to Dr. Annette Heishman, an instructor at Coastal Carolina, who suspected that a youthful population may manifest itself in such a way.
One item that did startle Heishman was the crime rate which, despite the lack of age, was relatively low.
According to Money Magazine, the personal crime rate is 25 percent lower in Jacksonville than the rest of the nation, while the property crime rate is a slim 1 percent below the national average.
“People tend to age out of criminal activity because they participate in more-legitimate activities such as marriage, jobs and education,” Heishman said.
Well, maybe not marriage.
Jacksonville also placed in the Most Singles category with the 20th-highest percentage of unwed residents among the cities studied.
“If they’re not married, they’re in the Corps,” said Nick Zucal, a Marine who has been stationed aboard Camp Lejeune for the past two years. “This is not really the place to be for single men, that’s for sure.”
The unfavorable ratio of women to men can leave leathernecks with little to do on the weekends.
“Go to the beach, get a tattoo… that’s pretty much about it,” said Mike Roberts, another Marine. Roberts later attached going to the mall or Wal-Mart to the still-short list.
If there’s nothing to do in Jacksonville, it’s not for a lack of trying on behalf of base brass. For the past 10 years, the Single Marine Program aboard Camp Lejeune has sought to keep local troops occupied through such events as Sand Jam and trips around town.
“I believe there’s stuff out there for them to do,” said program director Michael Saunders. “It’s just all about going out and finding it.”
As for the unfavorable ratio, issuing consorts along with carbines just isn’t practical, meaning Marines may need to be just as imaginative if they want to slip past 21-ranked Camden, N.J. next year on the singles list.
It’s home to one of Rutgers’ other two campuses.
Contact staff writer Daniel McNamara at 353-1171, ext. 237, or at dmcnamara@freedomenc.com.
Ellie