The City of Jacksonville recently earned accolades from an acclaimed geography website.
WorldAtlas has named Jacksonville one of the best towns in the state to visit in 2024, one of the must-see historic towns in the state, and one of the top-ranked towns in the state for retirees.
Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Kristin Jamison says that the website is repeating a message that JREDC has been trying to relay to people for a long time: “Essentially, everything these articles talk about are things that we are trying to push as we are hoping to relocate people to this area. The article talks about our low cost of living, our safe environment, our thriving Downtown. I love how we were recognized for lifelong education opportunities at Illinois College. I also want to mention Lincoln Land Community College has some great coursework for all ages, including seniors. It doesn’t talk much about the broad choice of healthcare we have here, which even strengthens our position as being a great place to live in retirement. With Jacksonville Memorial Health, Springfield Clinic, HSHS – there’s just a lot of opportunities for folks to receive quality healthcare right here in the Jacksonville region. Of course, we have wonderful retirement community options here.”
Jamison says that the articles didn’t mention the numerous non-profit organizations allow for many retirees to stay involved in the Jacksonville community through volunteerism.
Jacksonville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Executive Director Brittany Henry says the magazine articles are just another reason people want to come visit: “It’s an honored to be selected on these Top 8 lists with World Atlas. From a tourism standpoint, we want people to come see us. When you hit these lists, we hit a map with other places that people want to stop at. We become a stopping point, and people just get really excited when they read these things. They go out and visit our website afterwards and find out more of what’s going on here. I think it’s a great honor to be selected. From a visitor’s standpoint, there are a lot of great communities on these lists. I think it just shows how much Jacksonville has grown over the years. I think a lot of hard work and effort went into our small business community, our restaurants, our lodging facilities. This is the type of thing that we want to see to show that all of that hard work is paying off.”
Henry says that the numerous recreational opportunities, historic sites, and events are also portions that were left out on the lists.
Jamison says this is yet another piece that will be a part of a forthcoming talent attraction campaign that JREDC is unveiling in the coming weeks.