Naples named 'best beach town' in USA

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IN THE KNOW
In the Know: Naples named 'best beach town' in USA. Sarasota, Venice, Boca Raton, Destin, Vero Beach also score high


Florida has bragging rights for at least a day against other coastal wannabes.

The Peninsula dominated a lot of Wednesday's list of the best 2021 beach towns to live in and featured Naples in the No. 1 slot, according to WalletHub's financial analysts.

Besting California, Hawaii and others, the Sunshine State had five of the Top 12 in the nation including Sarasota, Boca Raton, Destin and Vero Beach.

And numerous other communities made the grade, too. Venice, Jupiter, Jacksonville Beach, Panama City Beach, Satellite Beach, Pensacola to name a few. From Southwest Florida, Bonita Springs and Marco Island landed in the middle of the pack.

WalletHub compared 145 ocean and Gulf of Mexico destinations across 62 "livability" indicators including weather, safety, economy, affordability, health and education.

For a separate tally, it also reviewed 46 lake communities, which ended up topped by Traverse City, Michigan.

 
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Other sub-categories include housing costs, quality of beach water and the all-important places to get a buzz – caffeine or otherwise.

 
Naples did real well on the latter, along with Sarasota, which ranked sixth overall. Also Naples scored high on:

Most coffee shops per capita, tied with Sarasota and Santa Monica, California.
Most nightlife establishments per capita, tied with Sarasota, Key West, Miami Beach and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Most restaurants per capita, tied with Sarasota, St. Augustine, Destin and Myrtle Beach.
Not as good for Naples: The topic of safety, which includes a wide range of factors, such as COVID-19 cases, lifeguards per capita and crime. The rank: 103.

 
But indeed, quality of life carried the day, said WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez.

"It topped all the other ocean beach towns in terms of number of attractions, such as: nightlife establishments, restaurants, coffee and tea shops, swimming pools, boat tours and water sports, fitness centers, golf courses, tennis courts, shopping centers and spas," Gonzalez said.

I asked one of the best numbers people I know, Southwest Florida real estate appraiser and broker Matt Simmons, to take a gander at the stats.

 
"Naples won by a pretty wide margin," said Simmons, who clearly has the upcoming Olympics, particularly swimming on his mind. "Naples was Michael Phelps, and the other beach towns were ‘those other guys’."

And Simmons, managing partner at Maxwell, Hendry & Simmons, isn't surprised.

"It’s no secret that Florida was the preferred destination during the pandemic. Growth was remarkable across Florida, but even within the state, Southwest Florida was a standout," Simmons said. "The economy in Naples is incredibly robust. The Naples housing market is absolutely on fire. The only problem we’re having at the moment is keeping enough homes available for purchase."

 
The top ranking should fuel even more interest in Southwest Florida.

"The worker mobility trend is likely here to stay," Simmons said. "For someone perhaps already tempted to move to Naples, seeing this article is just one more sign."

 
Top honors keep coming Naples' way.

Travel + Leisure wrote recently that the Southwest Florida city was also the top U.S. beach town to live in. The New York City-based monthly publication lauded Naples for its "unbeatable quality of life and relative affordability."

"Located on Florida's Paradise Coast along the Gulf of Mexico," the magazine said in its April issue, "the town offers lots to see and do, including pristine, white-sand beaches and day trips to nearby Everglades National Park."

Last summer a report generated by Resonance Consultancy, a specialist in the destination-branding industry, ranked Naples No. 2 on its 2020 list of Best Small Cities.

And WalletHub also put Naples at No. 1 in 2019.


Here's the Top 12 and the rest of the Peninsula representatives:

1. Naples

2. Laguna Beach, California

3. Lahaina, Hawaii

4. Newport Beach, California

5. North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

6. Sarasota

7. Kailua, Hawaii

8. Boca Raton

9. Destin

10. Santa Monica, California

11. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

12. Vero Beach

14. Venice

22. Jupiter

24. Jacksonville Beach

25. Fernandina Beach

27. Panama City Beach

28. Satellite Beach

33. North Palm Beach

35. Pensacola

38. Key West

45. Stuart

49. Cocoa Beach

51. Dunedin

52. Clearwater

56. Key Biscayne

60. St. Augustine

62. Fort Walton Beach

64. Bonita Springs

66. Coral Gables

70. Tarpon Springs

71. Marco Island

74. Ormond Beach

75. Delray Beach

76. Boynton Beach

79. Merritt Island

82. New Smyrna Beach

83. Navarre

85. Miami Beach

87. Melbourne

89. Atlantic Beach

95. Jensen Beach

96. Gulfport

98. Hollywood

102. Panama City

106. Cocoa

109. Lake Worth

119. Hobe Sound

123. Lantana

131. Hallandale Beach

132. Fort Pierce

133. Daytona Beach

136. Dania Beach

140. Apollo Beach

143. Hudson

144. Riviera Beach

145. Holiday

Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com) writes In the Know as part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. Support Democracy and subscribe to a newspaper.