Jacksonville Beach is the nation's most popular beach, according to The Daily Beast website.
The site, a popular national news and entertainment Internet site, Monday ranked the top 20 beaches nationwide, from California to Hawaii and along the east and west coasts, and Jacksonville Beach was listed No. 1 for 2010. Jacksonville Beach outranked the traditionally popular Florida beaches such as Miami, Daytona Beach and Clearwater, ranked 3, 14 and 15 respectively.
"The ranking is fabulous," Jacksonville Beach Mayor Fland Sharp said Tuesday. "That's just wonderful news that people appreciate Jacksonville Beach as much as they do."
The Daily Beast and Newsweek reporter Lauren Streib, who conducted the beach popularity survey, said the rankings were based on statistics only, not quality of life factors. Streib said the equation focused on factors such as American Lifesaving Association figures coupled with the number of residents in each community.
Jacksonville Beach, which had 22,000 residents in 2010, had 9 million visitors last year, according to Daily Beast figures.
"Jacksonville Beach made the list because not only do they have a large number of residents, they have a large number of non-residential visitors," said Streib. "In the ratio of the people who go to the beach versus the people who live there, it's 408 [visitors] to one resident."
Laguna Beach, Calif., ranked sixth and Honolulu ranked 16th in popularity.
Sharp said he's not overly concerned about the criteria of the ranking. He said to be ranked at the top of American beaches on The Daily Beast is undeniably a public relations windfall for Jacksonville Beach.
"Most of the people that are in Jacksonville Beach at any given time, especially during the weekends or summer, are not from the beach," said Sharp. "Maybe the word's getting out.
"It's very gratifying. I guess you could say we're doing something right," he said.
The top ranking reflects observations from several public officials who said Jacksonville Beach has been slammed with more visitors than ever in the past few years.
In the past year, the city conducted a parking survey that showed an increase in vehicles visiting from outside the municipality. That prompted the first paid parking lots in the city's history near the most popular spots such as Latham Plaza and the Jacksonville Beach pier.
Fire Chief Gary Frazier said this year's Fourth of July celebration in Jacksonville Beach had the largest crowd ever.
In 2008, city officials were noting the influx of increasing crowds. Capt. Thomas Wright of the American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps said increasing numbers of beachgoers hampered lifesaving because crowds were so thick on the shoreline.
Nevertheless, Sharp said the top slot on The Daily Beast will be used for marketing.
"It makes you proud," said Sharp. "We'll figure out ways to use it. I can't wait."
Streib said the top ranking undoubtedly will work in Jacksonville Beach's favor.
"I think it's probably a great tourist attraction; obviously, it's bringing in people from around the country," Streib said. "Or it's a way to say that people keep going, people go there a ton. There's something attractive about that beach.
"It's a very simplistic ranking. It's just really showing it's a popular beach, whether it's the attractions around it [or] the ease of getting to it," she said. "Florida is obviously a beach destination and I think it's interesting that Jacksonville [Beach] stands out."
Five Florida beaches ranked in the top 20, making it the second most popular beach state. California had the most, with nine.
These were the most popular beaches in the United States in 2010, according to The Daily Beast website:
2. Ocean City, Md.
4. Myrtle Beach, S.C.
5. Belmar, N.J.
6. Laguna Beach, Calif.
7. Newport Beach, Calif.
8. Ocean City, N.J.
9. Hunting Beach, Calif.
10. Del Mar, Calif.
11. San Diego, Calif.
12. Coronado, Calif.
13. Encinitas, Calif.
14. Daytona Beach, Calif.
17. Nags Head, N.C.
18. Imperial Beach, Calif.
20. Oceanside, Calif.
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