Why you'd want to live in Jacksonville
Jacksonville has more than 840 square miles – (making it the largest city by landmass in the Continental or contiguous USA). The longest stretch of the St. Johns River runs through Duval County – and YES, the river runs from south to north and NO, it is not the only river that does. Jacksonville boasts the largest urban park system in the nation, it is 4x the size of the island of Manhattan! 80,000 acres of parks, including 7 State Parks, 2 National Parks, a National Preserve, 400 City Parks and Gardens and an Arboretum. The Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve covers 46,000 acres. It's Always Sunny . . . in Jax. We get 270 average days of sunshine per year! The military employs over 30,000 active-duty personnel and nearly 20,000 civilians in the Jacksonville area and is the largest employer in the county. Jax is Florida’s youngest city with an average age of 36 - the state of Florida average age is 42. We are home to 1,100 miles of shoreline, more than any other city in the state, not to mention 22 miles of white-sandy beaches! via visitjacksonville.com