From The Publishers
Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and it is easy to adopt an attitude of gratitude. We have been blessed with the opportunity to publish “the community news magazine” of the area that vacationers are most likely to visit. It has allowed us to live here in paradise for most of our married lives. It has also provided us with meaningful long-term relationships with an incredible collaborative team of creators of the written word. We are thankful for our writers and editors, our proofreader, our art and production director, and the entire digital team that maintains our website, our social media and produces the every-Thursday digital newsletter you can subscribe to for free. You will find the most recent copy under the newsletter tab at www.paradisenewsfl.com.
Our subscription portal is also up and running, so you can get 1-5 years’ worth coming to you or to someone you know that loves our area. A subscription makes a great holiday gift that keeps on giving all year. It is also a wonderful closing gift for newcomers to our area. We are thankful for our loyal readers and especially the advertisers that make Paradise NEWS possible.
Since Paradise NEWS published its first issue in December of 1995, November 2021 is the 260th edition and the end of our 26th year spreading good news in Pinellas County, from Gulf Beaches to St. Petersburg and downtown St. Pete. We set aggressive goals early on: to Promote the Arts; to Support The Local Business Community; to Celebrate the Wealth of Resources in the area; to give our readers plenty of value for the investment of their time; and to make each issue better than the prior.
TripAdvisor users selected St. Pete Beach the “Sunset Capital of Florida” as their favorite beach destination in the U.S. for 2021. Mayor Al Johnson took the surfboard award to a meeting of “The Big C”, a group of barrier island city officials, not to gloat, but to say it belonged to all of them. St. Pete Beach just has more hotel rooms, so there were more voters there. He was in good company anyway. Madeira Beach was in the top 10 and Treasure Island close behind. While the pandemic cut deeply into revenues throughout the area, tourism has thankfully rebounded this summer with records being set at our airports, in our hotels, and our shops. Businesses, tech incubators, corporate headquarters and entrepreneurs are relocating to Pinellas County, as are residents from other states. Hats off to our Chamber leaders, mayors (especially Rick Kriseman, who leaves office in 2022), city and county leaders. Paradise NEWS’ readership area is a huge center for weddings. That industry tanked due to the pandemic, causing a backlog. The year 2022 is expected to see more people tying the knot than any year since the eighties. We’ll get our share.
What’s the attraction? In addition to the beach and sunsets, our sports teams won all the records last season. We are also becoming known as a place where you do not need a car to get around. That was a huge advantage this summer, when rental cars were in very short supply and were very pricey. Access to public transportation has been improving. St. Pete Beach is served by pollution-free electric carts called FreeBee plus Free Beach Ride. Island Hopper and the PSTA Trolley to go up the beach to Clearwater or to downtown St. Petersburg. Early next year the SunRunner Bus Rapid Transit system from St. Pete Beach to downtown will greatly expand access and egress to games, museums, and employment options. The future in Paradise looks bright. Happy Thanksgiving!