St. Petersburg, Florida (Expansion Office)

St. Petersburg is a city so confident of its good weather that one of the local papers had a long tradition of giving away that day's edition anytime the sun didn't shine. Surrounded by water and beaches on three sides, the city has drawn generations of winter sun seekers—many of whom return permanently. St. Petersburg has a booming local economy, especially in tourism, health care, manufacturing, and high technology. And "St. Pete," as it is frequently referred to, was the birthplace of spring training for several major league baseball teams in 1914; today Tropicana Field is home to the region's own team, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Part of the larger Tampa Bay area that also includes the major cities of Tampa and Clearwater, St. Petersburg is connected directly to a string of small Gulf of Mexico beach communities across the Intracoastal Waterway.