A 16th-century Spanish explorer claimed this Florida beach town. Now it’s a remote work hotspot

Lori Matthias and her husband had tired of Atlanta traffic when they moved to St. Augustine, Florida, in 2023. For Mike Waldron and his wife, moving from the Boston area in 2020 to a place that bills itself as "the nation's oldest city" was motivated by a desire to be closer to their adult children. They were among thousands of white-collar remote workers who migrated to the St. Augustine area in recent years, transforming the touristy beach town into one of the top remote work hubs in the United States. Matthias fell in love with St. Augustine's small-town feeling, trading the hour-long commute she had in Atlanta for bumping into friends and acquaintances while running errands. "The whole pace here is slower and I'm attracted to that," said Matthias, who does sales and marketing for a power tool company. "My commute is like 30 steps from my kitchen to my office. It's just different. It's just relaxed and friendly." Centuries before becoming a remote work hub, the St. Augustine area was claimed by the Spanish crown in the early 16th century after explorer Juan Ponce de Leon's arrival. In modern times, it is best known for its Spanish architecture of terra cotta roofs and arched doorways, tourist-carrying trolleys, a historic fort, an alligator farm, lighthouses and a shipwreck museum. In St. Johns County, home to St. Augustine, the percentage of workers who did their jobs from home nearly tripled from 8.6% in 2018 to almost 24% in 2023, moving the Northeast Florida county into the top ranks of U.S. counties with the largest share of people working remotely, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. Scott Maynard, a vice president of economic development for the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce, attributes the initial influx of new residents to Florida's lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in businesses and schools in the fall of 2020 while much of the country remained locked down. This article was provided by The Associated Press.