Panama City Beach in The New York Times

Panama City Beach got some favorable, high-profile exposure today with nice (if not perfect) article in The New York Times.

The Times has written a number of articles about Northwest Florida in recent years, and I think we should take that as a broad compliment. The world is interested in what is happening here.

The article talks about Panama City Beach as a town in transition, which it is. Ultimately, I think it is a positive article about what our area has always been - and what it is becoming.

The new airport gets mentioned in the fourth paragraph of the story:

"Like much of Florida, Panama City Beach has been hurt by the downturn in the real estate market. But what sets the resort apart is the planned construction — scheduled to begin in late spring— of a $330 million international airport to replace the outdated Panama City-Bay County International Airport. The new airport, scheduled to open in late 2009, will have longer runways to handle larger jets, opening the resort to more domestic and international markets."

The article goes on to say:

"Currently, 83 percent of the city’s four million tourists arrive by car. With the new airport, that will change. And Panama City Beach is betting that the new visitors filling those jets will have money to spend."

Panama City Beach Mayor Gayle Oberst gets the final word in the article: "The northwest part of Florida has been discovered. Everybody wants to live here.”