MS Coast city is first to make it on the list of Coastal Living’s best places to live
A beach town in South Mississippi has made it onto “Coastal Living” magazine’s list of Best Places to Live on the Coast for 2023.
The spring edition of the publication lists Pass Christian as No. 4 on the list, along with scenic beach towns like Vero Beach, Florida and Laguna Beach, California.
This is the first time a city in South Mississippi has made it on the list.
Coastal Living was charmed by Pass Christain’s “picket fences, historic cottages and moss-decked Spanish oaks.” The article called the Pass “a gleaming, sweet place with affordable real estate,” where people can raise a family and embrace the Gulf Coast lifestyle by strolling, kayaking, crabbing, boating, birding and passing time on gracious porches.
Robin Roberts frequently talks about her hometown of Pass Christian on Good Morning America, and Mayor Jimmy Rafferty says being included on the Coastal Living list is more good exposure for the Pass and all of South Mississippi.
“I was born and raised here,” Rafferty said, and after spending 30 years working and living in New York, Washington, D.C. and Hong Kong, he returned and was elected mayor.
He cites the scenery, the harbors, charter fishing, festivals and restaurants among the amenities that draw tourists and provide quality of life for those who want to move to town. Pass Christian is safe and affordable, he said, a place where residents can drive their golf carts to the beach, where their children attend one of the premiere school districts in the state and home to the second oldest yacht club in the country.
The city’s greatest assets are its residents, he said, and the support it receives from other cities on the Coast and from the state, which has awarded the city almost $10 million in grants for improvements. He said the money is dedicated to specific projects and work is getting under way.
Tourism is “the front door to economic development,” said Judy Young, CEO of Coastal Mississippi tourist promotion agency for South Mississippi, “especially for those looking to relocate or retire to a place with a temperate climate, excellent quality of life and many attractions and amenities. “We have all of that in Coastal Mississippi,” she said, “and now even more people will know just how great the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and Pass Christian in particular, really are.”
List of Coastal Living’s Best Places to Live on the Coast:
1. New Buffalo, Michigan
2. Vero Beach, Florida
3. Bandon, Oregon
4. Pass Christian, Mississippi
5. Ocracoke, North Carolina
6. Laguna Beach, California
7. Kiawah Island, South Carolina
8. Apalachicola, Florida
9. Bar Harbor, Maine
10. Havre de Grace, Maryland
11. Barnstable, Massachusetts
