Alexa Tsongranis never thought of Gainesville as a romantic spot.
On Feb. 5, Amazon.com released its annual Top 20 romantic cities in the U.S., with Gainesville cracking the list at No.19. Knoxville, Tennessee, held the No. 1 spot with Miami at No. 2 and Orlando at No. 3.
“It’s shocking,” said Tsongranis, a 21-year-old UF advertising junior. “It’s not like a big city attraction like NYC. You don’t think of Gainesville like Paris.”
Each city was ranked based on the number of romantic products its citizens bought through Amazon.Some of the purchases include romance novels, relationship books, romantic comedies, romantic music and sexual wellness products.
Lauren Davis, an 18-year-old cashier at the Lingerie Company, at 2614 SW 34th St., said she thinks places like her store contribute to a city’s romantic culture.
“There’s a lot of romantic items here,” Davis said, referring to the Lingerie Company. “They would find pleasure from our store.”
Samantha Evans, a sexual-health educator at GatorWell Health Promotion Services, said GatorWell orders about 40,000 condoms every academic year. Students can pick them up for free at Jennings Hall and the Health Hut, which moves to different locations throughout the week.
But sex isn’t everything, she said.
“You can be romantic and show love toward a person, but that doesn’t include sex or sex toys,” Evans said.
Kelsey Harrell, a UF public relations senior, said her idea of a romantic place has lots of parks, different sceneries, romantic restaurants and an older crowd.
“I don’t think of this as a romantic town,” Harrell, 22, said. “It’s a pretty town. It has a lot of things to offer but not necessarily romance.”
[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 2/13/2015 under the headline “Gainesville ranked 19th most romantic US city by Amazon"]
