Local Folks: Nick Patterson
Nick Patterson was just eight years old when he made the big move from Scotland to Jacksonville with his mother and twin brother. He fell in love with Jacksonville and, despite a short stint away for college, has no intention of ever leaving again.
“As I started getting older and deciding whether I wanted to move away, I really looked at Jacksonville as this up-and-coming city that still had art and music, but also felt like a livable city,” Patterson said. “I could afford to live here and still be able to travel, which is a huge passion of mine.”
He eventually fell in love with someone who saw Jacksonville as he did. He met his wife, Josie, when they worked together at Starbucks. At the time, she was his boss. They became close friends but didn’t starting dating until many years later.
“We were really good friends and saw each other through different relationships and stuff, and kept being that constant in each other’s lives,” he said.
Eventually, they went on their first date to a sushi restaurant and began dating in January 2013. They purchased a home in Murray Hill in 2015 – they love its small community feel and walkability – and were married on Nov. 11, 2017.
“When we were looking at houses, I would always check out the walk score,” he said. “There’s so much you can walk to over here and the community has grown so much since we bought our house.”
The couple lives there with their two-year-old, long-haired French bulldog named Toast, who Patterson calls “a living teddy bear.” He considers himself lucky to have his immediate family living nearby as well. His brother, a director at MOCA, and wife live in San Marco, and his mother and stepfather live in Avondale. The rest of his family lives overseas, spread out in Australia, Germany and Scotland.
But luckily, traveling – including overseas – is one of Patterson’s many passions. He and Josie travel as much as they can, on trips often based around music or some odd, obscure or unique landmark that they found online. One of his favorite places is Edinburgh, Scotland, where he once lived. He even proposed to Josie while on a trip to Arthur’s Seat, an extinct volcano in the middle of the city. The couple is fond of Kyoto, Japan – an “incredible place” – as well as Rome and Lucca in Italy.
“It’s always fun when we travel, we like going off the beaten path,” Patterson said. “She’s my travel buddy.”
Back home, a big draw for Patterson to the local area was Sun-Ray Cinema, of which he is now the general manager.
“My brother told me about Sun-Ray and I knew I had to check it out,” he said. “I really enjoy it so much. I was a patron since the day they opened. It’s cool to see the other side of it. I hope that it helps me facilitate that great experience, for other people, that I had for the last decade.”
Patterson appreciates the venue because of the content it brings to the audience. One of his favorite events is the Sleeping Giant Film Festival held each year.
“The programming, the events…that drove me to Sun-Ray,” he said. “[Co-owner] Tim is just amazing in what he finds as far as artists, musical acts and just unique programming that otherwise Jacksonville wouldn’t get.”
He also said the area is “spoiled for choice” when it comes to amazing coffee shops and culture in the area. Some of his favorite shops are Flamingo Coffee in Murray Hill and Sequential Coffee. While he used to venture out regularly to Birdies in Five Points or Riverside’s Keg and Coin, he’s mostly a homebody now unless a new restaurant pops up in the area.
“Anytime a local restaurant opens up, especially in Murray Hill, I want to try it and really try to support local businesses,” he said. “We don’t really leave this side of town often. We try to find what we can in the community.”
Patterson also really enjoys music, attending music festivals and collecting records. At one point, he had more than 1,000 records. He loves to pop into vintage and antique stores, as well as Tiger Records in Riverside to see what’s available. While he recently reduced his collection, the number is steadily climbing again.
“If there’s a special edition of one of our favorite artists, we try to get it,” Patterson said.
“Anytime there’s records, I feel compelled to go through the entirety of them all see if there’s like one record that I want.”
By Jennifer Jensen
Resident Community News
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