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Nice response! I find it funny how Jax calls itself Florida largest city and it doesn't even resemble a city of 800,000. Puny downtown stitched together with a blob of suburbia from one end to the other. It's funny because I remember reading a old National Geographic article on Jacksonville from the 1960s and it called Jax Florida's financial, banking & insurance capital and it is far from that today. I can rest assure you that Jax will never be as important or as relevant as Miami is today.
I have been in the Jacksonville area for going on 24 years... but it seems something happened to Jacksonville back in time. It was once a booming center of growth as mentioned above, it catered to the film industry when it was in it's infancy, had the largest Sears in the southeast downtown along with a Ford plant and shipyards. Jacksonville is located perfectly as a transportation hub and we still fall behind........the sprawl that was allowed also is decaying the core.....it seems Jacksonville had a brighter future in it's past.....not a Miami but something along it's own standing. Was it the great fire that started the fall or a combination of things?
Comparing Jacksonville to a southern San Diego.......well I spit my coffee out on that one
I have been in the Jacksonville area for going on 24 years... but it seems something happened to Jacksonville back in time. It was once a booming center of growth as mentioned above, it catered to the film industry when it was in it's infancy, had the largest Sears in the southeast downtown along with a Ford plant and shipyards. Jacksonville is located perfectly as a transportation hub and we still fall behind........the sprawl that was allowed also is decaying the core.....it seems Jacksonville had a brighter future in it's past.....not a Miami but something along it's own standing. Was it the great fire that started the fall or a combination of things?
Comparing Jacksonville to a southern San Diego.......well I spit my coffee out on that one
The "something" that happened, was that the church started buying up land in and around downtown after the racial riots in the 60's, as they did this, downtown died and the "scumbag factor" from the Northside filled in the void. Now the Northside is overflowing with dirtbags and they have spread their wings and scattered throughout the city, infecting what was a mediocre town, now an unlivable shell of a city
The city is being left behind. The only reason it gets any play at all is because it happens to be in Florida, so it gets some of the spill off from South Florida, due to its lower cost of living. (coupled with its much lower quality of life)
Comparing Jacksonville to a southern San Diego.......well I spit my coffee out on that one
Jacksonville and San Diego attract the same types of people.
San Diego is a midwest city on beach
Jacksonville is a midwest city on a beach
San Diego has the military
jacksonville has the military
San diego is laid back
Jacksonville is Laid back
People who live in this type of settings are usually happy they don't live in such a "big city" atmosphere, they are perfectly happy living a slow paced life, and they like to stay home, drink beer and watch sports with buddies , and do outdoor stuff (which nothing is wrong with).
I've always compared cities from CA to cities of FL like this
(big leagues)Miami=San Francisco = dense , urban , world class , cosmopolitan feel
(big leagues)Miami = LA = glitz , glamour , palm trees, celebrities, nightlife, cosmopolitan feel
(midwest slower city leagues)San Diego = Jacksonville = families, more suburban, slower pace living.
(Midsize leagues)Tampa = Long Beach = families, but more happening, close to entertainment resorts, not as big city as the "big leagues" but also not suburban and slow paced as "midwest slower city leagues)
(Entertainment/Touristy city leagues) Anaheim = Orlando = Resort destination, both close to some "midsize league cities" , family /entertainment oriented , and has nearby metro to go to for other fun. suburban setting.
Nice try, but nothing you said is backed up by the stats. Jacksonville has grown at a slower rate than the rest of Florida. In fact, it's been growing at a slower rate then Georgia too. In order words, everything surrounding it, is growing faster.
At one time, Jacksonville was the largest city in the State. Today, it's 4th largest at best, (behind Miami, Tampa, Orlando) and if you count the Ft. Lauderdale Broward area, Jacksonville is 5th. You don't go from 1st to 5th, if you're growing at the same rate as other cities.
Your housing figures are slanted too. Jacksonville never was the hot spot that Miami, Orlando, and Tampa were, so its real estate market never got as over heated as the rest of the State. We didn't have nearly as far to fall.
Poor schools
High Crime
Southern Baptist fanatics and rednecks, generally stubbornly resistant to any change.
Dead Downtown
An embarrassingly segregated city, with a strong undercurrent of racism still existing
Low wages
If you're looking for good weather, you can find far better, further down the State. If you're looking for beaches, they are far better on the Gulf Coast. Nightlife? What's that?
Jacksonville is being left behind, predominantly because many of the people here want it that way.
Sorry, but for a city of close to a million people, Jacksonville doesn't cut it.
Stats don't sway you and the hatred for your city consumes you, have you thought about moving versus pissing in every one else's cornflakes? Jacksonville has issues, as any other city in Florida has....perhaps you'll be happier momentarily in one of them?
Jacksonville and San Diego attract the same types of people.
San Diego is a midwest city on beach
Jacksonville is a midwest city on a beach
San Diego has the military
jacksonville has the military
San diego is laid back
Jacksonville is Laid back
People who live in this type of settings are usually happy they don't live in such a "big city" atmosphere, they are perfectly happy living a slow paced life, and they like to stay home, drink beer and watch sports with buddies , and do outdoor stuff (which nothing is wrong with).
San Diego and Jacksonville are worlds apart.
For starters, politically, Duval is red, San Diego is blue.
Duval County has a population of 870,000, San Diego County has a population of 3,140,069.
San Diego is mostly white/hispanic. Duval is mostly white/black.
The median household income in Duval County is $49,964. The median household income in San Diego County is $63,857.
But I guess they both have schools, grocery stores, and the sun too, so they're alike !
Jacksonville and San Diego attract the same types of people.
San Diego is a midwest city on beach
Jacksonville is a midwest city on a beach
San Diego has the military
jacksonville has the military
San diego is laid back
Jacksonville is Laid back
People who live in this type of settings are usually happy they don't live in such a "big city" atmosphere, they are perfectly happy living a slow paced life, and they like to stay home, drink beer and watch sports with buddies , and do outdoor stuff (which nothing is wrong with).
I've always compared cities from CA to cities of FL like this
(big leagues)Miami=San Francisco = dense , urban , world class , cosmopolitan feel
(big leagues)Miami = LA = glitz , glamour , palm trees, celebrities, nightlife, cosmopolitan feel
(midwest slower city leagues)San Diego = Jacksonville = families, more suburban, slower pace living.
(Midsize leagues)Tampa = Long Beach = families, but more happening, close to entertainment resorts, not as big city as the "big leagues" but also not suburban and slow paced as "midwest slower city leagues)
(Entertainment/Touristy city leagues) Anaheim = Orlando = Resort destination, both close to some "midsize league cities" , family /entertainment oriented , and has nearby metro to go to for other fun. suburban setting.
Your post is so off base...
The only similarity is the Navy base.
And Jacksonville only has a "beach" because of the government consolidation. Otherwise all it would have is a polluted river.
I wasn't talking about racial diversity. I was talking about cultural diversity. Take a white person from Chipley, a white person from Coral Gables, a white person from Palm Coast, and a white person from West Palm Beach. I assure you, they have nothing in common other than being white people from the same state.
Similarly, take a black person from Quincy and a black person from Miami Gardens. For that matter, take a black person from Miami with American ancestry and a black person from Miami with Haitian ancestry and compare their culture.
Diversity is about a lot more than just skin color.
That's a fair assessment. The only reason I brought it up in the first place was the comment from FSUMike claiming that Florida was the most diverse state, which is the most asinine thing I've heard in a long time on this forum!
Ok, since I started something crazy, let me clarify myself, though I think I did to some degree in my previous post.
When I said that Florida is a diverse state, what I meant by that is that you can go to many different parts of the state and you will see and experience very different things.
Let me break it down. You have the western Panhandle which is dominated by the military and the beaches such as Destin and Pensacola Beach. You have a transient military culture coupled with the tourist culture along the coast.
Then you have the eastern Panhandle which is a truly Deep South culture that is very similar to the culture of South Alabama and South Georgia.
Then you have northeast Florida which is has a Southern culture at its core, but is also inundated by outside influences such as migration from the Northeast and Midwest.
Then you have Central Florida which is pretty much a mishmash of everything from Old Florida culture, to retirees, to tourism, to white collar, to blue collar, to "Yankee" northeastern, to Midwestern, to Southern.
Then you have coastal South Florida which is really its own culture. A jumble of transplants, retirees, and long-term residents who exemplify the modern Florida.
Then you have inland South Florida which is true old-time Florida Cracker culture.
And then there's Miami which has been described ad nauseum in this thread.
After that, you have the Keys which is an island-y culture.
There is no question, Florida is a diverse state.
The reason I mentioned California also is that within California you have San Diego, LA, and San Francisco, which are all big cities but have cultures unique to themselves. Then you have the agricultural Central Valley and Bakersfield which is full of transplants from the Deep South and Heartland. Then there's northern California with the hippies, loggers, and all that good stuff.
I guess I should have mentioned Texas also because, as one poster said earlier, Beaumont and El Paso might as well be on different planets, and he is correct.
I hope that you now understand my meaning, and I apologize for leaving Texas out of my initial post.
I am not saying San Antonio is not better than the rest of Florida. I would call Tampa or Orlando world class either. I even hesitate calling cities like Miami and Dallas world class. World class is D.C., NYC, London, Tokyp etc.. At least to me.
I'm not sure what geography has to do with this as I was just talking about demographics but plenty of things Florida offers which Texas does not and vice Versa. But it's pretty hard to compete with a state that is what 4-5x the size of the other. Texas is diverse i don't disagree.
As for jermey Lin and Yao Ming that is funny. Yao Ming was drafter he didn't have a choice and Jermey Lin was signed as a restricted free agent, Houston gave him the most money Knicks didnt match the offer so he had to go to Houston. The city had very little to do with either guys decision.
It's not Geography that I was referencing. It's the TOPOGRAPHY of the geography in Texas. I referenced it, because topography always has a huge impact and influence on the culture of the surrounding area. (Beaches, Mountains, Plains, Rolling Hills) Clearly, Florida doesn't have anywhere near the diversity of topography, that Texas does.
As for Yao, he choose to enter the NBA draft specifically in 2002, because Houston had the first pick that year. His Chinese team actually negotiated several of the terms prior to him even announcing that he would enter the draft. They wanted to be 100% sure that he would be picked by Houston, instead of another team.
In Lin's case, the Rockets went after him so aggressively again this offseason, because there was such uproar from the Houston Chinese community when they let him go, in the first place.
Name me some of the 'plenty of things' that Florida offers, that Texas doesn't? The only thing that I can think of would be the Caribbean latin vibe of Miami, which basically proves my point. Other than Miami, Florida has nothing to offer, that Texas doesn't.
I've lived in both States for several years, which is something you clearly haven't, so I don't think you really understand Texas very well.
Last edited by Nomad58; 01-20-2013 at 11:44 PM..
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