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We spent a couple of days this weekend in our more populous neighbor to the SW - Orlando. And relaxed at home today. And our trip and relaxing weekend made me think of what things government might get the most bang for the buck for here in these tight times. Which projects might be worth it - and which wouldn't be. I had a few ideas of my own - but I'm sure other people have their own ideas. Let's see what all of us think.
Things that I think would be worth it:
1. Buying enough Jaguars tickets to make sure there are no TV blackouts. I can't remember the last time I saw a non-blacked out Jaguars game. And it was fun watching one today - especially since the Jaguars won - and because there aren't a whole lot of people who want to sit through 100+ degree heat followed by a huge thunderstorm.
2. Giving financial incentives to have Toojays here. For those of you who don't know what Toojays is - it's a Jewish style deli - a Florida chain. We are just a little out of its distribution area - but it was considering opening 3 stores here before the current recession. It's a hugely popular place wherever it opens (we dined at the Lake Mary location on our way to Orlando). Who doesn't love a great pastrami sandwich?
3. Giving financial incentives to have a Macy's here. Are we the only city in Florida without a Macy's (we never had a Burdines either before Macy's bought Burdines)?
4. Having nice public transportation stops where people are shielded from the sun and the rain. Solar powered fans would be nice too.
5. Employing yard service companies (many of which have lost business recently) to make sure that public lands and private lands which are in foreclosure/have been abandoned don't look like weed patches. Tear down abandoned properties that look like garbage. We want to have all our neighborhoods looking as good as possible. Have enough crews to pick up all trash everywhere on a regular basis.
6. Selecting companies that employ people that will give us the most bang for the buck - and that will be a good fit in terms of our work force (which is unfortunately pretty bad) and their needs - and give them some incentives to move here.
IOW - lots of little things - where a few dollars (relatively speaking in terms of government) go a long way.
What doesn't make sense in my opinion:
1. Any attempts at trying to be a convention center. Our hotel was next to the Orlando convention center - which had 3 large conventions running this weekend. We are very close to Orlando - and will never be competitive. Period - end of story. We cannot compete with the Orlando convention center - I-Drive - the theme parks - the airport in Orlando - etc. - etc. We can't even compete in terms of the "Lazy River" at the hotel we stayed at.
2. Any grandiose attempts at trying to be a tourist destination except in certain small niche areas like golf or kayaking or AA tourism and the like. Spend a few dollars targeting the niche areas - but that's about it.
3. Any efforts to do anything else in terms of medical facilities. We have plenty of good ones. I think our next big challenge in this area will be facilities for Medicaid and non-insured patients like Shands. Let's tell the state/federal government to fund them - or else. As it stands - Shands lost $15 million in state funding this year due to political fights. So Shands/JAX will probably be teetering again in the near future. If JAX funds it - it will probably require an extra property and/or local sales tax. Let's throw the ball back into the state/federal government court.
I think our biggest strength is our potential ability to be a nice place for people to live and have a decent job. Our biggest liability is trying to be something we aren't - a great convention/tourist/etc. town. Remember the Super Bowl? All the journalists hated us because we were simply a sleepy family town - not a Miami or New Orleans. That IMO is our greatest strength - not our weakness.
And - like I said - let's get a list going - things you think will help and/or would like to see here - and those you think won't work - don't like - or don't think make sense financially in your opinion. This is a very diverse metro area - and diverse forum - and I'm sure I haven't covered all the bases. Robyn
I have heard that Macy's is already on it's way, but honestly I don't see the huge benefit to Jacksonville to give incentives to businesses like Macy's and Toojay's. We already have plenty of places to eat and shop, and if it makes sense financially for companies to open stores here, they will eventually. I get so angry seeing all of these vacant shopping centers around town and find the idea of offering incentives for new places to shop and eat to open pretty hard to stomach.
To me, one of the things the city should be doing is cracking down on the owners of all of the abandoned/stalled commercial property and making them either demolish the structures on the property or at least make them look presentable. Jacksonville looks really crappy when you drive down the expressway or Atlantic Blvd. and see graffiti on the buildings or boarded up gas stations. I can't believe that there isn't some kind of law that says owners need to take care of their storefront and make sure it looks at least somewhat okay (i.e. no broken windows or boarded up for an excessive period of time, overgrown, etc.).
I also think that the state (not sure about the city) is already offering incentives for companies to move to Florida. Isn't that why Duetsche Bank moved part of their operations from up north to Jacksonville? I agree, though, that this is definitely a worthy use of state and city resources.
I am for giving financial incentive to getting Toojays here in town! Every time im in Orlando I have to stop by there for lunch. If you haven't tried it.. you are missing out on some great food
5. Employing yard service companies (many of which have lost business recently) to make sure that public lands and private lands which are in foreclosure/have been abandoned don't look like weed patches. Tear down abandoned properties that look like garbage. We want to have all our neighborhoods looking as good as possible. Have enough crews to pick up all trash everywhere on a regular basis.
Sorry, but this is an industry that needs to drastically shrink around here. I've never seen such waste go into maintaining what is considered an "acceptable" lawn since I moved down here. Especially when you consider a lot of these sub-division lawns are getting little to no use & are just there to "look pretty" & to keep up with the Joneses.
No, I'm not saying let weeds overtake your lawn. But hardly any HOAs down here support any type of xeriscaping at all (most require homeowners have 70% grass coverage at all times). Its almost like they're in cahoots with the landscaping companies.
Those company trucks are usually huge & need a lot of gas to carry around all that equipment, the equipment itself needs lots of gas, the grass routinely needs lots of water, fertilizers, chemicals, etc. For no reason other than so we can all have that almost-impossible-to-keep-green lawn down here in the sweltering heat where grasses can hardly even sustain themselves.
So yeah, "money waster" doesn't even begin to describe it. Especially in these times. There are better ways to do these things & better ways to spend our money.
Sorry, but this is an industry that needs to drastically shrink around here. I've never seen such waste go into maintaining what is considered an "acceptable" lawn since I moved down here. Especially when you consider a lot of these sub-division lawns are getting little to no use & are just there to "look pretty" & to keep up with the Joneses.
No, I'm not saying let weeds overtake your lawn. But hardly any HOAs down here support any type of xeriscaping at all (most require homeowners have 70% grass coverage at all times). Its almost like they're in cahoots with the landscaping companies.
Those company trucks are usually huge & need a lot of gas to carry around all that equipment, the equipment itself needs lots of gas, the grass routinely needs lots of water, fertilizers, chemicals, etc. For no reason other than so we can all have that almost-impossible-to-keep-green lawn down here in the sweltering heat where grasses can hardly even sustain themselves.
So yeah, "money waster" doesn't even begin to describe it. Especially in these times. There are better ways to do these things & better ways to spend our money.
Kerry - FYI - this is the relatively new Florida statute about landscaping (in Chapter 373.185):
(a) The Legislature finds that the use of Florida-friendly landscaping and other water use and pollution prevention measures to conserve or protect the state’s water resources serves a compelling public interest and that the participation of homeowners’ associations and local governments is essential to the state’s efforts in water conservation and water quality protection and restoration. (b) A deed restriction or covenant may not prohibit or be enforced so as to prohibit any property owner from implementing Florida-friendly landscaping on his or her land or create any requirement or limitation in conflict with any provision of part II of this chapter or a water shortage order, other order, consumptive use permit, or rule adopted or issued pursuant to part II of this chapter.
I think a lot of HOAs are just learning about the new rules. Don't know exactly how the statute would be interpreted vis-a-vis lawn requirements - but I think a 70% requirement would be too much. FWIW - in my community - there is no required percentage (but grass is required in certain areas - like next to sidewalks). We do have certain requirements in terms of numbers of trees and tree coverage.
As for my initial statement - I was pretty much talking about maintaining the "green stuff" - whatever it happens to be. Mine is a mix of St. Augustine and bermuda grass that seeds from golf courses and some weeds. I think if anyone ever figured out how to keep all the weeds out of grass here - they'd be a billionaire. Robyn
How about working on some of the existing museums? I think MOSH has a lot of underutilized space (at least it did last time I was there) that might be reconfigured. MOSH kind of goes with the children's museum theme. And there's currently a "children's floor" at MOCA which is pretty sorry IMO - could really use a facelift. Note that the Cummer has a children's wing - and I think the exhibits there are pretty good.
And if we ever got the money to do a whole new museum - perhaps the old library might be a good site (although it might be cheaper building from scratch than renovating an old building). Robyn
I have heard that Macy's is already on it's way, but honestly I don't see the huge benefit to Jacksonville to give incentives to businesses like Macy's and Toojay's. We already have plenty of places to eat and shop, and if it makes sense financially for companies to open stores here, they will eventually. I get so angry seeing all of these vacant shopping centers around town and find the idea of offering incentives for new places to shop and eat to open pretty hard to stomach.
To me, one of the things the city should be doing is cracking down on the owners of all of the abandoned/stalled commercial property and making them either demolish the structures on the property or at least make them look presentable. Jacksonville looks really crappy when you drive down the expressway or Atlantic Blvd. and see graffiti on the buildings or boarded up gas stations. I can't believe that there isn't some kind of law that says owners need to take care of their storefront and make sure it looks at least somewhat okay (i.e. no broken windows or boarded up for an excessive period of time, overgrown, etc.).
I also think that the state (not sure about the city) is already offering incentives for companies to move to Florida. Isn't that why Duetsche Bank moved part of their operations from up north to Jacksonville? I agree, though, that this is definitely a worthy use of state and city resources.
I mentioned places like Macy's and Toojays because I think they're a cut above what we have now - kind of a statement that we've arrived (perhaps not "Neiman Marcus" arrived - but I 'm trying to set reasonable goals ). Also mentioned them because I think most people like them.
I agree that we have too many strip shopping centers. And I'm pretty sure Duval County has the kind of "clean up" ordinances you mentioned (although they can be hard to enforce). I looked up the Deutsche Bank jobs here. There aren't a lot of them - but they're much higher than "call center" type jobs. Must be some people at Deutsche Bank in that department who like to play golf . Robyn
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- and because there aren't a whole lot of people who want to sit through 100+ degree heat followed by a huge thunderstorm.
. Robyn
