Historic Springfield - Photo Tour & Info (Jacksonville: for sale, real estate)

[fsu813]

For those of you interested in moving to Jacksonville, I thought this might be helpful. Historic Springfield is the oldest neighborhood in the city, circa 1860 something I think. It, along with Riverside & Avondale are the 3 Historic neighborhoods in the city.

Springfield is a larger area, with the Historic section being the most scenic and inviting. The area used to be VERY bad, but it's not that way anymore. Similar to the very desirbale Riverside area 10 years ago, Historic Springfield is in transition. Luckily most of the hard work has already been done and there are MANY neighborhood organizations, clubs, functions, etc. Many new and nice cafes, restauarnts, etc are being opened....and beleive it or not, even in this bad housing climate, there are 4 new houses being built ans 2 new condo buildings. There are many properties in the middle of renovations as well.

The area has 3 very nice parks, including a dog park, a preservation society, wine society, first friday block party, mommies club, animal rescue club, womens club, block captians, neighborhood watch, home & garden tour, chilli cook-off, community garden, etc. Very community orientated. A trolley going between the Histoirc area and Downtown will be starting as well. A couple movies have been shot in the Historic area in recent year because of some of the absolutely picturesque blocks. It's generally considered to be family friendly, dog friendly, gay friendy, "green" friendly, hippie/edgy friendly, history buff friendly.


It's very common to see a few beautiful, goregous houeses next to a couple in the middle of a renovation, next to a couple that haven't been renovated yet. Thankfully, this is coming along swimmingly. A new construction Historic home builder is in the area too, SRG, which builds plush new "historic" homes that blend right in.

SRG houses start at 200k for a bungalow and can go up to 500k. You can get a old home cheap, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50k and renovate it as well. Or, there are many already renovated old homes for sale in the 225-350k range.

The area itself is Northwest of Downtown a couple miles, off of I-95. 3 miles from Riverside, 3 miles from San Macro, 2 miles from the river. Anyways, i'm sold on the area and plan to buy a house soon. I'm very confident that the property values will increase substanially (the Historic areas of Jacksonville had the least amount of value decline in the past 2 years) and have seen the rise of Riverside into THE area of town. Springfield is following in those foot steps..... and will be a cross between Riverside and Savannah, GA when finished.

Here are some pictorials and links to good info:



Pictorials------------------------------------------

Tour
Metro Jacksonville - A Springfield Photo Tour

Springfield's Dog Days
Metro Jacksonville - Springfield's Dog Days in the Park

Opening of Three Layers Coffee House
Metro Jacksonville - Three Layers the latest addition to Springfield

Springfield v. Savannah: Can you tell the difference?Metro Jacksonville - Springfield vs. Savannah: Can you tell the difference?

Throw-Back Baseball Tournament
Metro Jacksonville - Springfield Heritage Throwback Baseball: East vs West

Jacksonville's Central Park ?
Metro Jacksonville - Jacksonville's Central Park?

Karpeles Museum in Springfield
Metro Jacksonville - The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum

News Articles-------------------------------------

On the Move in Springfield
Jacksonville.com

Neighborly nourishment in Springfield
Neighborly nourishment in Springfield | Jacksonville.com

The roots of revitalization run deep in Springfield
The roots of revitalization run deep in Springfield | Jacksonville.com

Sheriff's Springfield walk shows decade of progress
Jacksonville.com

10 reasons to go to Three Layers coffeehouse
10 reasons to go to Three Layers coffeehouse | Jacksonville.com

Other Links--------------------------

Springfield Preservation Area Revitalization Council (SPAR)
Welcome to Historic Springfield!

SPAR Forums
Springfield Community Bulletin Board - Index page

Wikipedia
Springfield, Jacksonville, Florida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Springfield's "The Deuce" Historic Firestation
Springfield Deuce

Jacksonville Historical Society's Pictures (1800 & 1900's)
The Jacksonville Historical Society

[Jax Questions]

we just moved in the neighborhood. something you didn't mentioned was the SMG or Springfield Mommies Group. we've partcicpated in family friendly events and enjoyed the mommies mornings out. a great goup of people! this their website www.springfieldmommies.com

[Sensei Han]

I recognize most of the streets even without having been there.

Hmm... is this a sign?

[fsu813]

Blazing a Trail: Urban Pioneer Neighborhoods

The road to revitalization is sometimes bumpy, but urban pioneers enjoy perks of both city life and suburbia

The primary rule of investing is to buy low and sell high, and that's a main draw for people purchasing homes in urban pioneer neighborhoods.

These neighborhoods, generally located in a ring around a city's primary downtown core, feature a smorgasbord of homes of varying architectural styles and quality. Read: there are usually lots of fixer-uppers, and sweat equity can often turn into real profit.
Perks of Pioneering

But financial gain isn't the only reason to live in an urban pioneer neighborhood -- they have a special charm all their own.

Project manager Frank Schipani and his wife, Kristen Degan, own a brick row house in the Columbia Heights neighborhood outside of Washington, D.C., which they completely renovated in 2007. And while restoring the historic home, built in 1911, was what primarily attracted them from their condo in downtown Washington, the area has other perks as well. For starters, Schipani can still ride his bike to work in the city and make it in less than 15 minutes, and his wife walks to work in less than half an hour. But they still have a car and parking is plentiful compared to the urban core.

"It's an up-and-coming area," says Reverend Grace Ca**** of The Levy Team, RE/MAX Allegiance Realtors in Washington. "Columbia Heights has had tremendous recent renovation. There's the beautiful redone Tivoli Theater surrounded by a new upscale strip mall, a large new shopping center anchored by Target, new luxury condos, a park and many restaurants. Plus, housing prices are still lower than in some other D.C. locations."
Schipani appreciates the ethnic diversity in the area and the new friendships he's made; urban pioneer neighborhoods often cut a broad swath across racial and socioeconomic lines. "We have some great neighbors on our block," Schipani says. "We love living in a neighborhood of houses rather than an apartment building because neighbors look out for each other and do each other favors. Apartment living is convenient, but it can seem very sterile at times."

article continues on :
Blazing a Trail: Urban Pioneer Neighborhoods : HGTV FrontDoor Real Estate

Thankfully, the downsides mentioned in the article are almost completely gone from Springfield. Not so much a pioneer anymore, more like a settler.