Love Jax so far, buuuttttt...... (Jacksonville, Gateway: appointed, real estate, rental)

[cmcray1]

I was really disappointed with the downtown. I moved here from Western Colorado after a lot of research and thought, and have been here a week now. Please don't get defensive, there are things that we all don't like. I didn't like the downtown. I went on a Saturday drive and it (downtown) was just dead. It had no spark, no vibe, no nuttin. I sure haven't seen all of Jax yet, but have seen quite a bit for only being here a week. I loved San Marco (all that it was advertised to be). The beaches are excellent, and I am quite sure I will spend a lot more time at Fernandina beach as well as Little Talbot SP and Heugenot. The north side was rough looking but had lots of character and neat restaurants. It has vibe ( a vibe which i will not be there to appreciate after dark-tyvm. Orange park is cool and I rented a place for now on Fleming Island. I love the closeness to the freeway and the schools. But downtown, less than "meh". Now to be fair, it was only a drive through, and I plan to go back, but.....Am I missing something?? All and all, I sure like the town and cant wait for the kids and the missus to get here. BTW, I was informed that college ball was king here and that I needed to pick a school. So Go GATORS (unless they play CSU, CU or Air Force of course.)
I have trout fished all my life and am excited to learn about fishing for bucketmouths, crappies, and saltwater fishing. I fished off the pier once and got zilch, but did learn about sting rays (not the hard way thank goodness). (BTW i was told when I buy scallops that often as not, it's sting ray. No kidding? I guess I like to eat stingray.
One last thing is that we came to Florida for the Ocean and beaches, but I just LOVVVE the river!!!

[Joe 4520832257]

Yup. Jax has one of the most dead downtowns in America for a city of its size. Probably one of the highest rates of surface parking lots too. It's a real shame.

One could write volumes of books about the decline of downtown Jax. There are far too many issues to explore. I wouldn't even know where to begin.

The upshot is that Jax doesn't suffer from a particularly bad downtown - just an empty one. There's very little crime, decent infrastructure, and loads of redevelopment potential.

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by cmcray1

I was really disappointed with the downtown. I moved here from Western Colorado after a lot of research and thought, and have been here a week now. Please don't get defensive, there are things that we all don't like. I didn't like the downtown. I went on a Saturday drive and it (downtown) was just dead. It had no spark, no vibe, no nuttin. I sure haven't seen all of Jax yet, but have seen quite a bit for only being here a week. I loved San Marco (all that it was advertised to be). The beaches are excellent, and I am quite sure I will spend a lot more time at Fernandina beach as well as Little Talbot SP and Heugenot. The north side was rough looking but had lots of character and neat restaurants. It has vibe ( a vibe which i will not be there to appreciate after dark-tyvm. Orange park is cool and I rented a place for now on Fleming Island. I love the closeness to the freeway and the schools. But downtown, less than "meh". Now to be fair, it was only a drive through, and I plan to go back, but.....Am I missing something?? All and all, I sure like the town and cant wait for the kids and the missus to get here. BTW, I was informed that college ball was king here and that I needed to pick a school. So Go GATORS (unless they play CSU, CU or Air Force of course.)
I have trout fished all my life and am excited to learn about fishing for bucketmouths, crappies, and saltwater fishing. I fished off the pier once and got zilch, but did learn about sting rays (not the hard way thank goodness). (BTW i was told when I buy scallops that often as not, it's sting ray. No kidding? I guess I like to eat stingray.
One last thing is that we came to Florida for the Ocean and beaches, but I just LOVVVE the river!!!

Yeah, I tried to move down there but there were no people ...after work or before even siting in the park except some random guys wandering aimlessly. Seems like just corporate business from what I saw watching during morning hours till about 9. I really wanted to be on that side so I could walk to work. Hopefully they'll get it together with attracting residents in the future.

A good start would be LIGHTING in that park and having events OUTSIDE THERE and getting people to stay after work. Then opening some place to eat or get cofffee LOL the only thing opened when I went betw 6 and 10 was a lone pizza store. (other than the Landing).

[projectmaximus]

Originally Posted by cmcray1

Am I missing something??

Nope. I think you pretty much nailed everything in your entire assessment.

Downtown Jax once upon a time was a thriving and bustling commercial and industrial center...long before I was born. I think it hit bottom last decade and has been taking baby steps in the right direction since. Had the economy/real estate not tanked it actually would be very different right now. C'est la vie. Overall, things will continue to improve very slowly I believe. But it's a shame to think of all the amazing infill and/or skyscraper projects that have been cancelled the last few years.

BTW, welcome and go Gators!

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by projectmaximus

Nope. I think you pretty much nailed everything in your entire assessment.

Downtown Jax once upon a time was a thriving and bustling commercial and industrial center...long before I was born. I think it hit bottom last decade and has been taking baby steps in the right direction since. Had the economy/real estate not tanked it actually would be very different right now. !

That's what a woman I met about a rental in San Marco told me. She and her husband moved to Jax in 2000 and were watching the planning and anticipating the growth but it got stuck with the economy according to her.

[apanda]

Originally Posted by cmcray1

I was really disappointed with the downtown. I moved here from Western Colorado after a lot of research and thought, and have been here a week now. Please don't get defensive, there are things that we all don't like. I didn't like the downtown. I went on a Saturday drive and it (downtown) was just dead. It had no spark, no vibe, no nuttin. I sure haven't seen all of Jax yet, but have seen quite a bit for only being here a week. I loved San Marco (all that it was advertised to be). The beaches are excellent, and I am quite sure I will spend a lot more time at Fernandina beach as well as Little Talbot SP and Heugenot. The north side was rough looking but had lots of character and neat restaurants. It has vibe ( a vibe which i will not be there to appreciate after dark-tyvm. Orange park is cool and I rented a place for now on Fleming Island. I love the closeness to the freeway and the schools. But downtown, less than "meh". Now to be fair, it was only a drive through, and I plan to go back, but.....Am I missing something?? All and all, I sure like the town and cant wait for the kids and the missus to get here. BTW, I was informed that college ball was king here and that I needed to pick a school. So Go GATORS (unless they play CSU, CU or Air Force of course.)
I have trout fished all my life and am excited to learn about fishing for bucketmouths, crappies, and saltwater fishing. I fished off the pier once and got zilch, but did learn about sting rays (not the hard way thank goodness). (BTW i was told when I buy scallops that often as not, it's sting ray. No kidding? I guess I like to eat stingray.
One last thing is that we came to Florida for the Ocean and beaches, but I just LOVVVE the river!!!

I am glad you like it here and hope you did not move here for "Downtown" life.

Not to be rude, but where did you do your research? The lack of a "Downtown" is a known and well discussed misconception for new people. I can only assume newcomers think our city smaller and look at the population numbers, put the two together and assume we have a much more densely populated city.

[projectmaximus]

Well, when people say that a city's downtown is "dead" or "boring" it's all relative. So somebody who's been warned of Jax's downtown might not realize quite how bad it is. I know I've heard of plenty of struggling downtowns (and even called them as such myself) that are much nicer than ours. So it's not really something you know until you experience it yourself.

[Keith-n-Jax]

Tell us something we dont know.

[Northside904]

We won't get defensive. We know Central Jacksonville is dead. It's like a ghost town after 5pm. COnsequently, downtown Jacksonville I don't think was ever meant to be an entertainment center, moreso for business. As for the Northside, some parts are rough looking and you'll find dudes on the block either hustling or standing idly by doing nothing.

[BabyBoomers2]

Well, we sure didn't move here for the "downtown area", but definitely do like the Landing. We plan on bringing our boat to the Landing and wanted to see what it was like there first. When we visited the Landing the first time (been there twice now), we were sort of shocked at how "d-e-a-d" the downtown area was for a Saturday afternoon! But, we aren't "downtown" type people anyway.
Now, where are the "live" areas at in Jax during the day......the Avenues and Gateway Shopping Center for sure!! We have been by both areas on a Saturday and boy were the parking lots packed with cars.
Night action........The Landing on Friday and Saturday nights and Whitey's Fish Camp! We drove by there last night (Saturday) and the parking lot of packed to capacity! Was definitely "party night" at Whitey's!!
So, if people move here looking for "downtown" action during the weekend day, Jax sure isn't the city for that.....unless something big is going on at one of the big Entertainment Centers in Jax.