Springfield and walking... (violent crime, houses, neighborhood)

[Sensei Han]

I like to walk and ride bicycle and was interested in knowing the time-frame for walking from one part of Springfield to another...

How long would a walk from the Landing to Shands take?

If I decided to take a walk at midnite in the area of 8th and Main st, would I need to be worried?

Would I see "zombies" walking around at night? Often? Scarcely?

Trying to get a feel for the area although I will be heading down at some point to "peep it"

Thanks..

Han

[fsu813]

Springfield is only a 1x1 sq mile neighborhood, so that should give you a good estimate of walking time.

Shands to the The Landing is about 2 & 1/2 miles.

8th & Main stays relatively busy with car traffic even at midnight. You can walk down Main Street at that time without being overly concerned (ie, be aware and use common sense, but not too much would happen on Main Street at that time). The fire station & Shanty Town (corners of 4th & 6th respectively) have customers/workers hanging around outside at night. Police have a presence too. You might see some prositutes as they come from the Northside and Arlington to work 8th Street, especially on the weekends, but they stay off of Main. Overall, if you stick to 8th or Main in the Historic Springfield boundaries I wouldn't be overly concerned.

Of course during the day you'll see residents jogging, dog walking, bike riding, etc. Also more than your fair share of bums passing through from the Northside to Downtown & back.

If you're trying to get the feel for the area, i'd drive through all parts of the neighborhood at times of day & night. That's what my wife & I did when we were deciding. Some areas are better than others, but there were only a few streets (mostly on the outer boundaries) where we didn't feel comfortable. You can go from super-nice, picturesque block to one where half of the houses are nice and half are yet to be renovated (bad shape). It's all part of a 'transitional neighborhood' on the upswing.

[parks71]

The area around Shands is down right dangerous. I would not walk it at night with my AK-47 and I am not kidding. My wife worked at shands and there are MANY stories of people getting killed in that area while she worked including a Pizza guy that just delivered them pizza and was found shot dead 10 minutes later.

I wouldnt even walk springfield, I dont care what FSU says. While I have no experience in this area I do have experience with FSU saying everything is just down right jolly every where in jax even defending jacksonvilles biggest weaknesses acting like there is none.

[Sensei Han]

Perfect!

A Yin-Yang Answer! LOL!

I was born and lived all my life in the Bronx, NY and currently live in Philly <--YECH! (in other words, not the nice part)

I go to the store 5 blocks from my house at 12 - 1 am. As far as readiness is concerned, if my user name didn't hint at it -I am a practitioner of martial arts with 34 years experience, so I can feel negative energy around me. Not insinuating any hocus-pocus fantasy crap, just that I have an advantage and I also have common sense.

I heard it was the way parks71 described it a few years ago but the trend of development has curbed that.

Come on all you Springfielders! I need you!

To FSU and Parks - I thank you for your replies...

Han

[mawipafl]

I've not spent a lot of time in Springfield simply because it's not around the corner from where I live. I've been there a handful of times during both day and night, and in the areas I was visiting I never felt scared.

I've been to Confederate Park in the afternoon and ended up driving around and around at first because I was a zipperhead and couldn't find the parking lot. Never felt uncomfortable.

I've been to 9th and Main on a week night and on a weekend night and at neither time did I feel any concerns walking from the restaurant to my car (which I forgot to lock on one occasion with no consequence).

I was recently at 6th and Walnut (Three Layers Coffee House) at 9 pm on a Wednesday and then went 6th to North Liberty and then two blocks south. Didn't see a soul and didn't feel at all like there were somethings/someones lurking in the shadows. No red flags went up, no bristling of the hairs on the back of my neck. In fact, I enjoyed that part of Springfield - many of the houses have been rehab'd and are beautiful while others sprinkled here and there are in dire need of a makeover (behind the weeds and peeling paint are amazing examples of fascinating architecture).

While at Three Layers I picked up a pamphlet published by the SPAR Council (Springfield Preservation and Revitalization). It's titled "A Walk through the Lovely Parks of Historic Springfield", and it contains a walking map highlighting a number of historic places between Hubbard and Pearl (somewhat following Hogan's Creek). I have every intention of taking that walk in the very near future - and I will not be packing an AK47.

[fsu813]

parks71 has a vendetta agianst all things Jax. i think Jax stole his girlfriend. i like it when he says "i know nothing about _______ , but it's not good....trust me!"



1) Shands is NOT even in Historic Springfield.....like I said: almost anywhere in the boundaries is going to be ok, the edges are a little rough.

2) That being said, Shands itself is fine, but the area just North & West of Shands is bad news.

3) Yes, Historic Springfield used to be bad news as well, that started to change about 10 years ago. Huge changes in the last 4 years. Violent crime is nill. Property & nusance crimes are down roughly 60% since 2005. Be sure to check out the January issue of Southern Living Magazine, in which Historic Springfield will be featured as a top 3 "Comeback Neighbrohood" in the East.

No AK needed. (ha)

[parks71]

Look, I dont know about springfield, already said so. I do not have anything against jax other than the crime and schools. There some nice things about jax especially if you are in retirment.

With that said, you have people like FSU that think this place is heaven and jesus christ himself resides here and nothing bad at all is here in the city.

With that said, I say I would not, they say its safe but why dont you go to www.spotcrime.com yourself and look in the area, it shows a very detailed map of the city and where crime is involved. If I were you, I would change the dates to check the past 3 years BUT just incase you dont feel like checking because you feel lazy, Ill give you a quick recap.


9/14/09 Main and west state Shoot/stabbing

8/25/09 Main and around 6th st Man shot at bar

8/25/09 Main and close to 6th another shooting, guy shot multiple times

7/3/09 main and 7th Violent crime, homicide on the scene

3/26/09 main and 8th street 2 men attack 37 year old and drag him into woods

6/6/09 right at shands pretty much, shooting stabbing

6/15/09 main and 15th, man fatally shot

4/21/09 main and 21, man shot in face

6/13/09 main and 45th man shot dead

This is just THIS year, and there are DOZENS more with in a mile of this area so believe who you want but like I said, I wouldnt do it with my AK.

FSU, you are going to get someone hurt one day providing all this false information, stop being such a jacksonville humper. There are good things about this city and there are bad things just like most cities.

[fsu813]

Good Lord man. You have no idea, literally, what you are talking about.

Over half of your stats are NOT EVEN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. Your 9/14, 6/6, 6/15, 4/21, & 6/13 are not in Historic Springfield.

Since I attend the Shadco meetings monthly (the JSO & neighborhood partnership) I get the news, stats, and what not first hand from Srgt. Jackson Short and the 2-3 other officers that patrol the area.

90% of the crime in the neighborhood is NOT involving residents. It's bums, homeless, and people from OUTSIDE the neighborhood committing crime on EACHOTHER, that pass through or hang out on 8th Street.

NONE, i repeat, NONE of the instances you list are by or on residents of Historic Springfield.

I can speak about most of these personally, since residents keep a sharp eye on this topic:

9/14 - not in the neighborhood, you apologize

8/25 - crazy guy (literally) walks into Shanty Town, a local bar for indie kids and rock types, shows a nail gun and gets shot by the bar tender. The bar tender is hailed as a hero.

8/25 - did not happen, perhaps someone got the date and/or location mixed up.

7/3 - bum on bum violence, who knows what happened

3/26 - bum on bum violence, who knows what happened. however, there are no woods in the area.

6/6 - marital issue that played out in the ER of Shands, not from the neighborhood

6/15 - not in the neighborhood, you apologize

4/21 - not in the neighbiorhood, you apologize

6/13 - not in the neighborhood, you apologize


Perhaps you know more about Fishing. But I assure you, you don't know more about Downtown, Riverside, Avondale, Murray Hill, Ortega, San Marco, & Springfield than I do (the urban core and just beyond).

Stick to what you know.

[parks71]

FSU, I feel sorry for you man, I dont usually say this but you are really stupid. The guy asked about a walk from the landing to shands around midnight. One the crime map where all these murders take place, it looks like a bomb hit in the area he is talking about.

Then he also asked about 8th and main around midnight, which happens to be in the shands area again, with in a 2 mile radius is where it seems like the majority or A LOT of the murders or violent crime happens.

While in the small, very small area of springfield, no there was no murders. they are just all a block or so away.

So I guess I will be honest with the guy. Is it safe to walk on 8th and main? Well, if you walk in a circle on the corner there, acording to the statistics for THIS YEAR, nobody has been murdered RIGHT THERE. However, if you decide you actually want to walk a block or two, be carful.

Please original poster, go to that site and read the facts yourself. Dont listen to me, dont listen to him. You decide for yourself, I think FSU grew up in compton so everything is safe to him.

[parks71]

6/9/08

a 31 year old springfield man ( IN SPRINGFIELD) he was held up at GUN POINT by FOUR MEN.


Look up 08, with in a few blocks of springfield, several people were shot just walking down the street or standing in a parking lot.

According to FSU though, they were probably all bums so who cares right FSU?