[Florida2014]

Originally Posted by logybogy

Jacksonville is very segregated. I don't see a good solution for Downtown development without gentrification and displacing a lot of poor black people and that is controversial.

That's probably inevitable at this point.

[JBtwinz]

Originally Posted by Florida2014

You also have to take into consideration St Johns County, which is a southern suburb of Jacksonville. This is where we call home and I can tell you without question this is one of the fastest growing counties in all of Florida and for a while, we were one of the fastest growing counties in the entire U.S.

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20...n-us-last-year

Most of us include St Johns County as Jacksonville, just as you would include suburbs like Hinsdale or Willmette as "Chicago."

So while Jacksonville proper may not be seeing explosive growth, areas all around it including St Johns, Nassau, Clay, etc. are growing very rapidly.

As the above poster mentions we are seeing explosive growth outside the urban core in Saint Johns County and Nassau County. I am talking thousands of homes and communities being planned.

The urban core received a tremendous shot in the arm in 1988 or 1989 when the Landing opened. That was supposed to be the beginning of reinventing downtown. Except for the Jaguars state of the art stadium, Vystar Aucitorium and the new amphitheater there has been one thing after another to stall the growth. Meanwhile San Marco and Riverside grew and to the north Springfield still struggles. The Landing was just recently torn down.

COVID-19 has hurt a lot of business and the Omni downtown appears to be another that might call it quits with reports it might be for sale.

We have great entertainment venues downtown but truly lack restaurant and bars within walking distance to draw people before and after these events.

As one who travels extensively and witnesses other cities rebirth our downtown continues to baffle me when so many cities throughout the US are experiencing rejuvenation to their urban cores.

[Johnathon Hills]

Originally Posted by _Uncommon_

This is an issue because if the beaches and St. John’s county pull population away from Jacksonville, along with it go jobs, money, infrastructure repairs, funding, and a lot more. A city core dying is never a good thing, especially if the growth is outside of city limits.

True, people are moving to SJC, but most are newcomers who never lived in Duval Co. However, the vast majority do commute to Jax for work, shopping and entertainment; all generators of tax revenue. With a population about 40k shy of 1 million, Duval Co is not hurting for tax revenue. It's population growth rate since 2010 has been just under 11%. That is phenomenal!

The business growth in Jax has also not moved to SJC, but to other parts of Duval, most notably the many office parks on the Southside. They offer closer proximity to workers and a lower per sqft cost vs. the downtown towers.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by JBtwinz

As one who travels extensively and witnesses other cities rebirth our downtown continues to baffle me when so many cities throughout the US are experiencing rejuvenation to their urban cores.

The missing component in my opinion are the effective public-private partnerships formed in other cities like Tampa (Lightnings owner Vinik), Detroit ( Quicken Loans) and Cincinnati (Proctor & Gamble, Cintas, Kroger). So far despite a few major corporate players with either an HQ or major office located in JAX we haven't seen the drive to flex muscle and show compassion for their "hometown". It takes vision, hard work, teamwork and above all the desire to show the world what a great city Jacksonville can be. Until there's any of that, it ain't happening.

[Florida2014]

And another one bites the dust (potentially). Omni, one of the last decent hotels in downtown Jax, looks to be vacating. Another hotel could be the purchasers but it would have to come with huge concessions from the City/County about future build outs downtown.

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/l...EYEOGLU7DQZYE/

[_Uncommon_]

Damn, that sucks about the Omni. There is no reason why a Florida city shouldn’t be exploding and improving itself. Almost every other city is, including small towns. Florida is seeing incredible growth and a major cash infusion (before COVID anyway). Last year it had the 19th biggest economy in the world. It boggles my mind because Jacksonville has so much freaking potential. I see no reason why it can’t be Florida’s Houston or Phoenix. Or even utilizing its beaches and being San Diego. Maybe future leadership will encourage someone with deep pockets to invest in the core instead of driving away people from the city of Jacksonville. Damn shame though.

[Racer46]

Originally Posted by _Uncommon_

Damn, that sucks about the Omni. There is no reason why a Florida city shouldn’t be exploding and improving itself. Almost every other city is, including small towns. Florida is seeing incredible growth and a major cash infusion (before COVID anyway). Last year it had the 19th biggest economy in the world. It boggles my mind because Jacksonville has so much freaking potential. I see no reason why it can’t be Florida’s Houston or Phoenix. Or even utilizing its beaches and being San Diego. Maybe future leadership will encourage someone with deep pockets to invest in the core instead of driving away people from the city of Jacksonville. Damn shame though.

It may also be driven by retirees moving to the suburbs not the city. They are not as City centric as others, but prefer nice communities not busy Cities. FL population leans towards older people not younger

[_Uncommon_]

Originally Posted by Racer46

It may also be driven by retirees moving to the suburbs not the city. They are not as City centric as others, but prefer nice communities not busy Cities. FL population leans towards older people not younger

Not sure about this. Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, and St. Pete all have thriving cores despite retirees. Smaller cities like Winter Park, Cape Coral, St. Augustine, and so many more also have great cores. Jacksonville is one of the few Florida cities with a weak downtown.

[boy3365]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

The missing component in my opinion are the effective public-private partnerships formed in other cities like Tampa (Lightnings owner Vinik), Detroit ( Quicken Loans) and Cincinnati (Proctor & Gamble, Cintas, Kroger). So far despite a few major corporate players with either an HQ or major office located in JAX we haven't seen the drive to flex muscle and show compassion for their "hometown". It takes vision, hard work, teamwork and above all the desire to show the world what a great city Jacksonville can be. Until there's any of that, it ain't happening.

Jax doesn't seem to have the companies with names that pop and possibly deeper pockets like P&G, Quicken, GM/Ford, etc. That leaves Firehouse Subs and "I don't know if it will even exist in 5 years" Southeastern Grocers lol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ksonville_area

I do realize that they do have companies with large regional offices there, but I think that's part of the "come to Florida to preserve your money after you spend years making a bunch of it somewhere else" culture we have here.

Jax does seem like a city who's geography would make it ideal to be a huge economic center by now though.

[JBtwinz]

Originally Posted by _Uncommon_

Not sure about this. Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, and St. Pete all have thriving cores despite retirees. Smaller cities like Winter Park, Cape Coral, St. Augustine, and so many more also have great cores. Jacksonville is one of the few Florida cities with a weak downtown.

I have been trying to figure this out for years. Thirty plus years later at age sixty I don’t think I will see it but my twins might someday see a robust downtown.

While not the urban core San Marco and Riverside have made remarkable progress as far as positive growth inching towards the core. There has been dozens of study’s done on downtown and nothing comes out of them. I know they are spending a bundle moving the bus station. They still don’t know what to do with the people mover to nowhere!

Hopefully the Hyatt hangs tough. You have the Elbow district that was thriving before Covid-19, while a small part of downtown it was a start.

I think the NFL had mentioned a few years back that our stadium had one of the least expensive real estate markets surrounding it.