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I wanted to chime in that I'm a native Jacksonvillian who has lived in some other places, and the OP was not that far off the mark with a lot of his remarks.
I didn't read the whole thread, so maybe somebody mentioned this, but part of the problem with Jacksonville is that any criticisms of the city and suggestions as to how to improve it (which the OP didn't offer, I guess) are soundly rejected, and the person told to "git outa town" if he/she doesn't like it.
I have lived here 30 of my 32 years. In that time, sprawl has gotten exponentially worse, downtown has further declined, and the adult literacy rate remains abysmal. My wife and I are moving as soon as we can sell the house, which will probably be a year or two - not out of hatred for the city, but out of a desire to experience something else (dare I say "better quality of life"). We don't want to wait for Jacksonville to come to its senses, or for the old guard to die off so the younger folks can get moving on turning the city into someplace people desire to live - for reasons other than the low cost of living and easy access to the beach.
Greatundercoverbrother, your thread is #2 on my list of favorite posting of all time on CD, eclipsed only by the 'Miami sucks' thread of S&N Miami. I really thought that all the anger and negativity and the 'go back where you came from', 'you'll be unhappy anywhere', 'our city is great and you're just a bitter loser', was only prevalent in the Miami forum. How wrong I was. I guess Florida as a whole is just one bitter, hateful state? The saddest thing is, the locals, with their derogatory, negative flaming actually PROVE the point you make about thinking twice before moving to Jacksonville!
I guess it's hard for uneducated people to understand that some people have to relocate due to career growth or accompanying a spouse. You can't GET a city with a one week or even a two week visit. You have to LIVE IT to realize a city is great or it sucks. It's the day to day stuff and primarily THE PEOPLE that make a city/state, great or miserable. No matter how pretty the scenery is, a city filled with rotten people is going to be miserable for normal, positive people.
Why do the locals care anyway what is said about their wonderful city in a forum? You won't catch me flaming my hometown here on CD, I could care less what people think since I have my own positive opinion. In fact, people should be glad that posts like this are maybe driving away 'out of towners' from considering polluting their perfect city.
You seem to spend a fair amount of time bashing Miami on CD. So I guess you don't live there . Where do you live? There is a guy on another chatboard I frequent who also calls himself LaLaLand (and he is - no surprise - from Los Angeles). But he is currently ranting about his divorce - not Miami. Robyn
I wanted to chime in that I'm a native Jacksonvillian who has lived in some other places, and the OP was not that far off the mark with a lot of his remarks.
I didn't read the whole thread, so maybe somebody mentioned this, but part of the problem with Jacksonville is that any criticisms of the city and suggestions as to how to improve it (which the OP didn't offer, I guess) are soundly rejected, and the person told to "git outa town" if he/she doesn't like it.
I have lived here 30 of my 32 years. In that time, sprawl has gotten exponentially worse, downtown has further declined, and the adult literacy rate remains abysmal. My wife and I are moving as soon as we can sell the house, which will probably be a year or two - not out of hatred for the city, but out of a desire to experience something else (dare I say "better quality of life"). We don't want to wait for Jacksonville to come to its senses, or for the old guard to die off so the younger folks can get moving on turning the city into someplace people desire to live - for reasons other than the low cost of living and easy access to the beach.
Well - I think you should read the whole thread (it isn't that long). I don't think all of the people who've written in this thread have expressed the attitude you mention. Where are you thinking of moving? Robyn
I didn't read the whole thread, so maybe somebody mentioned this, but part of the problem with Jacksonville is that any criticisms of the city and suggestions as to how to improve it (which the OP didn't offer, I guess) are soundly rejected, and the person told to "git outa town" if he/she doesn't like it.
Not true. Most people who bash just love to bash. Which is okay, but if you have nothing positive to contribute to the thread, then get the hell out.
Not true. Most people who bash just love to bash. Which is okay, but if you have nothing positive to contribute to the thread, then get the hell out.
From reading several of bativacs previous posts he would never have anything positive to say about Jacksonville. I think if he ever typed something positive about Jacksonville, people would think his fingers were having an epileptic fit and didn't know what they were doing. But it is his right just like the OP to share his thought on here no matter what anyone else thinks. But you wonder why if they despise a place so much why stay? Mental disorders manifest themselves in many strange ways I guess.
From reading several of bativacs previous posts he would never have anything positive to say about Jacksonville. I think if he ever typed something positive about Jacksonville, people would think his fingers were having an epileptic fit and didn't know what they were doing. But it is his right just like the OP to share his thought on here no matter what anyone else thinks. But you wonder why if they despise a place so much why stay? Mental disorders manifest themselves in many strange ways I guess.
Some of us stay not because of mental disorders (see what I mean - there's that "git outa town" attitude) but because our families are here and we have historically strong ties to the area.
My dad's family came here from Lebanon in the 1920s. My grandfather on that side was born here and my grandmother on my mom's side was, too. So I'm a 3rd generation native. My parents never traveled farther West than Nashville (or farther North). Most of my family is here, so I've stayed, and I've come back after living elsewhere. The cost of living is cheap. It's close to the beach. Jacksonville has fantastic natural features and a great park system.
But once I traveled and met more people from other places, and spoke to other born-and-raised Jacksonvillians who left town and had their minds opened - I realized there were places who had a lot more going for them than Jacksonville.
Don't get me wrong - Jacksonville has some neat areas. You guys act like I hate the place and that's not true. It's more like disappointment. Jacksonville has torn down most of its historic structures - spent money on cosmetic improvements instead of actual infrastructure or public transportation improvements - worried more about getting a football team to town than whether or not the bus system can get somebody from point A to point B in less than two hours.
But when you talk about fixing this stuff, a great cry goes out about raising taxes. The city can't seem to get its budget in line. Meanwhile money is continually dumped into things like the football stadium. It took them years to decide to fix Friendship Fountain - one of the defining structures of the Southbank. They were considering tearing it down. And let's talk about things like the Landing or the Southbank Riverwalk - things that the city built and failed to maintain, leading to their current condition.
The city itself is just that - a city. I guess it's the short sighted nature of both the citizens and the elected officials that drives me nuts and has convinced my wife and I to look elsewhere. Robyn, in answer to your question, we're looking at everyplace - even expensive places like San Francisco or New York, or someplace in Italy, where my wife's from.
Just ready for a change. But please don't attack or jump all over someone - like me, a lifelong 3rd generation native Jacksonvillian - and act like I hate the place. Some of us just want more and are tired of waiting for things to improve.
A lot of people here do like the Jags, that is just fact! No matter what the job is and/or what the salary is, if someone moves to Jax thinking it's an exciting/vibrant city.......well. Jax is not the Las Vegas Strip, Sunset Blvd/Sunset Strip or NYC! Want exciting/vibrant......go to/watch the fireworks display after the Christmas Boat Parade, 4th of July or New Years Eve on the St John's River! Now that is exciting/vibrant! As far as what this city spends its money on, well, that is entirely up to them. We don't frequent the downtown area that much.
Funny thing is, some people in Denver, CO said that I was bashing their area (after we moved out of CO) because I would tell people who were thinking about relocating to Denver about all the snow and cold weather we encountered there for 5 1/2 yrs. Since we both were raised in "snow belt" areas, we knew what living in one was like and living there was great for the first couple of years. Then I had two surgeries (hip and shoulder) and the snow/cold weather really became a problem. Many people would tell me in the Denver forum, "we don't get that much snow and it doesn't get that cold" and all I could say is "yeaaaaaa, right!"
Like many in this Thread have already said, and could be said about any city, town, area........."most likely, you won't be happy here". Just because a great job with a nice salary is offered here, sure doesn't mean you'll like the city! A great job and salary offer could come from the Twin Cities, but does that mean you will like freezing your butt off living there???
[quote=bativac;19820038]
Some of us stay not because of mental disorders (see what I mean - there's that "git outa town" attitude) but because our families are here and we have historically strong ties to the area.
I don't remember ever telling anyone ever to ''git out of town'' once in over 50 years of being a Jacksonvillian. But like I mused, you have to wonder why anyone who is so unhappy with a place, chooses to stay. Family is a reason but not when you have stated in other posts that you are actively searching for other places to move to, even Italy unless you are relocating your Family also. I myself being a 7th generation Floridian have a lot of relatives here, but I do believe I would move in a heart beat, if I was just totally dissatisfied with a place. You seem to be fairly well educated and articulate in your writing so I am wondering if its a socio-economic feeling of superiority, that causes your unhappiness, which I would understand as most ordinary people in Jacksonville just just don't seem to be driven to excel or improve much beyond their current state. I blame that on a lack of overall good civic leadership and good role models. Which Jacksonville is sorely lacking. Most intelligent people want more, but in the current economy thay just are not going to get them and may even have to live with getting less until things improve significantly.
You seem to be fairly well educated and articulate in your writing so I am wondering if its a socio-economic feeling of superiority, that causes your unhappiness, which I would understand as most ordinary people in Jacksonville just just don't seem to be driven to excel or improve much beyond their current state. I blame that on a lack of overall good civic leadership and good role models. Which Jacksonville is sorely lacking. Most intelligent people want more, but in the current economy thay just are not going to get them and may even have to live with getting less until things improve significantly.
I'm not especially well educated - I went to college in Jacksonville (UNF) like most of my friends and co-workers, and I'm certainly not rich - my wife and I are pretty solidly middle-class. But you're right on with the comment about ordinary folks in Jacksonville not wanting to excel or improve - they are happy with things exactly the way they are, which is a big part of the problem locally.
My other issue is that a couple years back, when my wife and I bought our first house, we did so in the St Nicholas area thinking downtown was about to take off. Several of the clubs on Bay St had just opened, the Art Walk was going strong, new condos were going up, etc. There was a feeling, I guess, that the area was going to explode with life and vibrancy.
Fast forward to now, two years later, and one of those condos looms half-finished; all of LaVilla is torn down and replaced with vacant lots; and previously successful downtown businesses (the restaurant Chew for one example) are leaving downtown for other areas. So that's a big part of it as well.
Unfortunately just packing up and leaving isn't feasible - we have to sell the house, find jobs, etc - so it won't be a quick process, but we're working on it. I don't like having to leave my hometown but at this point I'm the only one in my circle of friends who stayed behind. There's just not much here for young creative types.
.....My other issue is that a couple years back, when my wife and I bought our first house, we did so in the St Nicholas area thinking downtown was about to take off. Several of the clubs on Bay St had just opened, the Art Walk was going strong, new condos were going up, etc. There was a feeling, I guess, that the area was going to explode with life and vibrancy.
Fast forward to now, two years later, and one of those condos looms half-finished; all of LaVilla is torn down and replaced with vacant lots; and previously successful downtown businesses (the restaurant Chew for one example) are leaving downtown for other areas. So that's a big part of it as well......
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Jacksonville is not alone in this respect. The down turn in the economy has effected redevelopment all over the country.
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. Where do you live? There is a guy on another chatboard I frequent who also calls himself LaLaLand (and he is - no surprise - from Los Angeles). But he is currently ranting about his divorce - not Miami. Robyn
From reading several of bativacs previous posts he would never have anything positive to say about Jacksonville. I think if he ever typed something positive about Jacksonville, people would think his fingers were having an epileptic fit and didn't know what they were doing. But it is his right just like the OP to share his thought on here no matter what anyone else thinks. But you wonder why if they despise a place so much why stay? Mental disorders manifest themselves in many strange ways I guess.
