Judgmental Jacksonville Map....! (Springfield: get credit, home, metro)

[ViRose]

Loved this map, thanks for a great laugh!

[0nyxStation]

Originally Posted by BlueWillowPlate

I don't know enough about Jax to judge the map's accuracy, but it's kind of funny ("Gated Community Purgatory.")

I live where the tourists, rich people, and kayaks are.

Ive been reading many of the comments here for a long while. The St Johns part of the map is definitely the most funny.

[Irishtom29]

Are there really eastern European neighborhoods in Jacksonville? Any Polish, Bohemian and Lithuanian restaurants and bakeries?

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

Are there really eastern European neighborhoods in Jacksonville?

Well it looks like the Balkans are represented.

Any Polish, Bohemian and Lithuanian restaurants and bakeries?

A quick google found all sorts of information, including this city data thread.

Jacksonville, FL ranks 30th among a list of U.S. cities that have a large Polish-American population, approximately 10,500 residents are of Polish ancestry.

Polka European Market and Deli
Reading about pierogis brought back memories. When I was a kid in NY, my next door neighbors were Polish/Irish Catholic and they had an interesting diet.

[abvavgjoe]

Originally Posted by JetSetLady

I would love to know what "Brave Gays" means. Lol - love this map. As someone who is potentially moving to Jacksonville, I will add this to my onboarding package.

I'm guessing gays that are willing to live in the conservative, right leaning, Southern U.S.?

[FriendOfWaffles]

Originally Posted by abvavgjoe

I'm guessing gays that are willing to live in the conservative, right leaning, Southern U.S.?

You might be surprised. A lot of "conservatives" believe in personal liberty, including the right for people to gay it up as much as they want. It's when you shove it in peoples' faces that they have a problem here. I think it's like that in a lot of places though - heck I don't want to watch a straight couple making out either (ok, maybe if they're super attractive and can't see me lurking in the corner ).

"Brave Gays" on the map is the Springfield area of Jacksonville, near downtown. It's Jacksonville's oldest true neighborhood, filled with gorgeous Victorian homes....also filled with incredible blight, poverty, crime. The "brave gays" are urban pioneers - lured by cheap fixer-uppers with amazing potential, brave because if they go outside, they might get sprayed full of lead.

[fsu813]

^

Not so much anymore, Friends of Waffles.

Crime is no more (often less) than it's peer neighborhoods of Riverside and Murray Hill. And not so much poverty anymore either. You're just as likely to find a working class, middle class or upper class person living in the Springfield historic district now, as a perosn in poverty. Probably more likely, these days.

Just a small exmaple. Duval County School Superintendent Dr. Vitti and his family recently moved into the neighborhood. He, his wife, and young children can live whereever they wish, and they moved to SPR. That doesn't happen if it's crime & poverty ridden.

Check out www.myspringfield.org and www.sparcouncil.org for info on the area.

[FriendOfWaffles]

Originally Posted by fsu813

^

Not so much anymore, Friends of Waffles.

Crime is no more (often less) than it's peer neighborhoods of Riverside and Murray Hill. And not so much poverty anymore either. You're just as likely to find a working class, middle class or upper class person living in the Springfield historic district now, as a perosn in poverty. Probably more likely, these days.

Just a small exmaple. Duval County School Superintendent Dr. Vitti and his family recently moved into the neighborhood. He, his wife, and young children can live whereever they wish, and they moved to SPR. That doesn't happen if it's crime & poverty ridden.

Check out www.myspringfield.org and www.sparcouncil.org for info on the area.

Hmmmmmm..... I was just in Springfield a couple weeks ago. Has it changed since then?

No but seriously, you make some good points about crime, and I love Springfield. I love the idea of Springfield, but the reality... not so much. Yes, I am familiar with SPAR and their efforts to market Springfield to potential residents and it all looks so good on the internet. Some of those homes are VERY impressive. I might be tempted, but.....

I have one friend with a gorgeous Queen Anne home in Springfield. She jokes about "living large in the ghetto." I see her in Riverside all the time. Like ALL the time. Same with a lot of other Springfield people - always see them in Riverside. Wonder why? Probably because if you walk outside your gorgeous home you're not gonna get more than a couple blocks until you're confronted with some mess that makes you wish you had just stayed inside. Want to take a stroll down Main Street? Hope you like pawn shops and store front ministries.

I used to rent apartments for a RE company. People would call and be so excited to see some apartment in Springfield. So spacious! So nice! So Cheap!! Then they'd drive down to see it and .......

It's the infrastructure. Gonna be hard to make a comeback with so much public housing + large regional public hospital.... those things don't exactly attract the upper-crust. I'm not condemning it, those things had to go somewhere, and they went to Springfield. You can make a pockets of housing areas beautiful, but with the infrastructure in place it seems more like polishing a turd. I moved to Jacksonville in 1990. Springfield was "making a comeback" then, too.

But hey, people want to keep their property values up, so of course they try to package the area as attractively as they can, I get that.

And the crime in Springfield, it's mostly black-on-black, often drug related, often against people not really missed by the people in the big fancy homes. So yeah, I guess the takeaway is be White, stay inside, and you'll be fine. Sounds almost utopian.

I used to know some pretend Anarchist kids who lived in Springfield - they loved it dirt cheap rent in cheap apartments (or squats). Attended a few crazy parties down around Silver St. It was a hassle for them to get to their restaurant jobs in Riverside and San Marco (few of those jobs in Springfield because people don't go there) but it was budget-friendly and they made it work. Loved those kids and their wacky ideas! Never a dull moment!

Also I imagine I'd enjoy it if I were a dandy gay man, who was looking for an affordable yet stunning and huge palatial home with all the old architectural charm. One that you can wall-off completely to turn into some sort of Xanadu-type pleasure dome scenario without inviting the scorn of the bourgeois. OR, if I wanted to open up an Eyes-Wide Shut blindfold orgy type of joint I might consider Springfield (though parking would be an issue with either, so do your due diligence).

All in all, yes Springfield could be an ideal place depending on one's needs.

[abvavgjoe]

Oh dear. Now you've done it.

[thatguydownsouth]

As a long time Jacksonville native, this map is pretty damn accurate, and hilarious. I live in the Jews area lol.