Jacksonville's Downtown - SO much potential (2014, crime, construction)

[kellance]

visited Jacksonville from Savannah this weekend your downtown has a long way to go the city is virtually deserted at night I couldn't wait to get back to Savannah

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by WanderlustGirl2016

I'm not an expert city planner or urban planner so I don't have any idea what logistics or financing would play into this thought process. I am just lamenting about Jacksonville's downtown - it has so much potential - why isn't it being developed more? Is it money? It's in the perfect spot, next to a pretty river - but with many empty buildings and blocks that could be developed with more restaurants, bars, coffee spots and shopping. I know that parking is one obstacle that would need to be addressed. What is it missing and what would you like to see? After a night at the Florida Theatre it would be a great to have a ton of late night eat options. We should get rid of the Landing. I know there is a plan for Healthy Town, which is a good start, but it appears to just be a concept right now.

There aren't enough thriving people in the population to sustain such a downtown and tourism is very low. I don't see Jacksonville booming anytime soon.

[PDF]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

There aren't enough thriving people in the population to sustain such a downtown and tourism is very low. I don't see Jacksonville booming anytime soon.

That's unfortunate. Jacksonville could be a really great city, and I wish it was.

[OotsaPootsa]

Originally Posted by PDF

That's unfortunate. Jacksonville could be a really great city, and I wish it was.

It's a big (geographically) small town with low self-esteem.

[Mutiny77]

DT Jax frustrates me more than any other downtown I've visited. An awesome location along a grand river, close proximity to beaches, not nearly as hurricane prone as other coastal locations in Florida, a solid grid system, a respectable collection of historic buildings still intact, a decent white-collar jobs base, etc.--yet other cities with less to work with have surpassed it and are surpassing it in downtown revitalization. I can only chalk it up to historically lackluster leadership.

[thatguydownsouth]

A couple of reasons really. First and foremost land is cheaper/rent is lower elsewhere in the city. For instance the St Johns Town Center would have cost FAR more to construct downtown since the large lots available downtown like the shipyards have lots of contaminated topsoil to be cleaned up as well as structures/pavement removed. Backroom deals with certain families also chose the location for the TC. Not only that but the SJTC is perfectly located between the beaches, Southside, Arlington, 295, etc. Downtown it would be surrounded by impoverished neighborhoods to the North of it and heavy traffic flow from everywhere else trying to get to it.

Secondly the homeless are RAMPANT downtown. I work near the jail and one of them took a crap on just outside of our doorstep a few weeks ago. We also had a burned up SUV parked near us a month ago or so. Proximity to very high crime areas...Stuff like that.

Thirdly you have to cross bridges to get downtown which do not favor high traffic. The Buckman has 8 lanes and still gets backed up. Imagine if downtown exploded in retail and you had to cross the Main Street or Matthews bridge.

Revitalizing downtown will take a very significant investment by major players but at the same time that would be a very risky move on their part. There are people interested in living in downtown environments but there is little to do downtown at night, there is little to do downtown because there arent enough people living downtown. Get it?

Lastly IF,,,,,big if....the politics downtown would allow more bars and nightlife similar to St Augustine then that would greatly help the area. The proof is in the pudding over on King St in Riverside.

[hornsch]

Every downtown revitalization faces major and minor obstacles. There are cities that work through them and prosper, and cities that do not.

[WanderlustGirl2016]

Originally Posted by thatguydownsouth

A couple of reasons really. First and foremost land is cheaper/rent is lower elsewhere in the city. For instance the St Johns Town Center would have cost FAR more to construct downtown since the large lots available downtown like the shipyards have lots of contaminated topsoil to be cleaned up as well as structures/pavement removed. Backroom deals with certain families also chose the location for the TC. Not only that but the SJTC is perfectly located between the beaches, Southside, Arlington, 295, etc. Downtown it would be surrounded by impoverished neighborhoods to the North of it and heavy traffic flow from everywhere else trying to get to it.

Secondly the homeless are RAMPANT downtown. I work near the jail and one of them took a crap on just outside of our doorstep a few weeks ago. We also had a burned up SUV parked near us a month ago or so. Proximity to very high crime areas...Stuff like that.

Thirdly you have to cross bridges to get downtown which do not favor high traffic. The Buckman has 8 lanes and still gets backed up. Imagine if downtown exploded in retail and you had to cross the Main Street or Matthews bridge.

Revitalizing downtown will take a very significant investment by major players but at the same time that would be a very risky move on their part. There are people interested in living in downtown environments but there is little to do downtown at night, there is little to do downtown because there arent enough people living downtown. Get it?

Lastly IF,,,,,big if....the politics downtown would allow more bars and nightlife similar to St Augustine then that would greatly help the area. The proof is in the pudding over on King St in Riverside.

Reduce crime by increasing police presence, address the homeless problem, improve the surrounding bridge/I-95 traffic (how, I don't know), add a scenic park by the river, retail, restaurants...it would take years, enthusiasm, investors, money. Just my dream list. Riverside is a great example of an increasingly thriving, eclectic area with a decent nightlife that could trickle downtown. I'm not knocking my hometown. I'm just saying it could be so much greater than other cities because it has the foundation.

[thatguydownsouth]

The biggest key is addressing the homeless problem. Its a sensitive topic and you will NOT see the politicians touch it with a 1000 foot pole. I work downtown and we had to have our landlord seal off a spigot on our building because the homeless found out about it and were using it as a shower and to drink. A few weeks ago one of them defecated on our doorstep, we have had to kick them out of our lobby, and we have had them pee ON our cars. People arent going to pay 200k for a house where homeless people walk up to your front door and ask for things and where two blocks over there are shootings on a regular basis.

[Florida2014]

Originally Posted by thatguydownsouth

People arent going to pay 200k for a house where homeless people walk up to your front door and ask for things and where two blocks over there are shootings on a regular basis.

Sure they do. In a number of other big city downtowns homelessness (and the associated crime) is also a big problem but it doesn't keep folks from paying top dollar per square inch to live downtown and to be able to walk to work, have entertainment, sports and dining within walking distance, etc. The problem is that none of these things exist downtown so add that to there being homeless everywhere and no one would pay that kind of money to live there.

Add in a viable downtown that is a destination and people will follow. Build it and they will come, as they say. I realize it's much easier said than done.