Moving to historic district springfield in jacksonville !!! (Miami, Holiday: renters, lofts)

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by maggie88

Sorry about the "Greenwich Village" quote here, folks! It's a quote I got from a recent article that was posted on here -- I certainly have no idea -- I don't live there. I'm not naive to expect a Greenwich Village certainly. Didn't mean to cause a fuss. I'm just looking at certain qualities in neighborhoods, that's all. No place is like Greenwich Village. I'm still very conflicted about what we want in moving -- so we could end up in Springfield/Riverside/Avondale/San Marco OR at the beach. I'm wise enough to realize "I don't know what life will bring." Like the choices though and have to say, lively debate goin on here! Robyn, you hold your own here -- my gosh, my feelings would be hurt if I was you even if I don't agree with you on some things. Ouch! You're tougher than I could ever be which is why I guess you are an attorney. Well, Happy Holidays!

Nope - no Greenwich Village here. But there are quite a few areas that more than a few people like here (some people dislike them as well). Unless you absolutely positively have to - rent here and explore first. You may hate a particular area - or the entire metro area (for any number of reasons). You never know. We had lived in Florida for 25+ years before we moved here - and still took the time to rent and explore.

And you know - the stuff I hate most here isn't the arguing about important or somewhat important or unimportant issues (it's more fun than doing things like dealing with the death of elderly parents or financial market crises) - but the silly sexist talk that could mostly only come out of the mouths of dumb young guys. The "do you need a hug" - or "you need to get laid" kind of thing. GMAFB. It's so tedious - boring. I sometimes had to go through stuff like that when I was young - and dealing with people who thought like that - and could actually hurt me (or - more importantly - my clients). People like potential employers - or judges. It's kind of odd that I'm now 30-40 years down the road - and there are still guys who not only still think like that - but talk like that! Thought we were *way* past that kind of thing.

I plan to try to have a Happy Holiday season. Going to Atlanta for a long weekend Friday. My father and girlfriend won't commit to Thanksgiving - they want to tell me on Wednesday - so I have made reservations . And I'll make some of my husband's and my favorite dishes - just for the 2 of us - for Thanksgiving weekend. #1 is sweet potato pecan pie (yum) - a fabulous Martha Stewart recipe. I hope you have a great holiday season too. Robyn

[fsu813]

Did you guys hear the interview on 89.9's First Coast Connect the other day?

Amanda Searle, a highly visible neighborhod resident, was interviewed about Sustainable Springfield's (her non-profit organization) award-winning community garden efforts, and thier other new programs (seasonal cooking lessons, community orchard, etc)

Here's the interview (the Monday edition, in the 36th minute): WJCT On Demand

Here's a little bit about Sustainable Springfield: Introducing Sustainable Springfield | mySpringfield

And here's the little feature about thier winning a recent Mayoral award: 19th Annual Mayor’s Environmental Luncheon - The Daily Record - Jacksonville, Florida

[fsu813]

Also,

Did you see this article on the First Coast News website, from this morning?

Learn How to Make Candy Canes at Sweet Pete's

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- There are you-pick fruit farms and do-it-yourself activities of all kinds, but Jacksonville now has a new one for the holidays.

Sweet Pete's, an all-natural candy shop in Springfield, is teaching people how to make candy canes.

Class is in session until Dec. 14, and takes about 45 minutes.

"Sweet Pete's is proud to offer a new holiday tradition that's creative, fun and highly interactive," said owner Peter Behringer. "This is a great way for families and friends to get together before the rush of the holidays, enjoy a great experience plus get to decorate their Christmas trees in a very personal, unique way."

Anyone interested can choose from several flavors and colors for the candy canes.

Full article here:
Learn How to Make Candy Canes at Sweet Pete's | Firstcoastnews.com | Local News






I believe they were on the 5 o' clock news as well...


First Coast News Video:

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/video/...s/679036580001


always a lot going on

=)

[fsquid]

I'm a satellite radio guy.

[mississippimagnolia]

I still cannot figure out why all the pictures y'all post are of happy white folks. I don't have anything against white people...I am one. But one of the reasons people like to live in "urban" environments is because they like the diversity. Where is your diversity?

Either your urban environment is really just an all white suburb stuck in the middle of downtown, or your just not posting any pictures reflecting the diversity of the area.

In our neighborhood in the Palasades (Georgetown, Washington D.C.) we had such a great diversity in our community. That's one reason people chose to live there. Where is your diversity?

[fsquid]

why do they have to have diversity?

[KerryB]

Originally Posted by mississippimagnolia

I still cannot figure out why all the pictures y'all post are of happy white folks. I don't have anything against white people...I am one. But one of the reasons people like to live in "urban" environments is because they like the diversity. Where is your diversity?

Either your urban environment is really just an all white suburb stuck in the middle of downtown, or your just not posting any pictures reflecting the diversity of the area.

In our neighborhood in the Palasades (Georgetown, Washington D.C.) we had such a great diversity in our community. That's one reason people chose to live there. Where is your diversity?

Well, I can tell you what I see is there are simply not many African Americans who are involved in efforts or projects like these. That's not a knock on a particular race of people, but its just the way it is. A lot are poor & just trying to get by, raise kids, etc & I guess have no room (or simply aren't interested) for anything like that.

BTW, you get that in DC because its such a diverse place & there's literally people from all over, races, etc, & it costs a pretty penny to live in the District these days. Remember, Springfield is nowhere near as gentrified as DC is.

Did I really have to explain that to you?? Seriously, Georgetown in DC & Springfield???

[mississippimagnolia]

Did I really have to explain that to you?? Seriously, Georgetown in DC & Springfield???

...and you've made my point.

[jsimms3]

I don't get your point either. Jacksonville sucks and is not diverse and Georgetown is? Georgetown is a wealthy intown area of DC (one of the most international cities in the world) with $20 million 1700s homes occupied by people that run our country (if anything behind the scenes). I never really experienced "diversity" in Georgetown when I went (seemed like a very rich WASP neighborhood with old WASP families). Georgetown has never been a "poor" ghetto filled with crack houses. It also has one of the country's best universities as its anchor and other top universities nearby. Florida as a state does not have the university power that intown DC has.

Just as you have pointed out and we all agree it is silly to compare Springfield to Greenwich Village, it is equally silly to compare Springfield to anywhere in central DC. See images below.

Georgetown aerial
http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/ad1/jsimms3/georgetown1.jpg (broken link)

Downtown DC (next door)
http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/ad1/jsimms3/georgetown2.jpg (broken link)

Another residential area of intown DC
http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/ad1/jsimms3/georgetown3.jpg (broken link)

DC general aerial
http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/ad1/jsimms3/georgetown4.jpg (broken link)

DC's explosive growth happened between 1850 and 1920, so it was largely planned and built during the City Beautiful Movement and was already large by the time Jacksonville was just getting started. Our city population in 1900 was only 28,000. We have neighborhoods with pretty good density and excellent planning, but we were never as large as DC when planning such as that was implemented and we were a much smaller metro (and more of a winter destination) during the City Beautiful/City Monument movement. If you zoom out from DC, metro DC is another beast with winding suburbs with no connectivity and very low density (lower than Jacksonville's metro). The only shining spots of "metro" DC are the TODs around the metro and the old NoVa cities of Alexandria and Fairfax.

How you can compare an ex-crack house hub to the best neighborhood in the capital of the Free World is beyond me and sounds very snide.

And for all of you people who want to know about the diversity, go to the MySpringfield website and look at the articles of new residents. You will find plenty of AA couples, gay couples (lots of gay couples in Midtown...it's the new Riverside), a few Hispanics, and a few Asians. You won't get a picture of the diversity until you visit the neighborhood and get to know the residents. Many of the residents are Navy families (our Navy is extremely diverse) and transplants from New York outer Boroughs who want a similar experience as they can get in Jax.

And I'm getting tired of one person in particular saying the wealthy PVB gated neighborhood that person lives in is more diverse than Springfield. That's like saying Ortega and Mandarin are more diverse than Riverside. Baloney. PVB, Ortega, and Mandarin are the whitest areas in town (though PVB and Mandarin at least have more than a handful of Jews).

[mississippimagnolia]

Georgetown was just one example. I've also lived in Atlanta, Raleigh, Richmond, Seattle...I could keep going. All of those very urban downtown areas had a great deal of diversity. It looks like you are selling Springfield as nothing more than a big white suburb that just happens to be located geographically downtown. I don't think you can have it both ways.

I'm not arguing that there is no diversity. What I am a questioning is why, in the pictures I see posted on city data, do I only see white people?

The message I'm getting is "Move to Springfield...there are no black people". And that's just wrong. It may not be intentional. But I can't be the only one that feels that way.

It's ok to put people of other races in your pictures. You won't scare away anyone who has ever lived in a large city. Those of us who have lived in true urban environments want our children raised in diverse neighborhoods. That's one reason people chose to live in the city.