Moving to historic district springfield in jacksonville !!! (Mayo: middle-class, appointed)

[fsu813]

hey again everybody . the post that i started is locked now so i cant post there!!

our family finally has a moving date < april 24> and were excitied to make the move to slightly warmer weather conditions!! so i have met some nice people already on citydata <not inperson just messaging> and my husband actually talked to one on the cell phone a bout details and things but we want to get any other informationn we can before the move!!! we found their main website and have been talking there too but we likw to get all kinds of input bc. you never know what you may learn,

my questions are

a. GOOD places to eat nearby
b. favorite place to walk
c. any travle club there?
d. where do most middle+ neighbors have the children in school?
e. youth sports leagues nearby
f. any personal historic stories
g. attend anything in the area?
h. commute times to mayo clinci and the "San Jose" area
i. roll call!!!!

thanx

[parks71]

Congrats! Hope you enjoy Jax. I am a tad disturbed however you would move any place with children and decide on an area with out first investigating the schools first, not after! (not saying the schools are bad but just saying)

[fsu813]

I know for a fact that you've received a lot of this info already, from this & other websites, but....

a. GOOD places to eat nearby?

Three Layers Cafe : Three Layers a Coffee House - Historic Springfield - Jacksonville, Florida
The most unique cafe, cofee shop, wine & beer bar venue in the city. Not another like it. Good for lunch or breakfast, though it's open late as well, and are especially known for thier desserts. Live music, art, garden patio, and an electic bunch of characters usually. Won "Best Coffee Shop in Jax" a couple months ago.

Uptown Market: http://uptownmarket.tumblr.com/
I would describe this as a contemporary diner; it's very popular for lunch and weekend breakfasts, though it has a deli that's open late too. From the same owners of Burrito Gllery, downtown, so potions are large and the presentation is high quality. FYI - they have the best dinner deal in town at thier delit: main course, 2 sides, and desert for $10.

City Kidz Cafe: Ice Cream, Smoothie, Desserts, Ice Cream Philadelphia, Smoothie Philadelphia - City Kidz Ice Cream Café LLC
A good little place to grab lunch or a quick diner. They have a variety of suprisingly high-quality sandwiches, sweets, and side dishes. Lots of Kosher options too, and my favorite: chicken & waffles (a west coast thing).

Fusion: http://www.fusionartwinejazz.com/index.html
This is an ultra sleek, contemporary, classy, high-end wine / beer bar & lounge. Haven't seen anything similar in Jax. Very "date" appropriate. Live music some days of the week. They're starting to serve lunch & diner in a week or so, I believe. You bring a friend there to relax, unwind, chill, etc and they are going to be quite impressed.

Wafaa & Mikles Mid-Eastern Cafe: Wafaa N Mike's Cafe - Urban Core - Jacksonville | Urbanspoon
This is your typical mom & pop, family-run small business here. Really great food, though the interior oif the building could use some sprucing up. They have lots of American staples (burgers, phillys, etc) along with authentic Middle Eastern food, as the family is from Syria, I believe. Best Philly steak & cheese in town, in my opinion. Oh....and they slaughter thier own meat (for real).

Hola: HOLA! Mexican Restaurant
Another family-run small business with more very authetnic food (the family is from Mexico). This has been around a long time and attrcats a pretty big lunch crowd. Typical Mexican menu choices.

Tommy's Breakfast in a Cup
Doesn't get anymore small business than this. This guy has been here for decades, near the corner of 6th & Walnut, serving breakfast in a cup during mornings only. Basically it's eggs, grits, bacon, etc in a cup. Tastes great (hard to mess up those staples), is cheap, and is a great to-go item.

Carls Main Street Restaurant: Carl's Main Street - Urban Core - Jacksonville | Urbanspoon
This has been here for a very long time as well. This is straight soul food and Southern cooking. Nothing fancy, but good if like this genre.

There are some other holes in the wall & fast food places too, but these are the best ones. Not confident about recommending any others.

b. favorite place to walk?

The neighborhood's pretty walkable, ie sidewalks, shaded streets, relatively few heavy traffic areas.

I know a lot of people walk in and around Klutho Park: Jacksonville's Central Park? | Metro Jacksonville
which is pretty nice. You have some nice trees, city views, the museum is right there, and theris usually people playing in the fields in the evenings. Lots of events are held here too, like the Symphony: Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra at Klutho Park | Metro Jacksonville or Dog Days in the Park: Springfield's Dog Days in the Park | Metro Jacksonville. A massive renovation is planned for this entire park system in the upcoming years, as seen here: Hogans Creek Park Master Plan | Metro Jacksonville

And, by the way, I don't know what a "volksmarch" is, but apparently they are going become a regular thing in the neighborhood: mySpringfield.org &bull; View topic - Volksmarch from Springfield Brain Boarding

c. any travel club there?

Not that I know of. Though I know there are quite a few travelers.

d. where do most middle+ neighbors have the children in school?

I know you have a lot of this info already...

I'm guessing that by "middle+" you are talking about middle-class and above? The middle-schools here are great fanatastic, both Darnell-Cookman and Kirby-Smith are "A" rated. Darnell-Cookman is becoming a high school, as well, which is tremendous for residents. The transition is already taking place. So far it is "A" rated as well. These are where the majority of residents will send thier kids if they make decent grades. Elementary schools are more complicated, though I don't think you have a kid that age. The two in the neighborhood are shakey at best. I do personally know a couple that has thier kid at a local one, and he's doing "ok", though they are extremely involved parents. Probably more than most.

But most middle class & above families send thier kids to a magnet school or private school for elementary.

Here are the latest school grades: http://www.duvalschools.org/reseval/..._Sch_Alpha.pdf

e. youth sports leagues nearby?

The city has lots of sports leagues. And there are plenty of organizations that have them too.

f. any personal historic stories?

Not exactly sure what you mean. The stories of residents who have lived here a loooong time are pretty darn interesting though. They have some whoppers that are hard to imagine.
Check out the New & Long-time Resident Profile series at www.myspringfield.org . It's an on-going series which profiles brand new and long time residents (duh), to put a name, face, and story to people. It's an easy way to combat out-of-date stereotyoes of the neighborhood and it's residents(as seen on this forum).

The SPAR Council office has a lot of neighborhood history though, if that's what you want: Welcome to Historic Springfield!

g. attend anything in the area?

Again, not sure what you mean. People attend all sorts of stuff. Events, organizations, etc.

For example, March 6th (1-4pm) is the Annual Springfield Chili Cook-Off (sponsored by the Springfield Wine Society). This year is being held in the shaded lot next to Three Layers. It's basically a festive chili tasting iwth "celebrity" judges (usually people from the news, city officials, etc). Probably the most well attended event are the First Fridays, which is basically an excuse to host a fun party in someone's house every month.

h. commute times to mayo clinic and the "San Jose" area?

My wife was thinking about working at Mayo, so I know it's about a 30 minute drive without major traffic (so naturally she chose St. Vincents). During rush hour it could be more. San Jose is long road, so it just depends on the exact location. Could be 15-35 minutes, again just depending on location and time of day.

i. roll call!!!!

Present (E. 7th)

[fsu813]

yes i know i do have alot of thiese details already but i always like to be 100% prepared and take in all perspoectoves and see whats out there. we know what schools our young ones will enroll in alreadyu and i did not mean middle income and over i meant middle schools and high schools but i know i wasnt clear.
i did see that mean commet JIMBO and you wont get an explanation. look at my info page and you can see what university i graduated from.
thanks for all the information fsu813 i get the feeling there are only a handful of people who live in this neighbporhood but i guess its not that big so it makes sense. i was reviewing posts an i looked like SENSAI HAN also lived in the neighborhood and id like to knoiw what he has to say about my questions!!!!

[parks71]

I think you will fit in with springfield just perfect.

[Sensei Han]

Originally Posted by chean10

i was reviewing posts an i looked like SENSAI HAN also lived in the neighborhood and id like to knoiw what he has to say about my questions!!!!

What I know about Springfield and Jax in general is from my research of their histories. But I also learned a lot from just reading many of the posts here, even those that are not of interest to me. It's been about a year and a half.

I lived in some of the worst neighborhoods in the country so Springfield is definitely an upgrade... a good one!

I had also listened to the local radio stations and watching the news reports online.

You're obviously an educated person and your questions give me the impression that you are open and receptive. You, like me, see the big picture.

Han

[jimbo13]

Originally Posted by parks71

I think you will fit in with springfield just perfect.

lol... i would have to concur with you.

[fsu813]

chean10,

though the usual suspects are attepting to be disparraging, you will "fit" just fine. I know your realtor had many good thing to say about you, and there are many others who work in the medical community her besides you and your husband (like my wife & I, for example). What kind of doctor is your husband, where will the both of you work, if you don't mind me asking?

[JBtwinz]

Having friends living in Springfield and being neutral on the area, please make sure you do your homework before jumping into Springfield there is a reason and validity for some of the negativity towards the area from this forum. I am disappointed at the support the area has not received in the past few years and continues not to receive. Jacksonville has not supported it's downtown and it continues to make promises it has yet to deliver on. The redelopment of the city has not materialized and continues only on the other side of the river and the jobs remain loyal to the southside. Just know going into where ever you decide downtown, there has been no game plan for revitalization. Springfield has been a great concept. Good luck and your presence in the area will be just another step in the right direction for the future of Springfield which needs all the help it can get.

[fsu813]

Since i'm "in the know", persay, about the Historic Springfield nieghborhood, various projects, city interactions, etc....

- the only area i'm refrring to in the Historic District. People that lump the entire area in as one are missing the whole point, they are very different.

- Many in the neighborhood feel that they haven't received as much support as deserved in the past, however that has changed and continues to change. Over the past few years there's been a hieghtened focus on the neighborhood by the city, after they realized it was a money-making machine. Propety tax revenue increased by $138 million dollars from '03-'07 and that got thier attention. Now there are many city supported projects for the area: Main Street was just renovated, a huge park system renovation is in the works (the Master Plan will be revealed next month, btw), the city's Ubran Core Visioning project was just released last month which has a heavy focus on SPR, additional JSO resoucres have been allocated to ensure there is no regression, a city tree canopy program will start this summer, city soil treatment, and the slow process of city underground infrastructure updating is beginning. This is not including private development & interest, which there has been a lot of obviously.

In fact, i'd argue that for it's size (1x1 mile) and % of voting constituients, SPR probably has received more than it's fair share of attention & city eyeballs the past couple years, perhaps trying to make up for the years of neglect. I guarantee you that there is no City Councilman that meets with such a small area more than Dr. Gaffney and SPR. Of course, it's kind of hard to neglect an area now that's receieved so much positive press, both national and local, in the past few years.

- Again, Downtown is not SPR, but they are related. Downtown has been neglected, by all accounts, for many years. However, thankfully, there is a new focus on it as well. With the City Council just approving many millions for needed renovations to riverwalk, met park, and friendship fountain, along with the Laura Street renovations & Bay Street changes which are already taking place. Not to mention a new effort to reconcentrate the homeless from Downtown to an adjacent area (such as Tallyrand?), incentives to create an Arts District, new Court House complex, new transportation center, and finally admitting that (a) a new convention center should be put where the current court house in (riverfront next to the Hyatt) and (b) the Prime Osborne Center is better used as a transportation hub.

In summary, the lightbulb has gone off in the past 12 months, and in the last 18 months of his tenure, Peyton is going to accomplish all he can with these various projects....but more importantly lay the ground work for next Mayor to simple say "yes" and make it happen. Speaking of which, I was speaking Audrey Moran (perhaps the leading Mayorial Candidate at this time) a couple weeks ago, and she's very educated about these issues and does support the majority of them. Not only that, but she volunteered some ideas of her own which were intriguing. But the lightbulb just hasn't sudeenly turned on in Jax, this is happening everywhere. There's been a new focus on urbanizism in the country for the past 4 years or so, which is really getting ramped up now, and Jax (of course) is behind the curve. But at least it's on the curve this time!