Riverside Avondale an American Top 10 Neighborhood

[Dashing Dan]

I definitely want to help set up a downtown preservation organization.  I think it's a great idea.

[ChriswUfGator]

We should all meet up this week and figure out how to do it. We need to contact Wayne Wood, he has experience in setting these up.

[Dashing Dan]

There's a mobile workshop on Thursday 9/22, sponsored by the APA and the ULI.  It begins at Intuition at 4 pm and returns to Intuition at 6 pm.  So we could meet at Intuition at around 6 pm this Thursday 9/22.

I'll post something tomorrow about the mobile workshop.  We still need more people to sign up (for $25 at http://northflorida.uli.org/)

[thelakelander]

I was thinking about attending the workshop but figured it was too late because the deadline had passed.  I'll sign up tomorrow.

[tufsu1]

from what I understand, there is still room for a few more people...assuming they only get one bus.

[ChriswUfGator]

TU, you live downtown, interested in forming a downtown preservation society with us?

[tufsu1]

I think it is a great idea, but I'm pretty busy these days with other things....maybe this is something that a group like TransForm Jax could assist with

[ChriswUfGator]

I think it is a great idea, but I'm pretty busy these days with other things....maybe this is something that a group like TransForm Jax could assist with

Well we wish you luck with your other endeavors then. I think with Wayne Wood we'll be alright, he's done this several times.

[tufsu1]

sounds good to me!

[Kay]

I think Chris has hit the nail on the head here.  You don't just tear stuff down in the hope that something better will come along that will take its place.  There were people at work in downtown Nashville who wanted to tear stuff down at the same time that LaVilla was disappearing, but preservation interests there were somewhat more effective.

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/demolition-derby/Content?oid=1180228

Since this article ran in 1996, Church street in downtown Nashville has been turned into a success story.

Why do you think the City of Jacksonville deserves credit for Riverside Avondale?  If left to them, the neighborhood would be a shell of itself.  The residents themselves and the creation of RAP deserve the credit in my opinion.

All of the planning errors etc downtown (and in Springfield) were committed or condoned by the same jurisdiction that deserves so much credit for Riverside and Avondale, i.e. the City of Jacksonville.

[ChriswUfGator]

sounds good to me!

Me too, though I felt I had to try my best to be polite.

[Dashing Dan]

Why do you think the City of Jacksonville deserves credit for Riverside Avondale?  If left to them, the neighborhood would be a shell of itself.  The residents themselves and the creation of RAP deserve the credit in my opinion.

The city gets the credit for the historic preservation commission, helping with the national register designations, the town center improvements, the zoning overlay, the extension of the riverwalk to RAM, etc, not to mention the Riverside Area study that led to the formation of RAP. 

[Kay]

Why do you think the City of Jacksonville deserves credit for Riverside Avondale?  If left to them, the neighborhood would be a shell of itself.  The residents themselves and the creation of RAP deserve the credit in my opinion.

The city gets the credit for the historic preservation commission, helping with the national register designations, the town center improvements, the zoning overlay, the extension of the riverwalk to RAM, etc, not to mention the Riverside Area study that led to the formation of RAP.
[/quote

All those intiatives though came from the community. 

[Dashing Dan]

Why do you think the City of Jacksonville deserves credit for Riverside Avondale?  If left to them, the neighborhood would be a shell of itself.  The residents themselves and the creation of RAP deserve the credit in my opinion.

The city gets the credit for the historic preservation commission, helping with the national register designations, the town center improvements, the zoning overlay, the extension of the riverwalk to RAM, etc, not to mention the Riverside Area study that led to the formation of RAP.

All those intiatives though came from the community.

Nearly all good plans start with community initiatives.  The planners' job is to take those initiatives and make them work.  Where planners are not doing such a great job, initiatives are not picked up, and the good stuff doesn't happen.

[Dashing Dan]

Dashing Dan, great examples.  Nashville is a nice prototype to study.  The last time I was up there, I stumbled into Germantown and Edgefield, but didn't get much time to explore them.

Back in Nashville, streetcars for Edgefield are under study.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110827/NEWS/308260115/Mass-transit-don-t-pass-us-by-East-Nashville-residents-say