Creating Downtown Vibrancy by Exposing Secret Retail

[Jumpinjack]

If I remember right, downtown has its own overlay which governs what can be done there. If the merchants, planners, and downtown NGOs wanted to change something, I'll bet it could be done. Signs are only one part of enticing a customer inside.

[DarkEye]

I have worked downtown for over 23 years and never knew these places existed.  I walk down Laura Street everyday during lunch time.  Now I will have to check them out for new places to eat lunch.

It's a wonder anyone ever finds Benny's.

[duvaldude08]

I would say I am going to venture out during lunch today and check out a place or two. but wait where the hell am I m going to park. LOL our downtown has several issues that need to be addressed. LOL

[Jumpinjack]

You must be somewhere with free parking like a business park. There's plenty of parking in town, you just don't get it for free. There's metered parking and the lots are not full and fairly inexpensive. Of course, you could put your feet to the street or use the bus or trolley or bike in. Come on down.

[duvaldude08]

You must be somewhere with free parking like a business park. There's plenty of parking in town, you just don't get it for free. There's metered parking and the lots are not full and fairly inexpensive. Of course, you could put your feet to the street or use the bus or trolley or bike in. Come on down.

ITs not the fact of the parking, it is just finding a space. Its annyoing as heck to try and find a space when you have people riding your tail and honking the horn. My lunch is only 45 minutes. I would hate to spend 20 of it trying to find a space. That has been my personal experience with DT parking.

[Bativac]

ITs not the fact of the parking, it is just finding a space. Its annyoing as heck to try and find a space when you have people riding your tail and honking the horn. My lunch is only 45 minutes. I would hate to spend 20 of it trying to find a space. That has been my personal experience with DT parking.

This is an issue with me as well. I'm close enough that I could head downtown for lunch if I wanted, but with ony 45 minutes allowed, I'd never be able to drive there, find a spot, eat, and get back.

In fact, I'd imagine it would be difficult for downtown employees to venture very far if they are on similar schedules. Not sure where the 45 minute lunch "hour" came from but I wish they'd just throw in another 15 minutes. I mean, it's unpaid anyway.

[simms3]

The city seems terrified to allow any kind of advertising to encroach upon the "pristine" environment downtown. (See the bus shelters situation, for example.) Comparing it with other cities, downtown Jax seems absolutely barren of any kind of singage or ads that would alert visitors to the presence of businesses. My dad's cousin owns a couple eateries downtown that exist solely based on the patronage of people working in the buildings. Imagine the uptick in business if he could stick a couple signs outside without having to worry about the sign ordinance.

What kills me is it wouldn't cost taxpayers anything. Just quit enforcing some of the laws on the books and see what happens. If signage gets out of control or God forbid people start leaving their cars in the same spot for a couple hours, start issuing warnings. I would think that would create a better atmosphere than those giant stickers...

This.

This is what I was referring to earlier as well.  Even the petty building owners (please we don't have very many large players downtown owning and/or managing buildings as relative to other cities) are snobby about their buildings.  The property management of Modis thinks it manages a class super duper A building filled with high powered executives making $20M a year that need overbearing security and a perfectly pristine environment void of visitors.  Pu-leeze!  Same goes for most of the other buildings.

Downtown leadership is the same way.  It thinks too highly of itself.  There are only a handful of pristine "all-new" downtown environments with high powered executives working and corporate plazas and high security (Charlotte, Midtown Atlanta, Los Angeles north/west of Grand, and maybe  a few more).  Even these downtowns permit signs and try to enhance the pedestrian environment and encourage more visitors and pedestrians.  Who does our downtown think it is?  If anything we should be focused on making downtown a "place for the people".  It's not like we have 10 billionaires working there and celebrities milling about and big time corporate players (outside of CSX I suppose).  I'm not trying to knock anyone, but our downtown is the product of archaic thinking (and seemingly elitist thinking).

We should be way less concerned with littering the area with signs of businesses than actually getting any businesses downtown.  Unfortunately our priorities are backwards.  Today's generation of young professionals certainly does not care whether he walks by a slew of service oriented stores and cheap stores/restaurants with signs, oh and let alone bus stations....uuuugggghhh the boogeyman.  Sterility is not on the mind anymore except for maybe with a select few 65-85 year olds (and like I said these 65-85 year olds aren't targets like some 65-85 year olds in other cities).

I may sound like I am rambling and off base, but I just think that even nowadays certain building owners with their property managers and certain city leaders think they are above common people enough to necesitate isolation in their "castles in the sky".  I just think it's funny because really nobody is above that, but it's arguable that in certain office buildings in other cities there are people that require a bit of isolation, and "castles in the sky" is a joke in Jacksonville because none of our buildings are very tall or very nice anyways, let alone the parking decks...ewww (well aside from BofA's).

Thinking about it now, the Laura St improvements are literally going to be a waste if draconian laws and property management are allowed to prevail and if the Landing is never opened up.  If Laura and Bay are going to be our downtown's spine, then they must be cluttered with businesses opening up to the street, and that will have to include some businesses in the office buildings otherwise there will be completely sterile/empty blocks separating any activity.

I don't get why Parmenter is ok with having lowly "visitors" coming through its building to get to the eatery on the 42nd floor, but it has such a problem making its lobby user/visitor/pedestrian friendly.  The same visitors are already walking through the lobby now and using the elevators without any monitoring or security clearances...  Parmenter brags all the time about the BofA building (which has won an award or two, one I think from BOMA), but there is not much to brag about!  The lights on the top corners aren't even on at night anymore so one can perhaps claim their ads are misleading!  LOL

[TheProfessor]

I've never heard of a 45min. lunch HOUR?

[Wacca Pilatka]

Terrific feature as usual.

I seem to recall that the AT&T Building, in its Southern Bell days, had a Bell logo on the building at street level facing Forsyth, under which was a list of stores in the Tower Mall in blue font.  Does anyone else remember this?

[CS Foltz]

City should have brains enough to explore options that cost the City nothing! Owners of some of these business's should be able to advertise outside...........how else are you going to know they are there? City does nothing to push any small business, other than tax them and thats flat out wrong..... Stupid City Administration does not understand anything about business! What was Johnny's mantra........oh yeah "Gonna run the City like a business"! I would have to ask......just who the hell runs any business like that other than the City of Jacksonville?

[Fallen Buckeye]

I had this same stunning discovery a while back that a lot of people on here have mentioned. I was walking along the river walk and found a tiny sign outside the wachovia tower on the southbank telling what was inside. I had walked past it many times without noticing it because it was so small and set back a little bit.

But on a positive note didn't the new Chick-fila in the hospital add an outside entrance that makes it at least somewhat visible from the street?

[Wacca Pilatka]

I misspoke in my post--that should say facing Water, not facing Forsyth.

I found the tiny sign outside the former Gulf Life building as well.  Best visibility for that sign seems to be if you are coming off the water taxi because you come straight at it.

[duvaldude08]

I've never heard of a 45min. lunch HOUR?

No need to be smart. You know what I meant. I get 45 minuts for lunch. 

[Coolyfett]

It would be nice for some of this places to have signs.

[newzgrrl]

Reading through this story and the comments, I realized something. With as much as a push as there is for ground-level retail in every building, it is completely nonsensical to also deny any outdoor advertising for those shops. Maybe the city or building management companies are trying to keep out bra ads and the like? Even the ArtWalk and Off The Grid gallery signs are temporary sandwich boards.

Maybe folks want the buildings and sidewalks to always resemble the architectural renderings -- fictional frozen moments of perfection?

Also, consider the number of visitors who are Downtown at the Hyatt or Omni or Hilton or Wyndham. Not everyone in the Core is an office dweller, not every hotel dweller is in town on business. How will these people ever find newsstands, gift shops and restaurants outside of their respective hotels?

Why oh why do we continue to have policies or attitudes to restrict Downtown? This post and the comments got me a little fired up.