Elements Of Urbanism: 1940s Jacksonville

[Singejoufflue]

For me, the most striking difference between the two downtowns is advertising.  Signage creates a false energy in an attempt to create actual energy.  Every business had a sign prominently featured.  Today, you have to sidestep down the sidewalks or walk with your nose pressed to the sky to know what is what.  To a modest extent I appreciate the lack of advertising (No, Bebe and Victoria's Secret, I don't need to see half-naked women on my bus shelters, thank you very much) but, for me, that is part of the charm of a walkable district.  Creativity displayed in neon lights; sandwich boards with clever slogans; ooh, what will So-and-So's sign say today?

[heights unknown]

Impressive. Darn impressive. I used to come from the country (Jasper, FL) and visit my mom who lived at 826 West Adams Street, which is now a vacant lot. There was a Bakery below her apartment (she had to enter through a side door which led upstairs to the apartment), and there was several furniture stores around those corners. The bakery and delicatessan was Worman's I believe which was due east about 2 or 3 blocks. Downtown was a flurry of activity back then. When my Mom came and got me from by Grandma in 1965, she had moved to 817 West Duval Street in the heart of LaVilla. As I've mentioned in previous posts, LaVilla was a flurry of activity as well. I remember as a child going to parades downtown and people lined the streets thick, just to watch parades. Navy Sailors were almost everywhere and could be seen in and around downtown in their uniforms as back then there were numerous strip clubs, adult stores and the like downtown; the majority of them could be seen on Bay Street as well. Though the pics are in the 1940's, in the early to mid 60's, a lot of those buildings still remained, and downtown was still the central point and focus for the City. We all must remember that back in the 60's and before, there were no fast food joints, banks, or commercial businesses in the suburbs, very little if any, so, the order of the day was to centralize everything downtown because that is where everyone came to shop, do business, bank, and just hang out.

"HU"

[Coolyfett]

HU u just give me a dumb idea. What if there was a multi story building on Northbank for sailors? Built & marketed toward sailors from the 3 bases. Being there is no college dorms on Northbank. Like an offbase military housing. Would that work?

[spuwho]

It is great to reminisce, but it was also a time where pollution from cars and buses in downtown were the worse. Congestion in downtown frequently caused car breakdowns from sitting in traffic for so long. Waste water treatment was nearly non-existent and effluent from public and industrial waste was dumped into the St John's with impunity. While Ed Ball may get some credit (too much at times) for some current demographics, racism in the hotels had been in place for many years prior. The wharves had become an unmanageable run down eyesore from neglect. Some things were great back then, but to think that 1940 Jacksonville was some idyllic island of urban nirvana is just a bit idealistic.

[fieldafm]

Spu and Stephen both make good points... the wharves weren't quite the nirvana that have been portrayed here before.  That area was very derelict and unsafe structurally due to neglect, but riverfront parking lots(aka suburbinizing downtown) weren't the answer either.

I just got back from the JU basketball game with my dad and we discussed this very article while traveling down Main Street just a few hours ago.  Main Street is nothing like what once made it great, and currently offers nothing for neither my father or myself to patronize today.  The bottom line to this article is that downtown has to get back to the things that made downtown a destination nearly 40 years ago... and the pedestrian experience is key to getting the street level active and attractive once again.

[spuwho]

It is great to reminisce, but it was also a time where pollution from cars and buses in downtown were the worse. Congestion in downtown frequently caused car breakdowns from sitting in traffic for so long. Waste water treatment was nearly non-existent and effluent from public and industrial waste was dumped into the St John's with impunity. While Ed Ball may get some credit (too much at times) for some current demographics, racism in the hotels had been in place for many years prior. The wharves had become an unmanageable run down eyesore from neglect. Some things were great back then, but to think that 1940 Jacksonville was some idyllic island of urban nirvana is just a bit idealistic.

I don't think anyone thinks that anything from the 1940s was idyllic or nirvana like.  The point is that it was functioning, vital, and alive.  The Wharves while rundown, could have been rebuilt, and losing that vital connection to the global economy and more importantly the Jacksonville Rail industry ended up destroying the downtown.


Burns thought he could replace that economy with a new economic model based on services and skyscrapers, and he gave it a college try, but the implementation of racism into the actual infrastructure and planning apparatus began a decade later during the 1950s

Of that I agree. Jacksonville lost its "mojo" and has been trying to get it back ever since.

[heights unknown]

Cooleyfett; I don't think that's a dumb idea at all, but, it need not be just a Building for Sailors, just a regular Condo or Apartment High Rise that would target the Sailors to lure them from the areas around the bases to live downtown. But, if you know Navy guys and gals, there has got to be something to do to lure them there. I'll bet if there was at least one 24 theater Cinema, and we've got a mall (I guess you can call the Landing that), and of course nice restaurants, fitness centers (remember the Navy has their own on the bases but Sailors will spend money on anything), and of course some clothing stores outside of what's in the Landing, a few fast food joints, and other activities (concerts, etc.), and walla, you may be able to get them to buy into it. You really can't compare what I am about to say to your  proposition, but I remember in the 70's, when we used to have to go to Norfolk to wait for our ship to deploy (USS AMERICA...I was with an Air Squadron at Cecil), I would always go to the YMCA Downtown which had rooms for $10.00 a day; but those rooms were quite large and equipped with decent beds, a television, microwave, (which was a new device at the time), bathroom, and you had access to the bars, restaurants, library, shops (which back then were centralized in most downtowns), movie theaters, etc. I don't think the Sailors would live in Downtown Jax, in any type of residential high rise vice in areas near their bases, unless all of the amenities are at their at their disposal.

"HU"

[Timkin]

Nice presentation of days gone by.  I always enjoy looking at the pictures of Jacksonville from this era, and wonder, what if some of this had been allowed to remain.   

Hey ...At least the Main Street Bridge is still there   Some of the beautiful buildings that were razed to be replaced by parking garages....   wheres my Pepto Bismol ?

[Miss Fixit]

I find it interesting that with the exception of the City Hall and Courthouse, there appears to be virtually no greenery or landscaping in the 1940s city.  That's at least one area where we've improved.

In 1940 Jacksonville had one of the most beautiful downtown parks in the United States - Springfield/Confederate Park. Plenty of greenery and landscaping there....

[fieldafm]

I find it interesting that with the exception of the City Hall and Courthouse, there appears to be virtually no greenery or landscaping in the 1940s city.  That's at least one area where we've improved.

In 1940 Jacksonville had one of the most beautiful downtown parks in the United States - Springfield/Confederate Park. Plenty of greenery and landscaping there....

I think important people are finally starting to rediscover this important link to our core.
My hope is this greenbelt will be restored sooner, rather than later

[redglittercoffin]

For me, the most striking difference between the two downtowns is advertising.  Signage creates a false energy in an attempt to create actual energy.  Every business had a sign prominently featured.  Today, you have to sidestep down the sidewalks or walk with your nose pressed to the sky to know what is what.  To a modest extent I appreciate the lack of advertising (No, Bebe and Victoria's Secret, I don't need to see half-naked women on my bus shelters, thank you very much) but, for me, that is part of the charm of a walkable district.  Creativity displayed in neon lights; sandwich boards with clever slogans; ooh, what will So-and-So's sign say today?

^This.

I've noticed the exact same thing in all of the old pics of Jacksonville.  And when one thinks of a city like New York or London -- or even Miami for that matter, I think we see the same things.  While buildings may have different architectural styles, the ground level interaction is more memorable long-term.  The different signs, advertisements, etc. 

Hell, even Savannah does a neat job with this.  I'd like to see more signs!

[SecularHumanist]

Amazing photographs!   But keep in mind that many other cities in this country can boast a similar glorious heritage of compact, vibrant, walkable urban centers, thriving retail environments, and a precipitous decline into bland anonymous suburbs surrounding a dead urban core.

A bare handful of cities survived the onslaught.   Boston was well on its way to being bulldozed until neighborhood activists actually laid down in front of the wrecking machines, preventing destruction of their homes and communities.   The original 'urban renewal' plans for New York in the mid-60s were similarly deranged, and were stopped by clever and well-funded court battles, as well as community activism.   It was probably the annihilation of the graceful Penn Station and the impending threatened destruction of Grand Central Terminal that rallied folks to wake up.   Anyone who has arrived in NYC at the new nightmarish Penn Station can see 'what might have been'.

Portland, Oregon has a lovely and thriving walkable urban core and they are so darn proud of their anti-sprawl law.  But I recently watched an old videotape of a Portland town gov't meeting debating the anti-sprawl law that made this possible, and was amused to see all the folks lined up, totally opposed to the law.   Now of course in hindsight, everyone is patting themselves on the back on how wise they were.

[finehoe]

In 1940 Jacksonville had one of the most beautiful downtown parks in the United States - Springfield/Confederate Park. Plenty of greenery and landscaping there....

We also had Hemming Park (as opposed to Plaza), which was quite nice, but parks aren't what I'm referring to.  There are no street trees, planters, or the like in any of these photos.

[spuwho]

Portland, Oregon has a lovely and thriving walkable urban core and they are so darn proud of their anti-sprawl law.  But I recently watched an old videotape of a Portland town gov't meeting debating the anti-sprawl law that made this possible, and was amused to see all the folks lined up, totally opposed to the law.   Now of course in hindsight, everyone is patting themselves on the back on how wise they were.

Property rights has always been an issue of the people and those in Portland were rightfully concerned. Many adjustments were made after those hearings. They also had to justify Tri-Max, and to do so had to maintain a certain level of density. Anti-sprawl laws helped with that.

Also some very forward looking folks saw Portland surrounded on 2 sides by mountains, one side a state line and river and a semi occupied Willamette Valley below and knew that if some overall planning didn't take place it was going to be gridlock.

While their solution isn't 100 percent portable, it was unique and brought order to their zoning chaos.

The most important thing is that it works for the people who live there.