Downtown: What if...

[mySpringfield]

FBC and JU/UNF swapped locations?

[Bativac]

It'd be great to have UNF located downtown. JU is in a pretty urban setting, I think, though it's on the fringe of where the urban Arlington area ends and the Fort Caroline area starts.

I never liked the "office park" feel of UNF while I was attending. Now it feels less like an office park and more like a resort. I much preferred something like Georgia Tech or SCAD.

I don't think it needs to "switch places" with First Baptist though. There's plenty of vacant space for UNF to fill.

[Jaxson]

It would have been great for UNF to have a greater presence in downtown Jacksonville.  Instead of the current moonscape that we have today, there could have been a stable university community in the heart of the city...

[tufsu1]

The state located all its new universities (USF, UCF, FIU, and UNF) on the outskirts of cities...primarily because it allowed room for expansion and land was cheap....this even continued into the 90's with FGCU

[uptowngirl]

So in otherwords, supporting the massive sprawl, and here I thought most students were green minded :-(

I would think students would prefer a more urban setting than living out in middle of nowhere or travelling the poor transit system in an attempt to make classes on time.

[comncense]

Would have been nice if Florida Coastal would have went along with their plans and moved downtown instead of the big office park in Baymeadows.

[Charles Hunter]

So in otherwords, supporting the massive sprawl, and here I thought most students were green minded :-(

I would think students would prefer a more urban setting than living out in middle of nowhere or travelling the poor transit system in an attempt to make classes on time.

I'm sure the students would - I know I would have when I went to UNF - but once the school is put out in the sticks, the students don't have much choice.  I wish both UNF and FCSL were downtown, the increase in vitality would be a tremendous boost for business.

[bornnative]

An idea that seems more "do-able" is for UNF or JU to move their graduate business programs downtown.  All schools, by necessity, like to trumpet their connection to the local community and "job placement" type assistance for their graduate students.  Seems like a no-brainer that one of them could/should anchor a graduate program, which consists largely of young professional or adult part-time students anyhow, in a downtown building.

[comncense]

Parking at UNF < Parking Downtown

[JaguarReign]

I must say that the location of the saint johns town center is perfect right next to UNF. UNF is in a pretty good spot IMO with it being next to the SJTC and Tinsletown. It is better placed than where I went, University of Hawaii, which was in the middle of an urban slum in Honolulu. You would walk off campus and get harassed by crazy homeless people.

[blandman]

An idea that seems more "do-able" is for UNF or JU to move their graduate business programs downtown.  All schools, by necessity, like to trumpet their connection to the local community and "job placement" type assistance for their graduate students.  Seems like a no-brainer that one of them could/should anchor a graduate program, which consists largely of young professional or adult part-time students anyhow, in a downtown building.

+1...great idea!  A B-school downtown makes sense to me...lots of potential employers in Jax in insurance and logistics/operations.  Or a new Medical School downtown or on the Southbank?

[jcjohnpaint]

I don't know if anyone knows, but UNF's Visual Arts Department teachings a bunch of classes downtown at MOCA. 
Still not sure why AI didn't end up downtown.  That would have been a good thing. 

[ChriswUfGator]

AI, FCSL, and briefly FSU's med school all originally talked about wanting to locate downtown, but COJ wouldn't play ball with any of them on parking, incentives, or anything else, and they all wound up going elsewhere. Great job COJ. You know what having something like that down there would have done for downtown?

[DeadGirlsDontDance]

Oh, I don't know. Maybe given people a reason to want to live and work downtown? Unacceptable!

[dougskiles]

I was just thinking today about how I wish UNF were more integrated into our city.  A first class transit connection between the campus and downtown would help.