WARNING: STAY AWAY FROM DOWNTOWN

[exnewsman]

Too bad the transit options aren't more connected to stadium.  Taking 2 kids to Monster Jam and live a half block from a Riverside Trolley stop.  I can get to the Landing, but then what?  Walking with a 6 yr old is rough.  A nice skyway extension to stadium would be nice.

Also I second the idea of making it easier to pay with credit/debit card. 

Mike Blaylock said on his Making Moves TV show this week that JTA is in the process of getting a new farebox system for the buses, trolleys and Skyway. It will have smart card technology so you can pay with credit/debit cards or cash.

The city rejected the extension that JTA had planned years ago to the stadium district, shands, riverside, san marco. Got too political. Once all the businesses starting moving out of downtown in the late 80s, nobody left in downtown to ride the darned thing. So funding extensions weren't going to happen. It will take a city leader with real vision to make that happen now. Hell Rick Mullaney wants to tear the Skyway down. That's not vision.

MJ had a real good post on this awhile back.

[simms3]

Traffic control for this many events may be necessary.  Every city, even New York does traffic control for sudden, large crowds.

That being said, the way the article was phrased did strike me as very "Jacksonville."  'OMG, we're going to have 72,000 people downtown!!  Avoid at all costs, OMG.'  Some cities have 72,000 people living downtown, LoL.

Not to keep mentioning other cities, but it must be done: If this were an anomaly event in Atlanta or Nashville or Austin or Richmond (which this kind of crowd is almost an everyday occurrence in some of these cities), then the article would have headlined something like this:

And Now the Opportunity to Make a Lasting Impression

"As 72,000 people crowd downtown for multiple events, now is the chance we have been waiting for to showcase the center of our town to people who don't normally make the drive in.  Restaurants, bars, and retailers are hoping to cash in on the crowds and prove to them that there is reason to come downtown afterall.  In preparation for all of the events, stores and dining/drinking establishments have set up specials for event goers who can present their tickets.  A massive marketing campaign is underway.

The goal is to prove to suburbanites that downtown is actually the place to be.  This is hopefully one of many future opportunities to create a larger fan base and a draw.  Etc etc"

[spuwho]

Geez, talk about armchair quarterbacking.

If the city didn't provide any instructions, would you be the first to post with a public rip on how the visitors weren't served?

It's more than just traffic, it's also public safety. People unfamiliar with Jax might actually cause an accident and if no one was around to help from JSO, things would just get worse as people take things into their own hands.

All cities provide notices when their downtown has concurrent events. It's not a Jax thing, its the right thing to do in the name of public services.

Think of all the positive things events like this bring to Jax, like, tax dollars, visibility, relevance, and perhaps, just perhaps, some of them might stick around long enough to go have a drink on Bay Street or god forbid....a bar in sacrosanct Springfield.

I too wish there were better transit options, but knocking our public fathers for getting the word out is a nit pick at the highest of levels.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I don't think that you can comment intelligently without having driven home from a Jags game.

Yes.  There is a major police force in town to direct traffic.  Yes.  I believe that just the presence actually prevents people (of which a good percentage is intoxicated) from driving like complete assholes.  Yes.  They have no problem letting you turn onto side streets.  Many times leaving the game, I've turned from Bay to Ocean and made a quick left onto Adams and parked and walked to NSS.  I've had no problems getting to Shanty Town after a Jags game.  The people who want to stay, do.  Most don't, and JSO does provide them an expeditious exit to their suburbs. 

Would you consider NOT having JSO downtown during the Jags games and other large events at the stadium?

[Overstreet]

You don't understand the maintenance of traffic or the traffic generated by the difference between 12 people and 72,000 people?

I think YOU don't understand that having thousands of people downtown is something that should be embraced and the city should strive to get as many of them as possible to linger, eat, shop, drink, sightsee.  Instead, it's treated as a potential disaster and people are warned away and those that do go are funnelled out of the city as quickly as possible.

Exactly.

Keeping people downtown that want to be somewhere else won't get them into shopping, resturants or bars.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Did you bother to read the post or did you just see the word Jaguars, and begin to speak randomly.

The problem is that these idiots are actually warning people not to come downtown.

GO DAWGS!

Nope, I just didn't put my incorrect 2-cents into a conversation.  My comments are based on actual happenings, not some, "I heard about this happening" bullshit.

There were two negatives in the article:

1.  Don't be a laggard.

2.  Don't go by your GPS.

How you can mis-interpret that to "Don't go downtown" is uncomprehendable.

[BridgeTroll]

The title of this thread is completely wrong...  Here is the article... again.  It really seems to talk about how popular downtown will be this weekend and you will be an uncool loser if you are not part of the crowd...

Jacksonville police are warning of a monster jam downtown Saturday afternoon, and they aren't just talking about GraveDigger and Maximum Destruction.

Along with about 72,000 fans expected for the annual Monster Jam truck show at EverBank Field, every other downtown venue will be in use for 11 concerts, plays, sporting events, even a beauty pageant.

That should mean one thing to anyone planning on being there: Don't be a laggard.

"The key word is to arrive early," Sgt. Leonard Propper said. "Add some time to your commute. It is going to be very slow getting into the sports complex and downtown because of all the venues."

...

"Every city venue has something going on," Propper said. "Traffic is going to be very heavy that day."

Fans will have three of four lanes of East Bay Street flowing toward the stadium as of 3 p.m. with signs pointing to parking lots. The Hart Bridge will be open, as will all other downtown bridges.

Fans coming from out of town will have 13 electronic signs to guide them into downtown from Interstates 10 and 95.

Beaver and Monroe streets aren't used as much, and are recommended, as is Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway to Talleyrand Avenue to Eighth Street to get to the stadium's east side parking, Propper said.

"Don't go by your GPS. Follow the signboards," he said.

Police will be out controlling traffic with more officers in and around the stadium to watch for underage drinkers, Propper said.

Attendees also are reminded that parking in city lots around the stadium and the private lots nearby are cash only...

Complete with maps...

[simms3]

Ok yea not a terrible article, but it could have been better probably (I guess one can always find a fault)...Well I hope downtown is a success with all of these visitors!

[BridgeTroll]

I would have loved to have seen the paragragh you suggested earlier added to the article...

[Garden guy]

I'd love to see the people of this city freak out for something other than a football game or a big truck...what about art...what about music....and we all wonder why the test scores are so low in jacksonville.

[spuwho]

Geez, talk about armchair quarterbacking.

If the city didn't provide any instructions, would you be the first to post with a public rip on how the visitors weren't served?

It's more than just traffic, it's also public safety. People unfamiliar with Jax might actually cause an accident and if no one was around to help from JSO, things would just get worse as people take things into their own hands.

All cities provide notices when their downtown has concurrent events. It's not a Jax thing, its the right thing to do in the name of public services.

Think of all the positive things events like this bring to Jax, like, tax dollars, visibility, relevance, and perhaps, just perhaps, some of them might stick around long enough to go have a drink on Bay Street or god forbid....a bar in sacrosanct Springfield.

I too wish there were better transit options, but knocking our public fathers for getting the word out is a nit pick at the highest of levels.

are you serious spuwho?  Ive lived in a LOT of cities, and this is the least accurate thing I can imagine being said.

What makes you so out of touch is that the cops don't allow people to linger in either downtown or springfield.  They litererally corral them back to the suburbs as quickly as possible, and are on record bragging about their awards for evacuating the city in record time.

By 'city' you must mean 'palatka'.

I am assuming then that you are referring to Palatka and Waldo or perhaps Starke as the cities you have lived in previously. Perhaps Citra?

In all of the events downtown I have attended, I have never been corraled, pushed nor even a suggestion made for me to depart asap. I have lingered through downtown as long as I have wanted.

I have lived in cities as small as 8000 and as large as 3 million, Jacksonville to me does not stand out any worse or better than those.

You are reading way too much in this request from the city.

[Jason]

I'd love to see the people of this city freak out for something other than a football game or a big truck...what about art...what about music....and we all wonder why the test scores are so low in jacksonville.

Come on Garden Guy, did you notice the 11 concerts, plays, and beauty pagents mentioned in the article?  Ever been to Art Walk?  RAM?

There are plenty of other things people get excited about in this town even if we are all football and monster truck loving simpletons with low test scores. 

[David]

I'd love to see the people of this city freak out for something other than a football game or a big truck...what about art...what about music....and we all wonder why the test scores are so low in jacksonville.

I'm with you on the music thing. The only thing that seems to draw decent crowds in Jax are the arena shows. I go to Jack Rabbits and Freebird often, but I regularly  make the 2 hour trip to Orlando for a true concert experience. There's always a better turn out down there, at least for the bands I want to see.

[KuroiKetsunoHana]

as far as concerts go, we suffer from a lack ov good mid-sized venues.  we have any number ov tiny and small clubs, and if someöne dreadfully serious and/or famous comes through, there's the T-U center and the stadium (has the stadium been used for shows?  i honestly don't know--if it hasn't, it seems like it should be)--but since we lost club five, the only good mid-sized venue we have is freebird--and aside from beïng out at the beach, they're kind ov on the small end ov mid-sized.

[cline]

as far as concerts go, we suffer from a lack ov good mid-sized venues.  we have any number ov tiny and small clubs, and if someöne dreadfully serious and/or famous comes through, there's the T-U center and the stadium (has the stadium been used for shows?  i honestly don't know--if it hasn't, it seems like it should be)--but since we lost club five, the only good mid-sized venue we have is freebird--and aside from beïng out at the beach, they're kind ov on the small end ov mid-sized.

They have used the stadium for some shows but not a lot.  I believe that Faith Hill and Tim McGraw played there.  U2 played many years ago I think.  The Beatles played in '64