The FTU ran one of my editorials!

[simms3]

Definitely some good points made.

I'd like to know: has any city like this ever de-consolidated? How could that ever possibly happen? Also, if it never happens, is there a viable alternative, perhaps a restructuring of government to some decentralized hubs specific to certain neighborhoods?

Sandy Springs split off from Atlanta.  What is now Fulton County may very well turn back into two counties (Milton and Fulton).  Suburban cities/areas split off all the time all over the place, as frequently as cities annex on to larger cities.

I doubt Jacksonville can financially deconsolidate right now, at least until 2019 or 2029.  We have complex tax structures and bond issues that are tied up, so it would be a really complicated process.  Then again, if companies with market caps much greater than the size of the annual budget of the City of Jacksonville can re-organize and "deconsolidate" then I see no reason why the city can't hire a few brains from the M&A department of some FI or some brains from KKR or some other large PE firm.

I don't see why the City can't enter into a partnership with a private firm to work this kind of deal out.  If public sentiment is any indication, political support for such a move would not necessarily be a huge hurdle either.

[hillary supporter]

But that will change now with the King street art district.

We have a King street art district??

Yes.   CoRK!

[Captain Zissou]

What is CoRK?

[hillary supporter]

What is CoRK?

Artist Dolf James new studio.... Corner of Roselle and King!

[simms3]

I know what the experts say about attracting young, well-educated professionals. I think Richard Florida has that research on lock. However, I'd like for the young professionals in Jacksonville to tell us what's missing. When I hear the drone of "there is nothing to do here" and all the other negativity it sometimes boils down to the lack of a wild entertainment scene or the perception that "everyone else" is a hick. I recently heard from a very dear 30 something that Jacksonville has no young professional groups, but there are over 40 such groups looking for members. Another 30 something was surprised that Jax. has a population of 900,000 people - more than the Cities of Orlando or Atlanta. Why all the misperceptions? Is it all about DT entertainment venues, intolerant newsmakers, and not having enough $100,000 jobs for college grads?  What else is at play here with regard to attracting and retaining talent?

It's not all about the ease or lack thereof of owning investment properties in downtown that makes Jacksonville the least attractive city in America for young singles and young professionals.  A lot of it is politically oriented.

Jacksonville may have 40 young professional groups, and Austin, TX may have only 5.  That doesn't matter either.

What Jacksonville is missing is excitement, energy, vibe, social connections, progressive attitudes, etc etc.  Young professionals are very much like middle-aged CEOs; both like to be involved and "leave their mark."  I for one have tried to become involved in Jacksonville, and while I really don't give up easily, I have found that it's a waste of time.

Here are two Atlanta Business Chronicle blogs that ran just in the past week.  Attitudes like this coming from 50 year old WASP men.  The under 35 crowd in Atlanta is even more engaged and in tune.  The bigger difference between Atlanta and Jacksonville is that the politicians listen more closely to the business leaders up here and both groups largely agree.  Progressive voices and business leaders in Jacksonville have a huge uphill battle, not to mention the voices on our side aren't nearly as active to begin with.
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/real_talk/2011/04/how-atlanta-looks-to-the-world.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/real_talk/2011/04/no-curb-appeal.html

Here is a retail real estate blog I follow and occasionally post on.  There are several sites like it.  Lots of young guys here in the city run blogs and have made names for themselves.
http://whatnowatlanta.com/

This blog has tons of great photos and insights, mainly on residential condo real estate, but on other things, too.
http://www.atlantaskyriseblog.com

MetroJacksonville does some great things for Jacksonville and many cities should be really jealous that we have a better blog and news site than almost anywhere else, but Jacksonville as a city in its entirety is missing some heavy hitters.  This is an area where I have been debated on this site before, but I believe that in order for big things to happen, Jacksonville will need big money and big companies.  Grassroots is great and is absolutely vital, especially in start up phases of renewal and development and even in marketing of practically everything nowadays, but Jacksonville is basically invisible as a place to invest for almost every F500 company, every privately traded fund, every REIT, every development firm, every law firm, everyone.

I personally have a huge ego, but even my confidence is sometimes completely shot up here in Atlanta.  Everyone oozes sophistication, competitive attitudes, worldliness, hard work, money, etc etc.  This is not the case in Jacksonville, and it's reflected in our leadership, our politics/populace, our appearance, our news articles, and our economy.

We need the cool factor.  We need the Green factor.  We need the hip factor (and I'm really not even talking nightclubs here).  We need the money factor.  We need the progressive factor.  We also have to want the change.  Right now everyone from the average citizens to the city leaders seems to try to prevent change and growth, but that is precisely what keeps us in stagnation and in the poor house.

We already have the weather.  We already have the cheap factor (which really doesn't make a difference to a single 30 year old professional working 80 hours a week and volunteering, pulling in $150K + a year).  That's really all we have.  We have great bones to build on, but we have major osteoporosis right now and we need Caltrate fast.

Personally, I would not want to live in a city dominated by politicians who belong to a Baptist megachurch.  I got tired of living in a city dominated by a population that viewed higher education as the scourge of liberal ideas and that viewed people who made only $100K a year the evil rich who control everything.

I actually think this "Socially Networked" ranking by Men's Health is a great indicator of the respective communities.  Jacksonville was nearly at the bottom down with Toledo, OH, Bakersfield, CA, and Detroit, MI.  Granted I wouldn't place Atlanta as #2, but definitely in the top 10.  Look at this list, though.  Denver, Seattle, Minneapolis, Austin, Portland, Boston, and DC are all magnets for young professionals (as is Atlanta for sure).  My cousin just moved to DC and loves it and my other "working" cousins are loving life in Boston, New York, and LA.  Companies from Houston, LA, Chicago, DC, Nashville, Boston, and San Francisco snatched up my pledge brothers from school.

Most socially networked
1 Washington, DC     A+
2 Atlanta, GA     A+
3 Denver, CO     A+
4 Minneapolis, MN     A+
5 Seattle, WA     A+
6 San Francisco, CA     A
7 Orlando, FL     A
8 Austin, TX     A
9 Boston, MA     A
10 Salt Lake City, UT     A-

11 Cincinnati, OH    A-
12 Raleigh, NC    A-
13 Burlington, VT    A-
14 Portland, OR    B+
15 Madison, WI    B+
16 Dallas, TX    B+
17 Portland, ME    B
18 Sacramento, CA    B
19 Aurora, CO    B
20 Boise, ID    B
21 Charlotte, NC    B
22 Wilmington, DE    B
23 Oakland, CA    B
24 St. Louis, MO    B
25 Las Vegas, NV    B
26 Columbus, OH    B
27 San Diego, CA    B
28 San Jose, CA    B
29 St. Paul, MN    B-
30 Plano, TX    B-
31 Tampa, FL    B-
32 Nashville, TN    B-
33 Los Angeles, CA    B-
34 Phoenix, AZ    B-
35 Newark, NJ    B-
36 Miami, FL     B-

[hillary supporter]

Yes, the cheap,affordable cost of living cuts both ways. While its one of the cheapest cities to live in, its one of the lowest paying metro areas  for earning income.
While this is a boon for artists, its a deterrant for young professionals. Too bad. The affordability makes Jax one of the best places to buy a home. Then again not many people are in to buying a home right now.

[simms3]

Deconsolidating will only double our taxes and give us less service in return, in my opinion.

If the problem is that we accidentally built in a mechanism which no longer favors sustainable growth and planning, then we fix that structural flaw.

Since the computer logged me out and erased my initialy response, I'll just say this:

1) Taxes need to be higher.  Personally, knowing what rates are in other cities and what I pay now, even if it's somewhat wasteful, I just feel weird paying 17 mil in a major city.

2) Many subdivision and zoning regulations are subject to national precedent.  Legalities have literally made replicating Savannah illegal now.

3) Land in Jacksonville is soooo cheap, partly because there is so much of it and partly because there is no demand for it.  It is more expensive for developers to build up than to build on a massive subdivision with impact fees.  It's actually cheap enough for Publix to transfer the lease rights to a neighborhood center location on Atlantic and move to a new center down the street with $1 higher rents and the same CAM/taxes.  Barriers to entry in Jacksonville are non-existent, rents/concessions are dirt cheap, land is cheap, taxes are non-existent, and growth is there but real demand is not.

4) The biggest difficulty in deconsolidating won't be financially related.  There are people in my building who work out deals for companies and split companies in deals many times greater than the entire budget of Jacksonville or even most states.  A small team of them can easily come up with multiple solutions to deconsolidating.

A) The greatest difficulty will be a political battle about what to do with the Northside.  Will we force it to become its own entity and thereby become the Camden of the South, or will the inner core neighborhoods eat that cost?  That is the biggest area of contention in the City of Atlanta whereby one half of the city encompasses some of the greatest wealth in the world and the other half of the city is one of the most dangerous ghettoes in the country, providing little taxable base.

[simms3]

I think 90% of the progressive voices in Jacksonville reside within the established core neighborhoods.  Demand for companies and young people to flock to our town is not here yet, but if we have any chance of making great strides in becoming more attractive to these groups, then we need better political support for chance.  This support will come from these neighborhoods and would otherwise be muted by other parts of town.  If we have the support, enact the changes, and encourage infill development/fix our parks/increase the marketing and dialogue, then we can attract enough demand of young people and companies to offset any losses of tax revenue we encounter.

[simms3]

I have driven the Northside plenty.  It's ghetto.  Much of Jacksonville appears ghetto to me, even some of the nice parts.  Even Ortega is spotty.  Ironically, the only non-ghetto appearing area of town is on the Southside near the SJTC and along JTB, but it's very suburban appearing.

Also, if "rich" areas of Jacksonville still don't have a huge tax base, the Northside has almost no tax base.  Property values in Jacksonville are lower than almost any other city, combine that with lower tax rates than any other city and you have barely any public cash flow.  The Northside would be a drain on a small amount of intown neighborhoods in Jacksonville.  If College Park is a drain on a neighborhood with 5 billionaires in Atlanta and homes that sell for $10M +, then Paxon/Durkeeville/NW Jax would be a drain on a few neighborhoods with a few barely million dollar houses and an empty downtown.  That's where the contention would lie and it's hard to deny.

[simms3]

So redefine the roles of the five At Large Councilpeople.

Make this their job.  Starting with five votes on a council of 19 is a pretty good place to begin.

And don't sell the progressives of the Southside and the Beaches short.

There are many many people who long for a real 'city' that are convinced that the aging baboons in charge arent competent to provide one for them.

I agree that there are progressives on the Southside and definitely at the Beach.  I'm generalizing here.  Aside from MetroJacksonville, there aren't any ideas ever floated about anything in Jacksonville.  People with ideas either avoid the place altogether or have given up if they live there already.  I'm not even sure I am all for my ideas, but I'm just trying to think outside the box and start a discussion that will maybe lead to people coming up with ideas that you are putting out right now.

Talk one extreme and you'll end up with a result in the middle (or no result at all in Jacksonville's case).  In fact, in the ultimate irony I would not be surprised if Jacksonville abandoned the Northside and took on Orange Park and World Golf Village instead!  LOL

[BridgeTroll]

I think 90% of the progressive voices in Jacksonville reside within the established core neighborhoods.

I am with Stephen in that I do not think deconsolidation is the answer.  I AM hearing your arguments though.  I agree with your assessment regarding where the progressive voters are located.  (At least folks who care about the core) The problem is... there are not enough of them/us.  I have always believed that for downtown to grow and flourish the folks who vote that live in the suburbs have to support that view.  The established core neighborhoods are unlikely to win all by themselves.  The suburbanites of Jacksonville need to be included.  Their support should be sought.  There are more than a few folks who live in these areas who view a vibrant core as an asset.  A VITAL asset.  They may not live in it for a variety of reasons... but they visit, they party, they love the river.  I am a fan/supporter of MJ because I think this place has the power to convince enough folks in the burbs to support a vibrant core.

[fieldafm]

Lol.  As I offered....you should tour the Northside with me.  There is more there than you realize.

I lived on a waterfront home on the Northside for a few years.
There are vast areas of the Northside that are not 'ghetto'  The Northside is a vast, vast expanse of land... most of which is nestled within beautiful marsh land.
The new mall near the airport is evidence of the explosive growth the Northside is going to go through over the next decade(it already experienced tremendous growth once the Dames Point opened up).  I remember the Jiffy Mart getting torn down to build the Dames Point and thinking 'who in the hell wants to live out here with us?'  Well, apparently a lot nowadays.

[Noone]

simms3, Congrats on the letter in the TU. I enjoy reading your insight on issues. Good timing for the conversation with district boundry lines being drawn.

[Jdog]

Mr. Simmons, excellent post in the TU, I read it loud and clear. Great idea too! Do you think we can convince anyone in town of the idea?

After reading Littlepage, I am more convinced than ever that he and Stephen are related somehow.

If you are talking about the bed tax and the leadership funds, then I am proud to be associated.

Littlepage nailed the issue on both. 

We disagree on building a convention center though.

I don't have any firm opinion on the future of a convention center.  I would like to read any of your posts.  Do you have handy any references to other subject discussions where you may have given some details regarding your thoughts?

[NotNow]

Even though I disagree with you, congrats simms3!