Jax Demographics

[KenFSU]

Curious to hear some honest answers to a simple question:

Does Jacksonville have the demographics to be a world class city, or even a top ten U.S. city?

Seems like it's become pretty passe' to bash Jax round these parts (in some cases, deservedly so), but a week in San Francisco and another in Boston has really driven home to me how backwards this city is in many ways, not just in infrastructure and transit, but culturally as well.

It's easy to blame the politicians, and they certainly deserve a fair share of it, but does the current Jacksonville population on a whole even have what it takes, or even have the desire, to make Jacksonville a culturally vibrant, diverse city full of life and energy, or would the majority of residents be perfectly happy keeping the status quo.

Not asking to bash or offend anyone, as like any city, there are many exceptions to the rule, I just haven't been here long enough (3 years) to figure this place out fully yet. Seems like people are (sadly) content with their church on Sunday, deserted streets past 8:00 at night (even on the weekends), a nightlife that I'd generously note to be on life support, and a semi-annual trip up to the arena or stadium to see Toby Keith or Tim McGraw.

I love it here and would love for things to turn around, but from traveling so much in the last few months, I've really noticed a startling shortage of vital components here in Jacksonville:

1) Minorities. More specifically, legal immigrants who bring some of their native culture with them. I'm sure there are some out there somewhere, but you just don't feel their impact in the community to the tenth of a degree that you do in places like Oakland or San Fran or Miami or NY or Chicago, etc.

2) Young people. It's shocking to see how few pretty girls there are walking the streets of a city this size. Again, there's certainly a lot in Jax, but not NEARLY the amount there should be. If there's a 18-34 single demo in Jacksonville greater than a few hundred, they're hiding well.

3) Energy. For a city the size of Jacksonville, there seems to be very little pulse. Like I mentioned earlier, why are the streets so empty at night? Why is the Symphony half full on the weekends? Where is everyone?

Again, not bashing, I'm just honestly curious to hear some opinions.

Without a critical mass of young, creative professionals flooding into the city, is Jacksonville always going to be destined to living 20 years in the past?

[Jason]

Excellent topic!

From what I've read about the average age in Jacksonville, this city/metro is suprisingly young.  I think I've read that the average age is around 35.  The thing I notice is that most that move here are looking for a descent job, a small piece of property, and a nice house to raise a family in.  Our communities are very family oriented and are many times weary of nightlife venues such as neighborhood bars, night clubs, etc.  It seems that most are (like you said) content with the way things are.  Many folks have their vision of a nice place to raise a family with many things to do to keep busy nearby and seem to be quite happy.

I do see an "uprising", of sorts, of younger professionals begging for more entertainment and nightlife as well as a "other than suburban" lifestyle choice.  This town has been a pretty sleepy area for quite a while but I do see things taking a turn for the better in the near future.

[thelakelander]

Does Jacksonville have the demographics to be a world class city, or even a top ten U.S. city?

No, not even close and Jax becoming a world class city will probably never happen in our lifetime and if it does, we'll be too old to enjoy it.

However, places generally considered world class (ex. San Francisco, LA, NYC, Chicago, etc.) are more than five times our size.  It would take over 100 years for a place with 1.3 million residents to offer an environment similar to a community that has well over 5 million residents.

However, we do have control over whether we grow in the next decade to become a sprawled out Phoenix or a community like San Deigo or Portland.  Today, we're at a crossroads and the decisions we make will set us on track to become the next Houston/Atlanta or Denver/Seattle.

I love it here and would love for things to turn around, but from traveling so much in the last few months, I've really noticed a startling shortage of vital components here in Jacksonville:

1) Minorities. More specifically, legal immigrants who bring some of their native culture with them. I'm sure there are some out there somewhere, but you just don't feel their impact in the community to the tenth of a degree that you do in places like Oakland or San Fran or Miami or NY or Chicago, etc.

2) Young people. It's shocking to see how few pretty girls there are walking the streets of a city this size. Again, there's certainly a lot in Jax, but not NEARLY the amount there should be. If there's a 18-34 single demo in Jacksonville greater than a few hundred, they're hiding well.

3) Energy. For a city the size of Jacksonville, there seems to be very little pulse. Like I mentioned earlier, why are the streets so empty at night? Why is the Symphony half full on the weekends? Where is everyone?

Again, not bashing, I'm just honestly curious to hear some opinions.

Believe it or not, Jax is one of Florida's youngest urban areas, the economy is based on something other than tourism, we're fairly diverse and there a loads of beautiful women in the metro area.  The problem revolves around this being an autocentric decentralized community.  Because we have embraced the concept of sprawl, these things are spread out, hampering our ability to create a critical mass full of life. 

Like Jason, I also believe most local residents are content with Jax just the way it is. However, the same mentality dominates most second tier sunbelt cities, even Charlotte, which is in the heart of the Bible Belt.  The major difference is a few cities (ex. Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, Norfolk, etc.) have had leaders (local government and business community) with the courage and vision to be proactive in today's economy, rather than reactive.

While grassroots efforts can do wonders bringing back a neighborhood or two, its going to take political foresight and visionary planning to change our low density autocentric land use patterns to allow our community the opportunity for density and connectivity to grow into an environment offering a critical mass of diversity.






[/quote]

[I-10east]

1) Minorities. More specifically, legal immigrants who bring some of their native culture with them. I'm sure there are some out there somewhere, but you just don't feel their impact in the community to the tenth of a degree that you do in places like Oakland or San Fran or Miami or NY or Chicago, etc.

Far as I'm concerned, Jax already have enough foreigners as it is; I don't wanna sound like I'm hatin' because I'm a minority myself, but sometimes it is what it is; Jax is an American city. Most foreigners CAN"T DRIVE WORTH A LICK! I don't wanna see Jax becoming a Miami wanna-be. The other day at the Main Post Office on Kings Road, and I parked my car a little crooked between in the parking space so I VERY SLOWLY backed up to straighten out, and low a behold the perfect storm arrived; An elderly Philipino couple was sittin' behind me for whatever reason, and I backed up and hit them; They honked at the same time I hit them; I couldn't see them because I'm in a Marquis, and they were in a Celica. Whatever happened to evasive manuvers....NO! just sit there and let someone hit you, and have the deer in the headlights look in your eyes; Why even drive so damn close to parked cars anyways? The driver had Coke bottle glasses, as it seemed like he couldn't see a lick: Please Mr, and Mrs....Get your grandson or someone to drive yall around! 

[thelakelander]

Wow.  Anyway, I will say that the Farmer's Market on Beaver Street, is one of the most diverse vibrant spots in this city.  You'll think you're in another city with all of the languages being spoken around there.  They also have a vendor out there that grills some of the best hotdogs I've ever eaten on Saturdays. 

Too bad, the JEDC could not pull the strings to get that thing relocated closer to downtown.  Its the only farmer's market in the state open seven days a week and its packed on weekends, while at the same time, downtown assumes the role of a ghost town.

[I-10east]

I'm sorry for going off the deep end Lake; I'm just really pissed about the price of these tickets I got.

Usually things concerning alotta cultural diversity in cities involves historic events, or being nearby another country; NYC's Ellis Island, and Miami's distance to Cuba for example; Stuff like that can't be manufactured overnight in a city that doesn't meet that kinda criteria.

[midnightblackrx]

There just isn't a high enough concentration of people downtown right now. I think last year there were only 500 or so homesteaded residences downtown.  I moved downtown because I love the idea of big city life amongst the tall buildings, close proximity to clubs and bars, restaurants. Plus I was just tired of seeing strip malls and living in college-like condo communities.  Unfortunately, Jax DT is not there yet. 

Note to Jax: Will it please spice up quickly, I won't be in my 20's forever 

[thelakelander]

Its anywhere from 2000 to 2500 or so now.  However, that number is sprinkled all over the North and Southbanks instead of being clumped together.  By the time it gets to 10,000 (the number many assume means critical mass), you'll be closer to 40 than 20.

[Webini]

It's funny that this topic should come up. I live in Riverside and for the past three years the homes and apartments (duplexes) have been filling up and emptying out very quickly, all post grad, young adults (25 - 35 age range). My neighbor (a Chicago native looking to leave Jax after only a year) and I had a long conversation about how disappointing the culture here can be. I moved to Riverside to be “closer to the action” and when I got here I found out that “the action” only happened on the weekends and since Club 5 shut down it barely happens at all, unless doing the same thing every weekend is to your liking.

[David]

It's funny that this topic should come up. I live in Riverside and for the past three years the homes and apartments (duplexes) have been filling up and emptying out very quickly, all post grad, young adults (25 - 35 age range). My neighbor (a Chicago native looking to leave Jax after only a year) and I had a long conversation about how disappointing the culture here can be. I moved to Riverside to be “closer to the action” and when I got here I found out that “the action” only happened on the weekends and since Club 5 shut down it barely happens at all, unless doing the same thing every weekend is to your liking.

After living at Jax Beach, San Marco & downtown I recently moved to riverside too. Not so much to be closer to the action, because I basically knew what I was getting into, but to move somewhere which had a pedestrian friendly environment and to be in a neighborhood with character. After spending only 6 months living downtown I knew it was going to take awhile to come around, the nightlife coming to downtown isn't really my thing, and there's still hardly any place to get a bite to eat after 9pm,   which is why I got out when I did. I think riverside's becoming more diverse as time goes, more to do , more places to eat as it loses it's grungy edge, so in my opinion it's one of the better places to be in the city, but back to the topic of this thread: it's really hard to compare Jacksonville to major cities like NY, Boston,  Chicago or even Atlanta. After traveling to those places a lot in my teens and throughout most of my 20's I’ve learned you have to appreciate it for what it is, otherwise you'll have a miserable stay here. You've gotta compare us to places like Charlotte, Tampa and cities on a similar scale, and even then we still pale in many areas. It really is a working man's town  I myself save the big cultural experiences for weekend getaways to bigger cities, but that's the problem here. We really need something major to plant roots here, a cultural institute, something to jump start the natives. It's really about what you want, I’ve said the same thing to myself before. That "I’m going to be freaking 50 by the time downtown has a pulse" but if you truly want that big city vibe...you have to go to a big city. I like not paying 1400 a month for a shoebox apartment and affording to live comfortably while enjoying moderate weather in the winter so...that keeps me here for now.  As for creating this idealistic version of Jacksonville we all have in our heads, I think everyone on metrojax is the minority here….it’s going to take more than city backed projects to get that underway, it’ll take a massive change of mentality in most of the locals. And as soon as any of you figure out how to do that, spread the word, please!

[Ocklawaha]

As for creating this idealistic version of Jacksonville we all have in our heads, I think everyone on metrojax is the minority here….

Oh, not me Tony... Just to set the record straight, some of us are a MAJORITY OF ONE! Other's are just "Old Hippies".

Ocklawaha

[raheem942]

There just isn't a high enough concentration of people downtown right now. I think last year there were only 500 or so homesteaded residences downtown.  I moved downtown because I love the idea of big city life amongst the tall buildings, close proximity to clubs and bars, restaurants. Plus I was just tired of seeing strip malls and living in college-like condo communities.  Unfortunately, Jax DT is not there yet. 

Note to Jax: Will it please spice up quickly, I won't be in my 20's forever 

... thats  the lifestyle  i wanna live to but thats a couple years off

[walter]

Wow.  Anyway, I will say that the Farmer's Market on Beaver Street, is one of the most diverse vibrant spots in this city.  You'll think you're in another city with all of the languages being spoken around there.  They also have a vendor out there that grills some of the best hotdogs I've ever eaten on Saturdays. 

Too bad, the JEDC could not pull the strings to get that thing relocated closer to downtown.  Its the only farmer's market in the state open seven days a week and its packed on weekends, while at the same time, downtown assumes the role of a ghost town.

agreed that is a great place on the weekends.

The annual festival of nations is also another great example of how diverse this place really is.  I was impressed at the diversity and offerings this year. 

Springfield is a neighborhood of great diversity, asian, latino, african, european its got a great mix.

and I'm sure that being filipino didn't really have anything to do with the previous poster's accident, try living in SW Florida sometime, accidents waiting to happen all over the road there and nuttin but whitey.

[Ocklawaha]

Demographics? Well, let's put in a few DEMOGRAPHICS just for interest. BTW, did y'all know that we are a leading city in several groups?  10 largest Arab population in North America, and considered as one of the BEST in the USA for young black families and businesses. There were also interesting numbers on the "gay" or other graphs, but not enough were uniform enough to post. Perhaps others have some real Demographics to share?

CITY:
JACKSONVILLE.......Baltimore..............Dallas................Atlanta...............Miami
RACE:
64.48% white........31.63% white........50.83% white.....32.22% white......66.6% white
34.3% black..........64.24% black........25.91% black......59.39% black......22.3% black
2.78% Asian..........1.53% Asian..........2.7% Asian.........2.93% Asian........7% Asian
1.33% other...........67% other...........17.24% other......1.99% other........5.4 other
4.36 Latin.............1.7% Latin............(25% Mexican)..................................65.8% Latin
MIX:
46.7% married.......26.7% married.......38.8% married.....24.5% married.....36.6% married
33.9% w/kids........25.5% w/kids.........30.3% w/kids......22.4% w/kids......26.3% w/kids
26.7% -18 years....24.8% -18 years....26.1% -18 years..22.3% -18 yrs.....21.7% -18 yrs
9.7% 18-24 years...10.9% 18-24........11.8% 18-24........13.3% 18-24......8.8% 18-24
32.3% 25-44 years..29.9% 25-44........35.3% 25-44........35.2% 25-44......30.3% 25-44
21.0% 45-64 years..21.2% 45-64........17.7% 45-65........19.4% 45-64......21.1% 45-64
INCOME:
12.2% -poverty.....22.9% -poverty.....17.8% -poverty....21.3% -poverty...28.5% -poverty
(-poverty = below poverty rate)

Maybe we just like to beat ourselves up?

Ocklawaha

[thelakelander]

Jax is a consolidated city and the other four are not.  This means the statistics are off-base.  Try comparing Jax with Philly, NYC, New Orleans, Norfolk, Louisville, Indianapolis and Nashville.  Those are consolidated cities like Jax.