Walkable Commercial Districts: 8th & Main

[Metro Jacksonville]

Walkable Commercial Districts: 8th & Main



In our series of focusing on Jacksonville's long-overlooked historic, walkable commercial districts, we visit Springfield's 'central business district': 8th & Main.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2011-sep-walkable-commercial-districts-8th-main

[triclops i]

dead on

[Noone]

Another great work.
Love the food trucks.
1. Tactical Urbanism Waterways in Dist.7?

[avs]

love a food truck crawl too

[acme54321]

That stretch of road despirately needs some mature trees.

[finehoe]

Sad that weeds are already growing out of many of the newly-restored sidewalk pavers.

[Bativac]

Sad that weeds are already growing out of many of the newly-restored sidewalk pavers.

This happens all the time in Jacksonville and it drives me nuts. What good does it do to dump money into sprucing up an area if it isn't going to be maintained?

I think the absence of weeds and keeping existing sidewalks in good repair makes an area look far better than a new sidewalk overgrown with weeds. And the new side walks don't seem to be leading to a slew of new development. But I guess they look good from your car at 40 MPH.

[thelakelander]

Is this sidewalk less attractive because it only provides concrete, shade trees and regular light posts instead of pavers, high maintenance landscaping and specialty light posts?

I throw souped up sidewalks in the same category as JTA's faux trolleys and buses.  They don't spur economic development but they can help improve the atmosphere of pre-existing activities and connectivity between existing destinations.  Anyway, I think the way we streetscape our streets should be completely revamped.  Providing a regular sidewalk (skip the expensive pavers) and low maintenance native landscaping will provide just as much benefit for a reduced cost to the taxpayer.  Unfortunately, we've fallen in love with making the simplest things more difficult and expensive than they have to be.

[peestandingup]

Sad that weeds are already growing out of many of the newly-restored sidewalk pavers.

This happens all the time in Jacksonville and it drives me nuts. What good does it do to dump money into sprucing up an area if it isn't going to be maintained?

I think the absence of weeds and keeping existing sidewalks in good repair makes an area look far better than a new sidewalk overgrown with weeds. And the new side walks don't seem to be leading to a slew of new development. But I guess they look good from your car at 40 MPH.

The city is horrible for this. They seem like they're just handing out projects instead of making well though out plans, good policies that spur growth from the people who are actually willing to take a chance, & maintaining what they already have in place while building upon it. This line of thinking has been going on for decades & it still is. Its the reason why half of our downtown has been demolished & has vacant/surface lots everywhere. And It'll never be anything with any real substance unless the city leaders stop thinking they can just wave a magic wand, have some guys come in to redo a street & expect growth from that. It's lipstick on a pig.

FTA: Unlike many established urban core commercial districts, Springfield's Main Street continues to draw high interest from urban pioneers looking to bring life to the corridor.  However, years after the completion of Main Street's streetscape beautification project, revitalization has continued to be a slow process.  Unfortunately, the natural revitalization process has been negatively impacted by neighborhood politics, poor existing building conditions and overzealous lease rate expectations by property owners within the district.  This proves that sometimes it takes more than a physical makeover of the public realm to encourage private investment.

I personally think the physical makeover hurt much more than it's helped. They essentially took away the walkability pedestrian friendliness of what a Main Street is supposed to be a replaced it with a highway. Even if the sidewalks are wider, it's not easy to play chicken crossing 4 lanes of traffic & a big median. It's simply not as accessible & "open feeling" as say parts of Riverside, Avondale, etc. And even if you only stayed to one side of the sidewalk, it's still just not a pleasant experience to be walking or sitting there with that big artery & all of that metal whizzing by going 40 (and a lot of times 50+) MPH. Its pretty much the equivalent of eating at a lunch table right beside of Blanding Blvd.

I don't know how you fix something like that.

[avs]

^+1.  Part of the problem with the middle median that was installed is also that it only allows cross traffic (vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle) on 4-5 streets, thereby reinforcing the use of the road as a highway.  If more cross sections had been put in, with more lights and cross walks, then it would slowed traffic more and allowed more connectivity between East and West Main Street and East and West Springfield in general. 

[Captain Zissou]

Sad that weeds are already growing out of many of the newly-restored sidewalk pavers.

Hundreds of people each day walking down the sidewalks would stomp out the weeds before they ever get a chance to be noticeable.  Empty sidewalks allow the weeds to grow knee high.  Activate these sections of the street and part of the maintenance gets taken care of without anyone ever knowing it.

[iloveionia]

Great article Ennis. 
I like your 3 ideas to improve Main Street.  They are totally do-able. 
I do agree about the mature trees: the photo from the 1930s looking south on Main from 8th Street is gorgeous with the tree canopy. 
Gosh, we had a movie theatre on Main Street? 
We really were the place to be, huh?

In our current real estate market, Springfield gives you the best bang for your buck when its comes to the house.  The neighborhood is diverse: one has to be okay with that, but what we most need is a Main Street with viable businesses.  Something is better than nothing, and you have to start somewhere.  I have friends on SAMBA, but I am not sure what their mission specifically is and if "taking on Main Street" is within that vision.

[dougsandiego]

I am struck by two-things in your article.

The ground floor lease rate for the bank is quoted at $12.00 per square foot. That figure to me is astounding. I think a similar looking area in San Diego would fetch maybe $2.00 per square foot. If your figure is correct, how could anyone afford to open a small business? I do not see a flood of national chains in your photos either, so that should tell the wannabe landlords their rates are too high.

Second, the weeds and other evidence of lack of maintenence are a sign of lack of neighbourhood pride. Here in San Diego, several districts pay a Business Improvement District  (BID) tax that goes to everything from funding local enternainment events to maintaining the public rights of way. Because we have so little rain, some commercial areas even steam clean their sidewalks on a regular basis. The reasoning is that they have to compete with privately owned shopping malls. People like clean, reasonably safe well-maintained commercial areas, do to be successful, one has to provide just that.

[Debbie Thompson]

Most of the weeds appear to be in the courtyard at 9th and Main.  This is off the sidewalk, in front of the restaurant, on private property.  I did see some weeds on the sidewalk in front of the vacant lot where Jennifer Holbrook took that building down, but for the most part, the sidewalks are weed free from what I can tell by the pictures.

Dougsandiego, the unrealistic rental rates commanded by Main Street owners has been the bane of Main Street for years.  It seems they would rather see the building sit vacant than rent them for a reasonable amount.  :-(

[Springfielder]

Most of the weeds appear to be in the courtyard at 9th and Main.  This is off the sidewalk, in front of the restaurant, on private property.  I did see some weeds on the sidewalk in front of the vacant lot where Jennifer Holbrook took that building down, but for the most part, the sidewalks are weed free from what I can tell by the pictures.

Dougsandiego, the unrealistic rental rates commanded by Main Street owners has been the bane of Main Street for years.  It seems they would rather see the building sit vacant than rent them for a reasonable amount.  :-(

Exactly! The sidewalks aren't really filled with weeds, unless it's growing out from the lot where buildings were taken down. So that's really not an issue...the issue is the ridiculous amount(s) being asked for rent. That's one of the major issues that's keeping Main street empty...that, and the empty/vacant buildings that need to be restored.