HAPPY CONSOLIDATION DAY!

[Jaxson]

Today is the 43rd anniversary of the merger of the City of Jacksonville and Duval County governments.  Of course, don't be surprised if nobody is raising a glass in the Beaches or Baldwin.  At any rate, happy birthday to the "Bold New City of the South."

Any thoughts on the state of our consolidated government today?

Any firsthand thoughts on life before consolidation?  (I would love to hear from those who have memories about the old city and county governments)...

[Ocklawaha]

While there is a school of thought that consolidation was all about whites losing power to blacks, I disagree. It is true that had the city remained the same size as the pre consolidation era, it would have become a city with a black majority, but if anything the whole race argument was more of a bi-product then the intent of the majority of people in Duval County.

I say this because my father was a Navy Exchange commander who wasn't shy about shattering the old Jim Crow lines. In fact under very critical eyes, dad personally trained several 'janitors' in hair styling, or other Exchange Departments. This group of men included a young thug who came to our Ortega house late one night and confronted my father in the driveway with a knife. (Bad idea, dad was a fleet champion light weight boxer and golden glove holder). All the way up at the house we heard yelling then a loud 'smack' or 'pop' sound, dad came back in and said, "Call the ambulance, I think I killed him..." He didn't, and ended up at the hospital with the kid and mentored, then hired him into aj Naval base position. You couldn't get any more involved in the city then my father without being elected to something, and as you can see he was anything but a racist. Dad, like his circle of powerful friends were very pro consolidation.

I knew the whole group of movers and shakers that put forth consolidation, and I can truthfully say out of a large group of men, I knew of only one that would be considered a racist today. A pioneer developer and millionaire, one of the streets in Yukon is named for him. But never heard this talk about some race line being the fuel for consolidation.

The real division of the city was achieved by the Jacksonville Expressway Authority, forerunner to the bumbling JTA. The roads then, as today, were built over the combination of the cheapest urban land + most direct routes. Unfortunately the long plight of African Americans in the United States pretty much dictated that the lowest valued land would be right through the middle of the African American communites.

We, or should I say I, believe it had more to do with a plethora  overlapping or non existing services. So bad that the ambulance might drive away because the accident victim was on the wrong side of the road and the wrong guy got the call. Electric, water, trash, police, fire or sewer being so jumbled up that not until AFTER consolidation when Hans Tanzler relaid nearly the entire downtown utility grid did anyone have a clue what pipes went where or even where they were at.

The final reason was twofold, one with a sizable urban core nearly dead center of the county and sprawl already reaching those lines, there was a general feeling that Jacksonville would soon rival Los Angeles. We already had more expressway miles per capita then Los Angeles, we actually became their model. Add to that growth fantasy the badly damaged pride as Jacksonville fell behind Miami and Tampa, as the big dog in the state. Consolidation probably bought us another few years of political control in Tallahassee, but a series of STUPID URBAN MISTAKES, coupled with Walt Disney's new Central Florida vacation mecca spelled the end of that era.

Today its Miami that actually rivals Los Angeles as the whole of southeast Florida melds into a massive megalopolis, and from Daytona Beach to St. Petersburg there is scarily a vacant strip of land.  Orlando/Kissimmee were known more for cattle and oranges then people and suddenly even they exploded past us. We're still a very big dog, but unlike all of the other Florida 'megalopoli', we're out of the kennel.

It's Consolidation Day, and we're better off for it, I'm celebrating by changing my posting style (computer changes).

OCKLAWAHA

[Jaxson]

Thanks, Ock!

[manasia]

Preciate the knowledge Ock.

[urbanlibertarian]

This photo never gets old.

[urbaknight]

I wished consolidation never happened, I think it was a stupid move. It destroyed the city and turned it into a giant township style suburb.