Downtowns are for People by Urbanist Jane Jacobs

[Metro Jacksonville]

Downtowns are for People by Urbanist Jane Jacobs



If the downtown of tomorrow looks like most of the redevelopment projects being planned for it today, it will end up a monumental bore. But downtown could be made lively and exciting -- and it's not too hard to find out how.

By Jane Jacobs.
Fifty years ago.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2012-apr-downtowns-are-for-people-by-urbanist-jane-jacobs

[Noone]

Great read. Waterfronts and a focus.

[mtraininjax]

Did anyone read Littlepage's rant on Sunday? He wants us to look to Portland and how they use their downtown park connected to government buildings as a model for Jacksonville. Did you know that the city kicks in 1.2 million per year to help prop up the park? And the oversight is done by an outside vendor.

Why is it that everyone wants to fix a small little park that is 5 blocks from the river, when there are major issues with the Riverwalk? Southbank Riverwalk is a disgrace, rotting boards, the Navy monument is falling apart, and so we fix the fountain, but failed to fix the areas that bring people to the fountain. Met Park is right on the water, with a need for that 1.2 million to help improve the facilities and allow us to have more events downtown, along the river.

Yet, we want to fix a park that is 5 blocks from the river and people don't want to drive downtown and look at a park surrounded by buildings, when they would rather enjoy the real gem of the city, the river. Is Mayor Brown really this disjointed from the reality that the River should be more of a focus? I already know Littlepage checked out of reality many years ago, and the Times Union, which sits on the river, would rather push the development of Hemming Plaza as well. Why? What is the draw of a 1 block park surrounded by buildings, when the River is the real draw in Jacksonville? The idiocy of it all is maddening!

[fieldafm]

Southbank Riverwalk is a disgrace, rotting boards, the Navy monument is falling apart, and so we fix the fountain, but failed to fix the areas that bring people to the fountain.

Considering the Southbank Riverwalk is getting a complete rebuild...

[Lunican]

I can see how in the 1960's people didn't really know the full impact of their redevelopment strategies on downtown, but now we have all the evidence and yet it's still a struggle to get Jacksonville off the same exact path. It's like a weird 1960's time warp.

[Debbie Thompson]

Yeah, the 1960's is about right.  That's just about the decade people tend to be stuck in here in Jacksonville.  It's not really a time warp, Lunican.  It's that we never moved on from there and learned from the 1970's till now.  We are still doing "urban renewal" like the 1960's even though it's been proven to be a disaster since then.