Elements of Urbanism: Portland

[SL32205]

I don't mean to pan on Jacksonville - but the reality is that it is less educated, more racially, demographically, and economically divided than any other city I'm aware of.  There is an "us" and a "they" mentality in Jacksonville, depending upon where you are in town.  It's counter to a collective vision where all accepted and come together downtown - if a vibrant downtown is the comparative discussion here with Portland. 

I observe a "cocooning" culture in Jacksonville, where priority leans toward individual benefit and outweighs community benefit.  The ideas of "community", "quality of life", "environment", "innovation", etc. don't seem held in as high esteem in the decision-making process.  These ideas are reflected in how people live - and in how leaders lead.  Consumerism is high - and the idea of "commodity" rules conventional wisdom.  Jacksonville has largely sold the quality of it's riverfront because it has the "highest value".  Extending the riverwalk south is an issue because of "our property rights", and "those people" would come between "me" and the river.  "We" want to pull water from the St. Johns River to support "our" population.  It's pervasive - amongst the population and the leadership - and it is an attitude not widely found in a place such as Portland.

I agree with the lack of leadership - but again, wasn't Peyton re-elected almost without effective opposition?  If he was as ineffective as everyone has claimed following Delaney, shouldn't there have been a call for his head by the majority.  Why wasn't there?  I submit it's because the issues that are discussed in this topic aren't seen as important by the majority of the Jacksonville public.  To generalize - those on the southside, or beaches, or St. Johns County (that's a lot of people) are in their "cocoon".  They don't care about downtown redevelopment, other than it might be a neat novelty - and they want to tailgate safely and get home from the Jaguar games as quickly as possible.  They don't care about the homeless, they'd as well have them stay in "their area".  As long as they have education for "their" kids, all is well.  You see, it's the public attitudes of the "masses" that spawns leadership - and Jacksonville (and perhaps the south, in general) has a foreign culture to the norm in the pacific northwest.  Innovative leadership in this culture will run counter to these cultural norms, and may not be widely popular - but I think it's necessary.


   

[Driven1]

Thank you for your post SL.  I think many of your ideas are right on and well-spoken.  Thank you again for sharing.

[Steve]

I agree with the lack of leadership - but again, wasn't Peyton re-elected almost without effective opposition?  If he was as ineffective as everyone has claimed following Delaney, shouldn't there have been a call for his head by the majority.  Why wasn't there?  I submit it's because the issues that are discussed in this topic aren't seen as important by the majority of the Jacksonville public.  To generalize - those on the southside, or beaches, or St. Johns County (that's a lot of people) are in their "cocoon".  They don't care about downtown redevelopment, other than it might be a neat novelty - and they want to tailgate safely and get home from the Jaguar games as quickly as possible.  They don't care about the homeless, they'd as well have them stay in "their area".  As long as they have education for "their" kids, all is well.  You see, it's the public attitudes of the "masses" that spawns leadership - and Jacksonville (and perhaps the south, in general) has a foreign culture to the norm in the pacific northwest.  Innovative leadership in this culture will run counter to these cultural norms, and may not be widely popular - but I think it's necessary.

I think if the people of Jacksonville would have been presented with an alternative, they would have selected one.  Keep in mind that Mike Weinstein was in the race, and then dropped out.  Coincidentally, he is running for a State House seat, and many of his big fund raisers were the same as Peyton's when he ran for mayor.

The only one left was the Late Jackie Brown, someone who had some decent ideas, but was a bit out there to say the least.  She pulled in 25%.  I firmly believe that if Mike Weinstein stayed in the race, some of the people who were holding Peyton signs would have walked into the booth, and flipped the other lever, he would be our mayor today.

[Steve]

not endorsement, but he has never criticized him when everyone else on the planet has.  also, we've seen the hunky dory emails he has sent him where he's all like "it'll be ok, you're doing a great job".

I would guess that is because John Delaney is VERY smart.

[Driven1]

not endorsement, but he has never criticized him when everyone else on the planet has.  also, we've seen the hunky dory emails he has sent him where he's all like "it'll be ok, you're doing a great job".

I would guess that is because John Delaney is VERY smart.

that's funny...i was thinking the EXACT SAME THING!  good call!!!

[SL32205]

Vicupstate:

Please name one city which has a comparatively uneducated population which has a vibrant, active downtown. 

For starters there is Cleveland.  I don't know much about Indianapolis' education and income levels, but I don't get the idea that it is above the national norm, and their DT is doing great and it the central focus of there city, which like Jax is large and consolidated.

A generation ago Pittsburgh was blue-collar steel town, it is the opposite today. 

Charleston in the late '70's was not affluent at all, even downtown.  Today, the metro as a whole is VERY comparable to Jacksonville in terms of income and education.  Many of the affluent of DT Charleston are not permanent residents anyway.  While Charelston proper has a modest crime level and has for years, it's northern white-flight-suburb-turn-new-'hood (North Charelston) has one of the highest crime rates in the US.

Or name a city which has comparable crime statistics which has a vibrant, active downtown?  I would submit that downtown Charleston is largely comprised of an affluent, educated population - if you consider The Battery downtown, which I would.  Also, the College of Charleston & The Citadel, have a greater influence on the urban activity of Charleston than UNF or JU do in Jacksonville.  I don't think the facts support your claims on Jacksonville's behalf.

The Citadel and CofC are in the heart of DT, not a good comparision to JU and UNF.  There COULD be a LAW School in DT Jax right now, but the 'leadership' of the city did not pursue it.   That proves my point.

Ditto regarding getting a Farmer's Market DT.  Ditto regarding building Riverside Avenue into a pedestrian-compatible boulevard instead of a freeway.  Ditto regardng getting smart Parking meters or more signage or doing something CONSTRUCTIVE with the Mian St. pocket park.

Again, I suggest that the leadership is a reflection of the constituency it serves - perhaps in Charlotte & Portland.  But it's the characteristic of an active public that respects "community" and values "quality of life" that supports that renaissance.  Jacksonville's rank & file population, in my observation, has a largely parochial view toward many quality of life elements that Portland and I suspect Charlotte hold sacred.

LEADERSHIP is not being a weather vane of public will.  It is having a vision and pursing it. 

Perhaps I overstated Jacksonville's geographic quality.  Certainly the river is a great asset, and the weather is generally good.  The city's built environment is an embarassment, especially downtown, when compared with Portland.  Is it a result of bad leadership?  Perhaps - but not singularly.  The leadership is a reflection on the population.  Mayor Peyton ran essentially unopposed, correct?

The NATURAL geographic quality of Jax is great.  You didn't overstate that, but it isn't the be-all-end-all either.  The quality of life and built environments matter to, perhaps more.

Speaking of Portland and leadership?  Can you name the past few mayors of Portland?  Were they popular?  Were they effective?  Mayor Riley and Mayor Daley are rare, and have created an aura partially through self-promotion, partially because they demonstrated leadership, and this has been possible because they haven't been subjected to term limits.  They are, in effect, benevolent dictators.  I will submit that whatever Portland is or has is a reflection on the nature of their residents their leaders serve.

I'm telling you - the culture (or mindset), and associate priorities is completely different. 

 

I don't know who is or has been the mayor of Portland, but I do know that Jax does things every day that would NEVER be done in Portland.  Creating new surface lots in the core of DT would be just the tip of that iceburg. 

Charlotte's DT got it act together under the 14 years of current mayor Pat McCrory. Before him, it was following the Jax model and getting nowhere in terms of vibracy DT.   McCrory is running for Governor now.  Even if he wins and leaves the mayor's office, the change in the DT development mindset is permanent now.  The city staffers, the business leaders, the city council, the city manager, they all get it now.   They understand the ingredients for a true 24/7 urban environment.       

   
The bottom line is Jacksonville does not have to 'trade out' it's population or get everyone a bacholor's degree.  It really just requires leadership from the top.  That's the missing element. 

I understand that Cleveland's downtown has not lived up to the vibrant vision of the mid-90's when Gund Arena and Jacobs Field were conceived.

I agree about Pittsburgh - but look how much of their best urban land was committed to the public realm.  A LOT!  And, there has been a huge population contraction in Pittsburgh with the diminishing steel industry, which is largely blue collar.  And - don't underestimate the impact of the University of Pittsburgh on their downtown.  It's a big deal. 

Charleston has also committed their best urban land to the public realm.  And, to your point, is suburban North Charleston any worse than suburban north Jacksonville?  Downtown Charleston is a great place to LIVE - and to visit.  Mount Pleasant is similar in character & demographics to say the Southside, Beaches or St. Johns County.  But - those in Mount Pleasant will tend to "take ownership" of downtown Charleston - it's where they take out of town guests, and go to be "part of the action".  That "activity" is a result of a culture that embraces the public realm - and, yes - strong leadership.

By the way - I have heard from someone who is a long time Charleston resident that the one thing that turned around the downtown was Hurricane Hugo - and the reinvesment of insurance dollars into a very high quality but dilapidated building stock.

I agree about decisions being made in Jacksonville that would never be considered in Portland.  But those decisions are made to support the wishes of the "majority".  It's a precious few in Jacksonville's suburbs who REALLY care about downtown - so long as they have what they perceive they need to "live a good life" in their part of town.  I see it and hear the conversations all the time.....................

Innovative leadership will need to be elected and embraced by Jacksonville's "masses".  It's necessary - I hope it happens - and it will challenge many people to set aside their cultural norms of "personal values" for the sake of the greater "community's quality of life".

[SL32205]

I agree with the lack of leadership - but again, wasn't Peyton re-elected almost without effective opposition?  If he was as ineffective as everyone has claimed following Delaney, shouldn't there have been a call for his head by the majority.  Why wasn't there?  I submit it's because the issues that are discussed in this topic aren't seen as important by the majority of the Jacksonville public.  To generalize - those on the southside, or beaches, or St. Johns County (that's a lot of people) are in their "cocoon".  They don't care about downtown redevelopment, other than it might be a neat novelty - and they want to tailgate safely and get home from the Jaguar games as quickly as possible.  They don't care about the homeless, they'd as well have them stay in "their area".  As long as they have education for "their" kids, all is well.  You see, it's the public attitudes of the "masses" that spawns leadership - and Jacksonville (and perhaps the south, in general) has a foreign culture to the norm in the pacific northwest.  Innovative leadership in this culture will run counter to these cultural norms, and may not be widely popular - but I think it's necessary.

I think if the people of Jacksonville would have been presented with an alternative, they would have selected one.  Keep in mind that Mike Weinstein was in the race, and then dropped out.  Coincidentally, he is running for a State House seat, and many of his big fund raisers were the same as Peyton's when he ran for mayor.

The only one left was the Late Jackie Brown, someone who had some decent ideas, but was a bit out there to say the least.  She pulled in 25%.  I firmly believe that if Mike Weinstein stayed in the race, some of the people who were holding Peyton signs would have walked into the booth, and flipped the other lever, he would be our mayor today.

Peyton's strategy was to out fund-raise everyone else before the election season ever got off the ground.  Nothing to do with ideas or vision.  The fundraising was followed up with a public relations blitz, announcing the fundraising.  It accomplished it's purpose of disuading potential alternative candidates, and seemed to be just fine thank you for most people.  That strategy may have been exposed and ridiculed elsewhere, but seemed to be well-accepted.

[vicupstate]

not endorsement, but he has never criticized him when everyone else on the planet has.  also, we've seen the hunky dory emails he has sent him where he's all like "it'll be ok, you're doing a great job".

I would guess that is because John Delaney is VERY smart.

Is it 'standard' for college/University presidents to inject themselves in partisan politics (at least publicly) in FL.  That is counter to what I have seen in other states.  I don't remember prior JU/UNF president's doing so.  Doing so could easily compromise their representation of their school.

Speaking of the Town/Gown topic.  Just in the last few years, Charlotte has lured a Culinary school from Charleston ($10 million in incentives), UNCC has a DT campus about to start construction, and Wake Forest has a DT campus as well. Plus there is an effort currently underway to attract a branch of a promenient Providence RI-based design school.  It most likely would be DT if it pans out.

The value of academic institutions DT was definitely not on Charlotte's radar a decade ago.  Another example of the 'lessons learned' that  Jax has yet to learn.

   

[vicupstate]

A partnership is a two way street.  To me, leading a city is about public-private partnerships.  Atlanta and Georgia Tech seem to have a very good relationship.  On the other hand, I haven't seen Peyton reaching out to Delaney at UNF or Romesburg at JU much to encourage public-private partnerships between the universitites and the government.

it's about much more than that.  leadership first, is about influence.  and peyton has none because a) had no real experience to speak of before he came on the job and b) has failed to produce as mayor while on the job now.  look at those cities that are not defined by relationships with universities - like Charlotte - UNCC is there, but the city has no really strong bond with the uni.  also, take Columbia, SC - it has Columbia Bible College & USC - Columbia, but the city's leader is not defined by how he is partnering with the unis.

i agree...great debate!

Actually, Columbia's Mayor and USC's president (who is retiring) have been joined at the hip for several years now.  USC is creating a private/public Research campus around Hydrogen Fuel development.  It is located in a portion of the Central Business District called the Congaree Vista.

The city is providing parking garages, streetscaping and public space and the University is building classrooms and space for private companies that will use that research for product development.

Google "USC Innovista" to get a better idea of this.   

Likewise, Greenville is partnering with Clemson as well as Michelin, BMW, Bosch, and others in the developement of the public/private funded International Center for Automotive Research.   Also, Clemson has relocated part of it's urban planning department to DT Greenville.   

The Innovista is at 'pre-adolescence', and ICAR in 'adolescence'.  From what I can see, Jax/UNF-JU haven't even had a date yet.   

[SL32205]

A partnership is a two way street.  To me, leading a city is about public-private partnerships.  Atlanta and Georgia Tech seem to have a very good relationship.  On the other hand, I haven't seen Peyton reaching out to Delaney at UNF or Romesburg at JU much to encourage public-private partnerships between the universitites and the government.

it's about much more than that.  leadership first, is about influence.  and peyton has none because a) had no real experience to speak of before he came on the job and b) has failed to produce as mayor while on the job now.  look at those cities that are not defined by relationships with universities - like Charlotte - UNCC is there, but the city has no really strong bond with the uni.  also, take Columbia, SC - it has Columbia Bible College & USC - Columbia, but the city's leader is not defined by how he is partnering with the unis.

i agree...great debate!

Actually, Columbia's Mayor and USC's president (who is retiring) have been joined at the hip for several years now.  USC is creating a private/public Research campus around Hydrogen Fuel development.  It is located in a portion of the Central Business District called the Congaree Vista.

The city is providing parking garages, streetscaping and public space and the University is building classrooms and space for private companies that will use that research for product development.

Google "USC Innovista" to get a better idea of this.   

Likewise, Greenville is partnering with Clemson as well as Michelin, BMW, Bosch, and others in the developement of the public/private funded International Center for Automotive Research.   Also, Clemson has relocated part of it's urban planning department to DT Greenville.   

The Innovista is at 'pre-adolescence', and ICAR in 'adolescence'.  From what I can see, Jax/UNF-JU haven't even had a date yet.   

Greenville is a town most would think of as po-dunk South Carolina but it is flourishing and it's downtown is very positive, almost cosmopolitan.  It's evidence that the influence of corporate headquarters, and the associated leadership and innovation in the community can't be underestimated.

[vicupstate]

SL you give WAY TOO much credit to things that had little or nothing to do with urban renaissance.

What you see in DT Greenville today was the vision of Mayor Max Heller.  He championed and enacted a then-controversial plan to narrow Main St. and plant the trees and widen the sidewalks (late '70's and early '80's).  He enabled the first activity anchor on Main St. by the public-private partnership that put the Hyatt Hotel/ Office building/parking garage in place. 

All of the above was done before BMW and Michelin had even moved to Greenville.  BMW  has been a good corporate citizen, but has never had any involvement in DT Greenville, and in fact the plant is not even in Greenville County.  Michelin's involvement in DT Greenville has been non-existant until just recently when they opened 'Michelin on Main', a visitor's center and retail outlet. 

Today those seeds that Heller planted have boren fruit.  The current mayor has fulfilled and broadened Heller's original vision.  Much of what both have done was controversial, and it put to a public vote, would NEVER have passed at the time.  But they let nothing get in their way.

DT Charleston was already a national model for DT redevolpment LONG before Hugo.  The Spoleto festival, the Charleston Place Hotel/retail project, King Street streetscaping, the explosion of tourism that occurred in the late '70's and '80's all pre-date Hugo.  Mayor Riley is the first, foremost, and essential reason DT Charleston is what you see today.  He is no stranger to controversy either, but he has always gotten his way in the end. 

In fact, your comment is the ONLY time I have seen or read that Hugo had ANY impact at all.       

Charlotte - Pat McCrory, Charleston - Joe Riley, Greenville - Max Heller & Knox White, even Jacksonville in the Delaney era, it always take a leader to TAKE THE PEOPLE where he thinks they should be.  Once THE PEOPLE are there, then they understand the reason for the JOURNEY. 

You can't tell me that the average middle class family in Jacksonville wouldn't like to enjoy for themselves, and their out of town guests, a place that is unique to Jacksonville.   

[Steve]

The thing is that I didn't agree with everything that Delaney did with Downtown Development.  LaVilla is a disaster, the whole thing is filled with nodes that if placed together would breate activity, but apart are simply small needles in a haystack.

With that said, Delaney did do stuff, and I am comfident that we were moving in the right direction with him.

[vicupstate]

The thing is that I didn't agree with everything that Delaney did with Downtown Development.  LaVilla is a disaster, the whole thing is filled with nodes that if placed together would breate activity, but apart are simply small needles in a haystack.

With that said, Delaney did do stuff, and I am comfident that we were moving in the right direction with him.

The plan for LaVilla (destroy it in order to save it) was concocted under Ed Austin, but Delaney implemented the majority of it.  His urban planning skills didn't match his vision, but at least he had a vision and the will to implement it.  The fact that his approval ratings were an unheard of 80% is compelling evidence to me that the 'common folk' of Jax don't have a problem with doing things to make Downtown great. 

[SL32205]

The thing is that I didn't agree with everything that Delaney did with Downtown Development.  LaVilla is a disaster, the whole thing is filled with nodes that if placed together would breate activity, but apart are simply small needles in a haystack.

With that said, Delaney did do stuff, and I am comfident that we were moving in the right direction with him.

The plan for LaVilla (destroy it in order to save it) was concocted under Ed Austin, but Delaney implemented the majority of it.  His urban planning skills didn't match his vision, but at least he had a vision and the will to implement it.  The fact that his approval ratings were an unheard of 80% is compelling evidence to me that the 'common folk' of Jax don't have a problem with doing things to make Downtown great. 

Term limits have not proved to be good at maintaining continuity of vision - and Mayor's Riley and Daley are perfect examples.  If Mayor Riley was a two-term mayor I'm sure Charleston would be far less than it is today.  So would Chicago.  Some might cringe at their Benevolent Dictator stature - but they get good things done their way.

Incidently, people on the public works road crews in Charleston know Mayor Riley - and are acutely aware that he may walk up to them any time and inspect their work.  There is a respect there - and a level of expectation has been created which doesn't exist here, and may never exist in a term-limit environment.

[thelakelander]

Term limits have not proved to be good at maintaining continuity of vision - and Mayor's Riley and Daley are perfect examples.

Interesting.  Can anyone give examples of American cities with vibrant cores that have term limited mayors?