Visions of Vibrancy: London

[Lunican]

They grew by 10 million people while we mowed the grass at the shipyards property.

[simms3]

But simply "growing" does not make a city world class.  There are plenty of smaller, slow growth cities around the world that are far more world class than all but a few American cities, and they attract more international visitors, have globally important economies and/or culturally significant histories.

Prague
Stuttgart
Munich
Marrakesh
Seville
Jerusalem
Cartagena, Col.
Malaga
Lisbon
Kyoto (if you don't include it as part of Tokyo)
Perth
Brisbane
Vancouver
Ottawa
Zurich
Florence
Venice
Stockholm
Copenhagen
Edinburgh

Really, the list could go on and on and on to incorporate cities such as Nantes, Toulouse, Lyon, Marseilles, and that's just France.

The only "smaller" world class cities in America, in my opinion, are New Orleans (though arguably more of an "American" treasure than a world class city), San Francisco, Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington DC, and Miami Beach.  The other world class cities would obviously be NYC, Chicago, and LA.  Philadelphia is great for Americans and for American history, but I'm pretty sure the rest of the world could give a shit.

Jax will never be world class, at least in our lifetimes, but we can strive to be a better city for ourselves, the residents, and for the stream of domestic visitors we do have at our disposal.  I echo Lake in defining QoL and going after what we feel will best increase QoL.  Who cares about gimmicks?  We aren't big, we aren't culturally significant, and we don't have real history, but we do have a wonderful location, setting, climate, and other perks to use to our advantage.

[I-10east]

Snobbish cosmopolitan hippie: London has reliable transit, great dining options, blah blah blah; A city like Jax will NEVER reach that level of world class...

Normal American guy: No sh*t!
______________________________________________________________

Normal American guy: There are some things that the Old World can learn from certain American cities.

Snobbish cosmopolitan hippie: You can't compare the world class cities in Europe to American cities!!!That's apples and oranges!! *Then proceeds with a two minute rant*.

Normal American guy: *Sigh*

[ben says]

But simply "growing" does not make a city world class.  There are plenty of smaller, slow growth cities around the world that are far more world class than all but a few American cities, and they attract more international visitors, have globally important economies and/or culturally significant histories.

Prague
Stuttgart
Munich
Marrakesh
Seville
Jerusalem
Cartagena, Col.
Malaga
Lisbon
Kyoto (if you don't include it as part of Tokyo)
Perth
Brisbane
Vancouver
Ottawa
Zurich
Florence
Venice
Stockholm
Copenhagen
Edinburgh

Really, the list could go on and on and on to incorporate cities such as Nantes, Toulouse, Lyon, Marseilles, and that's just France.

The only "smaller" world class cities in America, in my opinion, are New Orleans (though arguably more of an "American" treasure than a world class city), San Francisco, Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington DC, and Miami Beach.  The other world class cities would obviously be NYC, Chicago, and LA.  Philadelphia is great for Americans and for American history, but I'm pretty sure the rest of the world could give a shit.

Jax will never be world class, at least in our lifetimes, but we can strive to be a better city for ourselves, the residents, and for the stream of domestic visitors we do have at our disposal.  I echo Lake in defining QoL and going after what we feel will best increase QoL.  Who cares about gimmicks?  We aren't big, we aren't culturally significant, and we don't have real history, but we do have a wonderful location, setting, climate, and other perks to use to our advantage.

As much as I give simms a hard time, I gotta agree with him here.

To be frank, I don't live in Jax expecting that one day it'll be a "world class city" (not even going to attempt to define that). It takes more than "getting ones act in gear" to be a world class city. Think Canberra: good transportation, good weather, beautiful place, burgeoning hipster scene...and easily the most boring place in the world.

I live in Jax because I like it...the climate, the people (most of them, anyway), the beach and the river, and most of all: its potential. I like that Jax has problems. I like that Jax is facing an uphill battle. But that's kinda the fun part...watching the city (maybe the people of the city) attempt to raise the QofL and better themselves. Perfect example: when I moved back to Jax, there was no such thing as Bold Bean. 5 Points Theatre was defunct. 13 Gypsies had just opened up. Taverna, too. All the things that I've seen grow in the past 4 years: that's why I live in Jax.
On a technical note, Kyoto is not considered part of Tokyo. Not sure where you got that from. That's like saying Miami or ATL is part of Jax. 5.5 hour drives apart, 3.5 hours via train.

Honestly, I don't look at these threads because I want to learn about foreign places and apply what they're doing to Jax. I look at them because I have serious wanderlust.  I think you really have to see London to get any idea what they're doing right/wrong.

On technical note #2: Perth is the perfect example of what should be a Jacksonville sister city. More in common than they have differences. Perth is blowing up right now. Jacksonville's growth, well...we know enough about that.

[Keith-N-Jax]

Hey Ben I agree with you also about looking at these threads. I like to travel so sometimes looking at the learning from serious is almost like a mini vacation. I am sure no one expects Jax to become a London or a NY nor should it try. But there's nothing wrong with looking at these places and gathering a few ideas. Not sure why certain posters seem to get upset over people wanting Jax to strive for better.

[ben says]

Hey Ben I agree with you also about looking at these threads. I like to travel so sometimes looking at the learning from serious is almost like a mini vacation. I am sure no one expects Jax to become a London or a NY nor should it try. But there's nothing wrong with looking at these places and gathering a few ideas. Not sure why certain posters seem to get upset over people wanting Jax to strive for better.

Couldn't agree more!

It seems like every time I go abroad, I come back with a new idea I want to try in Jax. Now, if only I can pull the trigger on one of these ideas!