Keeping Millennials in Jacksonville

[UNFurbanist]

So I have been thinking about it for awhile and one event that I think Jax needs is something that will engage college students more directly. Think Art walk mixed with a career fair. That may sound weird but hear me out.

College students are looking for jobs or internships (paid and unpaid) pretty much all the time and sometimes the process can be daunting. At the same time businesses and Jax in general desperately need to maintain young talent and stop the city's universities from sending these newly educated workers elsewhere. If students could connect with entrepreneurs/ small businesses or even large companies in a more relaxed environment with easy avenues to areas of interest it could be a game changer in my opinion. Maybe have a night where those looking for interns set up booths in Hemming Park organized by career field and the organizer hands out a flyer marking who is where and what type of help they are looking for. For atmosphere give those with student IDs discounted craft beer, have local bands play and just let students see what the city has to offer on their terms.

So many new graduates from UNF, JU and FSCJ go to other cities after they graduate because they either don't see a future here or they just never really get to know the city. I am not one of them because I see the huge amount of potential that Jacksonville has (plus I am very interested in downtown redevelopment, which there is an obvious need for that here) but it isn't as apparent to other college students. I think a major reason for this is because there isn't very much interaction with the local business or entrepreneurial communities. There isn't a sense of ownership in something larger than themselves. Students should know that they can make a big difference here and can really become something. Think of being a big fish in a small pond in Jax vs going to NYC and being a little fish in the ocean.

On top of all this you have to sell the whole package when convincing college students to stay. There has to be a fun lifestyle being presented. That is why stuffy career fairs at UNF are pretty under attended (not to mention the terrible hours being scheduled during classes) but I know lots of students who will occasionally hit up Art walk for beer and music or love the vibe of being at One Spark. Imagine if it was marketed directly to students and essentially extended a hand blatantly asking them to join the city and welcomed them into the community!

PS: As a shout out for myself, I am a junior at UNF who is looking for a summer internship in the field of urban planning or urban development in almost any context. I am very well versed in urbanism and sustainability and I want to help this city thrive! My degree is in International Studies with an Urban Studies minor and I work part time for the environmental center on campus. I have had some success getting to meet professionals at USGBC socials but thought I might want to extend my reach into the MJ community since it's pretty much my favorite website! haha

[Noone]

UNFurbanist, Welcome to the forum. Great post. How would you like to kayak Downtown? I'm serious as heck. We'll do a RICO loop. I would love to hear about your urbanism and sustainability especially with the International angle. We can do a Vivian Harrell Bluebag cleanup. I went to the last JEA Board meeting for the first time and Mike Hightower the Board Chair along with Geri Boyce were going to look into the opportunity to do cleanups at the JEA location next to the DCPS building for the next year while the option to buy that property is being considered. We can even discuss some Environmental Ethics- Vince Seibold.

[BoldBoyOfTheSouth]

You should also check out Murray Hill which is emerging from a decades long slumber.

Young people are moving in and fixing up the charming bungalows and cottages.

The Murray Hill Preservation Assiciation is filling up with Millenials and Generation Xers on the Board of Directors and creating fun and innovative events.

[BoldCityRealist]

I think this idea is great and would warrant a conversation with the folks at DVI and Hemming Park. At least to get the conversation going. Could start small - think, setting up during a Jackson's Night Market or something. But I'd say take this idea and run with it!

[Jessicapants]

Hi UNFurbanist! Nice to meet you.

I'm a long time lurker/sometimes poster here, as I have been for years. It's nice to see a fellow student around. I am currently in the Masters of Public Administration program at UNF (just started) and I think that you really hit the nail on the head about why many graduates choose to leave Jacksonville for greener pastures.

I also really like your idea about having some sort of event downtown to draw the students from UNF. There could be a lot of interest from the downtown institutions for something like that. You definitely should pitch the idea!

I would totally go to that!

[Westside Guy]

Hey UNFurbanist.  I'm a junior at UNF too, in the Political Science department.  If there were any sort of event like you're suggesting, I would definitely be there.  Keep the forum informed on any and all updates. 

[ProjectMaximus]

Great idea! Obviously not just for UNF but absolutely it's the best starting point. Retaining our high school grads is important too.

[UNFurbanist]

Looks like my little hometown is picking up on this idea. Just adapting it to the already popular First Friday event is exactly what Jax should do with Art Walk. Trust me, if Lakeland can figure this stuff out Jacksonville certainly can! http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2015/1/30/lakeland_wants_to_be.html#.VMwI0d4YJd4.facebook

[thelakelander]

Lakeland figured stuff like this (see below) out years ago. Jax is still struggling to embrace.


Changing roadway design standards to separate non-motorized and motorized traffic on arterial roads.


Lakeland's solution to a bicycle accident. It took around three months to go from accident to reality. Doing this in Jax would probably take years of studies and convincing at council.


Too many cars of South Florida Avenue, no problem. Use the traditional street grid to create designated parallel corridors. In this case, the parallel street was reduced to one travel lane, creating space for bikes, parallel parking and a sidewalk.


A new shared use path on New Jersey Road.


There's also been investments in upgrading city parks and green space. Well maintained parks like this are all over Lakeland's urban core now. I'd love to see a forgotten space like Springfield's parks upgraded and maintained in a similar fashion.

There are 17 cities in Polk County (623k) and Tampa (2.9 million MSA), Orlando (2.3 million MSA) and Sarasota/Bradenton (732k) are within 30 to 45 minute drives of Lakeland in various directions. I think Jax (1.4 million) being an isolated consolidated city and Lakeland having several immediate municipalities that it has to compete against economically, has resulted in the difference to embrace.

Competition has forced Lakeland to embrace in Quality-of-Life investments as a part of an effort to stand out in Central Florida. The same can be said of St. Petersburg over the last decade. What we see in these cities would not have been the case 15 years ago. Jacksonville's challenge is to find away to push itself in a situation where there are no other similar sized or bigger dogs fighting for the same bone.

[UNFurbanist]

Those are all great examples! It really does amaze me how much changes each time I go back to visit. Growing up around Lake Hollingsworth it seemed like things almost never changed but the past few years have spurred tremendous investment!
I've always thought Lakeland had a way with subtleties, small things that were just done right and really made the area pretty yet functional. I was an intern at their planning department for about six months and they really have great people working there. Being so receptive to new ideas and understanding best practices makes a huge difference. There is a lot that Jax can learn from Lakeland about these subtleties.
We should compare ourselves to big cities on big projects and small towns on small stuff like this. If we could just get that formula right we would be world class in no time. Also, I think the point about competition is pretty accurate, but COJ needs to wake up and realize that we are competing statewide and nationally not just regionally.

[ChriswUfGator]

Lakeland figured out if you make it a nice place to live, people will live there. Shocking I know. With Jacksonville, that culture is just absent, and if you don't like it then delta's ready when you are. What this place really needs is an attitude adjustment.

[gjosephunf]

Lakeland wants to retain and attract educated workforce, advanced industries.

Colleges:
http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2015/1/30/lakeland_wants_to_be.html

Industry:
http://www.theledger.com/article/20150126/NEWS/150129489

[Sonic101]

That would be really cool. And I totally know what you mean. I really wanted to moved back to Jax or St. Augustine after getting my engineering degree at Kettering University in December, but I couldn't find any engineering positions in my field, the best I could hope for was Northrop Grumman and they didn't have any available at the time. So, now I work at Chrysler in Michigan, dreaming of going back home.

[ProjectMaximus]

Lakeland figured stuff like this (see below) out years ago. Jax is still struggling to embrace.
...
Competition has forced Lakeland to embrace in Quality-of-Life investments as a part of an effort to stand out in Central Florida. The same can be said of St. Petersburg over the last decade. What we see in these cities would not have been the case 15 years ago. Jacksonville's challenge is to find away to push itself in a situation where there are no other similar sized or bigger dogs fighting for the same bone.

Dont be so modest. Lakeland figured this out with Lakelander's help 

[thelakelander]

Haha. No, I had nothing to do with it. They've figured it out on their own.....dating back to the mid 1990s or so.