Jax gets positive press on Huff Post travel blog

[Adam White]

O, Pioneer! 5 Secretly Cool Cities Where You Can Still Get in on the Ground Floor. Jax is #1.

If you're over watching Charleston patting herself on the back, can't even with Savannah's sleepiness but like the idea of hanging your hat in that part of the world, suspend disbelief and head down I-95 a piece. Yes, this is Florida, but ignore that little detail - most Floridians ignore Jacksonville, after all - until winter hits and you've still got plenty of sunshine and palm trees.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/David-Landsel/o-pioneer-5-secretly-cool_b_8233988.html

[Tacachale]

Pretty cool.

[ProjectMaximus]

Thanks for sharing!

[thelakelander]

Good article!

[ProjectMaximus]

I liked his angle. The only part that raised my eyebrows  was the "distance from civilization" segment. Only for Sacramento to San Fran and Baltimore to DC would it kinda make sense. In no way would I consider Savannah the nearest "civilization" to Jax.

[thelakelander]

Many probably don't realize it but Daytona's MSA is almost twice the size of Savannah's. It's 45 minutes to an hour away. Orlando's MSA is an 1.5 to 2 hours away.

[ProjectMaximus]

Exactly. And on top of that, I read that segment as a "what's the closest big city in case the subject locale feels too small and slow?" And obviously Savannah is not "the city" compared to Jax. Same for San Antonio...I doubt folks there think lets go to Austin when we need more excitement. (actually some might but I know others who take offense to that as well)

[Adam White]

Exactly. And on top of that, I read that segment as a "what's the closest big city in case the subject locale feels too small and slow?" And obviously Savannah is not "the city" compared to Jax. Same for San Antonio...I doubt folks there think lets go to Austin when we need more excitement. (actually some might but I know others who take offense to that as well)

If I were going to bother driving as far as Savannah for something to do, I'd just deal with it and go to Atlanta. Savannah bores me - I much prefer Jax.

[IrvAdams]

I liked the mention of the recent happenings in Hemming. I think The Friends are doing such good things there. When we go downtown it's always the first place we go to check the pulse.

[jaxjags]

I noticed the Savannah comment also. Funny thing is when I'm in Savannah on business, a lot of the younger (late 20's and 30s) crowd like Jacksonville. One comment you get is it is a real "city" with a downtown.
Interesting that the article actually mentioned things to do that my wife and I had planned to do yesterday. Lunch in 5 Points (Hawkers) visit to Cummer, drink at the Derby and then off to the Food trucks DT. The one thing we both noticed (as discussed much on MetroJax) was lack of fixed mode transportation. Due to many events it made driving and parking not much fun.

[peestandingup]

Gotta love the first comment. Had no idea if you don't live in Riverside or Murray Hill then you're literally in conservo nut job land.

[JaxJersey-licious]

Many probably don't realize it but Daytona's MSA is almost twice the size of Savannah's. It's 45 minutes to an hour away. Orlando's MSA is an 1.5 to 2 hours away.

You do realize that the author of this particular article as well as most of the author's readers have a different idea of what they consider "cicilization" (safe to say its leaning more towards jazz festivals and Spoleto as opposed to Bike Week). No need to challenge Savannah to an MSA pissing contest. The author's geographic ignorance has more to do with his own selective bias.

Nice things said about Jax aside, what I really loved about the article is what he really wanted to point out about the cities mentioned is not necessarily what these cities have now, but the potential these cities have for awesomeness. This is the type of publicity Jacksonville needs: Get in on the ground floor on this awesome community we're trying to build here.

[thelakelander]

Oh, no pissing contest. I've written enough stories similar to this to know the author won't give two cents about others disagreeing with him. I know I don't. In this particular case, I was simply responding to Project Maximus' comment.

[I-10east]

I'm sorry, I can't take Baltimore seriously, esp after that Freddie Gray/rioting/diva mayor debacle there (no offense to any Baltimoreans). There always seem to be a push from the liberal intelligentsia (like the Huff) to prop up these failing liberal cities; Many of the residents in Baltimore proper do not pay taxes, and we all know that neighborhoods goes to sh*t when that happens. Many cities like this are propped up by the federal gov't (case one Detroit) which is not talked often about.

[Tacachale]

Many probably don't realize it but Daytona's MSA is almost twice the size of Savannah's. It's 45 minutes to an hour away. Orlando's MSA is an 1.5 to 2 hours away.

You do realize that the author of this particular article as well as most of the author's readers have a different idea of what they consider "cicilization" (safe to say its leaning more towards jazz festivals and Spoleto as opposed to Bike Week). No need to challenge Savannah to an MSA pissing contest. The author's geographic ignorance has more to do with his own selective bias.

Nice things said about Jax aside, what I really loved about the article is what he really wanted to point out about the cities mentioned is not necessarily what these cities have now, but the potential these cities have for awesomeness. This is the type of publicity Jacksonville needs: Get in on the ground floor on this awesome community we're trying to build here.

That's also what I took from it. Whatever their other assets, Orlando, Daytona, etc. aren't cool places. In terms of this article, proximity to SCAD and the Savannah bar district probably trumps proximity to, say, Downtown Disney or Jimmy Buffet's (R) Margeritaville (R).