The Official Complete Renew Arlington Master Plan

[Metro Jacksonville]

The Official Complete Renew Arlington Master Plan



This is the complete Arlington Masterplan that is being used by the official Renew Arlington Community Redevelopment Agency.  Its one of the largest scale redevelopment plans to be developed in Jacksonville and it was approved by the City Council in late 2015.  Massive infrastructure, retrofitting, and transportation upgrades are being built into the plan, which is pursuing a Commercial Property development plan to lead property value increases throughout the area.  This is almost a complete reversal from the stagnant (and often) failed approaches used in the past, and represents a real step forward.

Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2016-dec-the-official-complete-renew-arlington-master-plan

[rory2007]

How will all the little cemeteries throughout Arlington be affected by this plan?

[Bativac]

Wow! My dad was born and raised there, and his mom lived there from the early 50s til her passing two years ago. She often lamented how far Arlington had fallen. Dad took me on a drive the other day pointing out once-beautiful areas. I would love to see the area revived. How realistic (bearing in mind this is Jacksonville) is it to expect to see this plan come to fruition?

[vicupstate]

Wow! My dad was born and raised there, and his mom lived there from the early 50s til her passing two years ago. She often lamented how far Arlington had fallen. Dad took me on a drive the other day pointing out once-beautiful areas. I would love to see the area revived. How realistic (bearing in mind this is Jacksonville) is it to expect to see this plan come to fruition?

Very doubtful IMO. When they actually start spending serious money, I might reassess the likelihood. One big factor will be the quality of the schools there. If they are struggling or declining, it will much more difficult to get private money to invest in this area.     

[Bativac]

Very doubtful IMO. When they actually start spending serious money, I might reassess the likelihood. One big factor will be the quality of the schools there. If they are struggling or declining, it will much more difficult to get private money to invest in this area.   

Wasn't it not too long ago that they completed some kind of beautification project on parts of University Blvd N, adding medians and lights? Honestly unless they force the property owners (i.e. whoever owns Town and Country - LRS I think) to spruce up their property, it doesn't seem like transportation upgrades are going to help much.

[Tacachale]

Arlington's decline was organic and the same thing that has happened to many neighborhoods across the country over time. It was the hot new commodity from the 50s through the 70s. Since that time, the populace and building stock has aged, and other new neighborhoods have sprouted up. Incoming residents are usually less wealthy and are increasingly African-American and immigrant. Poorer neighborhoods tend to also have increased problems with crime and schools, and unfortunately, the area's increasing ethnic and economic diversity has also contributed to the perception of a lot of people that the neighborhood is in "decline". However, for people coming from poorer neighborhoods and countries, Arlington is seen as a glowing, affordable opportunity.

The same exact thing happened to most of our urban core neighborhoods, including those that are now seen as hot commodities again, like Riverside, San Marco, and increasingly Murray Hill. In the 80s and 90s, people spoke of Riverside with the same tones as they do Arlington now. It was "ghetto" and "um, sketchy, if you know what I mean." There is no sense denying that there's a racial undercurrent to those perceptions. Today, only the staunchest white flighters would speak of the neighborhood like that. As Ennis is fond of saying, there's nothing new under the sun. Current "nice" areas will decline in the future, and current "bad" areas will become tomorrow's hidden gems.

Arlington will come back. I don't think it will be soon, but plans like these are necessary groundwork for it. Just like previous improvements, it won't turn things around overnight, but it will pay dividends in the future.

[vicupstate]

^^ But what incentive does business have to come in unless the residential base is either growing in population or income. Typically, a residential renaissance happens first which then leads to a commercial one.  For even the residential to turn around there will likely have to be a sizeable and noticeable public investment. 

[Arlingtondude]

There are still a lot of very nice neighborhoods in old Arlington. Such as Charter Point, University Park, Old Mill Cove, Rive St. John, Cove St. John, Fairways Forest, Colony Cove, Scarlet Oaks. Colonial Park, Arlingwood to name a few. Also, in the past two years or so, there have been several new subdivisions open in the old Arlington area. There are two on Merrill Road, Lakeside and Caroline Hills.  Lakeside opened about a year ago and is sold out. Caroline Hills opened a few months ago and has about 10 completed homes. These homes start at about $250K and go to about $315K. On Regency Square Blvd N. at Mill Creek, the Mill Creek subdivision is in its third phase. This is located in Kendall Town west. The first two phases have sold out and there are about 8 homes under construction in the third phase. There are sold signs on about on third of the lots. These homes also start in the $250 to $280 range. Kendall Pointe in Kendall Town East has added about 6 multi unit townhome buildings in the last six months. These townhomes start at about $139K. There also seems to be a new subdivision going in on the west side Hartsfield Road between Merrill and Ft. Caroline. I also noticed a new waterfront subdivision going in on the south service road on the Arlington Expressway just east of University Blvd. So actually there is quite a bit of new development already going in old Arlington considering how little land there is left to develop.

[Tacachale]

Yes, there are a LOT of people in Arlington, and much of it is indeed still growing. Improving the commercial corridors, especially over the long term, will help it go in the right direction.

[bencrix]

One challenge for Arlington is the large swaths of homogeneous 50s/60s building stock that, despite the potential for being marketed as "midcentury modern," is not particularly appealing to today's HGTV-defined tastes (i.e. small bathrooms, small kitchens, minimal "curb appeal"). I think the higher quality architecture of Riverside, Springfield, etc. are a big factor in their revival.

(I say this as someone who fixed up and lived in one of these "Ceserytown" homes. My personal opinion is that these homes were constructed well on unusually large lots and are quite nice homes overall).

[dos0711]

It's rather tragic that the main corridor (Arlington Expressway) is not addressed in the plan. It could be made to look so much better than what it is today and that might change peoples perceptions of how they view Arlington. Just my humble opinion.

[JBTripper]

One challenge for Arlington is the large swaths of homogeneous 50s/60s building stock that, despite the potential for being marketed as "midcentury modern," is not particularly appealing to today's HGTV-defined tastes (i.e. small bathrooms, small kitchens, minimal "curb appeal"). I think the higher quality architecture of Riverside, Springfield, etc. are a big factor in their revival.

(I say this as someone who fixed up and lived in one of these "Ceserytown" homes. My personal opinion is that these homes were constructed well on unusually large lots and are quite nice homes overall).

I think the appeal of Arlington is those big lots you mentioned, and that you can get a lot more house for your money than you can in Riverside/Avondale. If the schools were better, it would be a great neighborhood for families... although if the young families would just move in, the schools would get better.

[Charles Hunter]

I think you will see a wave of knock downs. Then replaced with homes designed for current tastes.
When the land values come up a bit, and the lot is worth more than the house.

[aldermanparklover]

We are out of staters that just bought in Alderman Park back in Sept ... All I know is that for what Arlington offers compared to other areas, we sure pay a lot in property taxes!!! If we weren't so close to downtown, we never would have moved to this area due to the taxes.

[Bativac]

We are out of staters that just bought in Alderman Park back in Sept ... All I know is that for what Arlington offers compared to other areas, we sure pay a lot in property taxes!!! If we weren't so close to downtown, we never would have moved to this area due to the taxes.

My wife and I bought a beautiful 1950s home right on the cusp of Arlington and St Nicholas almost a decade ago, because it was so close to downtown and we really thought downtown and the urban core were going to come back in a big way... Nine years later - after getting involved in art walk, teaching at public schools, etc - we finally gave up and moved. A HUGE part of the problem is that despite our best efforts to improve our home and the lot - not money, but elbow grease - the neighbors clearly could not be bothered to maintain their property. As the older folks who'd been there for decades either died or were moved off into retirement homes, their properties fell into disrepair while the kids waited for property values to go up... or set unrealistic prices for the property and it sat unsold... And the middle aged folks gave up... and the younger people (mine and my wife's age) just didn't care about property maintenance... our street fell, hard.

I can see these areas turning around but it takes more than a master plan. The people living there have to have some pride of ownership in their property. Not hiring expensive lawn services, but putting in a little work themselves. Raking. Trimming bushes. Repairing broken shutters and awnings. Mowing. I was mowing FOUR LAWNS around me before we finally left! Helping the neighbors is one thing but the people who own homes need the desire to live in a nice place, and that starts with simple little things. Curb appeal. It has nothing to do with money and everything to do with the work ethic to get your street looking nice. Jesus i sound like my dad!!!