Hemming Park has become a no-sit zone

[Live_Oak]

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/columnists/2017-10-03/downtown-column-hemming-park-has-become-no-sit-zone

Totally agree with the writer. I feel like the park is getting worse instead of better. The barricades around the main fountain are unbelievably ugly.  A park with no where to sit! It's insane!

[Tacachale]

Yeah, this was a step backward for the park. It didn't even get the homeless out, they just don't sit where they used to sit.

[Gunnar]

You'd think they are on a mission to mess everything up....remove benches, cut down trees.... what's the point of having the park then ?

[thelakelander]

Unfortunately, it appears to be the result of tunnel vision, with a lack of understanding the definition of placemaking. Nevertheless, it's the reverse of one of Alvin Brown's well known quotes. It's a pass through instead of a destination.

[KenFSU]

Love the use of the term "Placebreaking" in the column.

Couldn't be any more apt.

The real tragedy is how damn close we were getting with Hemming about a year ago.

Community First had committed $250k toward building a permanent stage at Hemming Park. Black Sheep was hard at work on their kiosk. The park was regularly programmed with smaller daily events, like live music, and larger evening events, like Art Walk and Jaxson's Night Market.

Then, in short time, the city negotiated themselves out of the stage, the Black Sheep kiosk is dead, programming has dried up, Art Walk and Night Market are gone, and even surrounding restaurants have closed or relocated.

All this over, what? An inexperience FHOP staff overspending in their first year. An easily fixable problem, considering the very clear signs of progress the park was making under their stewardship (prior to the budget slashing).

But to me, the worst part is seeing the city spend over $100k to reconfigure Hemming Park into a less desirable, comfortable space.

It shouldn't be this hard.

It's not like we're charting unknown territory here. A simple Google search will reveal numerous case studies and best practices used with great success for similar spaces. And I guarantee none of them will suggest actively making the park undesirable for the homeless, as history proves that such tactics only make public spaces less desirable for everyone else as well.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[KenFSU]

P.S. I know for a fact that even the people designing these "improvements' to the park think that they aren't the right solution for the problem.

[jaxlore]

Just my observation, (for better or worse) In my morning walk through the park now there are zero people people there, no homeless, nobody... just an empty park. The homeless folks have moved to different corners, snyder memorial, ed ball building etc. I also feel that the food truck court put a dent in traffic at hemming but that is by no means a scientific observation.

[Tacachale]

Love the use of the term "Placebreaking" in the column.

Couldn't be any more apt.

The real tragedy is how damn close we were getting with Hemming about a year ago.

Community First had committed $250k toward building a permanent stage at Hemming Park. Black Sheep was hard at work on their kiosk. The park was regularly programmed with smaller daily events, like live music, and larger evening events, like Art Walk and Jaxson's Night Market.

Then, in short time, the city negotiated themselves out of the stage, the Black Sheep kiosk is dead, programming has dried up, Art Walk and Night Market are gone, and even surrounding restaurants have closed or relocated.

All this over, what? An inexperience FHOP staff overspending in their first year. An easily fixable problem, considering the very clear signs of progress the park was making under their stewardship (prior to the budget slashing).

But to me, the worst part is seeing the city spend over $100k to reconfigure Hemming Park into a less desirable, comfortable space.

It shouldn't be this hard.

It's not like we're charting unknown territory here. A simple Google search will reveal numerous case studies and best practices used with great success for similar spaces. And I guarantee none of them will suggest actively making the park undesirable for the homeless, as history proves that such tactics only make public spaces less desirable for everyone else as well.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

We were never close with Hemming. FOHP did a lot of good work, but it wasn't sustainable as they mismanaged their budget and had basically no planning for the future. They also gave no indication until the ax was falling that they'd made any mistakes, or learned from them.

The lesson is, we can make a park somewhat better in the short term if we pump unreasonable amounts of money into events and such. We never got to the part where we have any long term plans for improvement.

[remc86007]

I've noticed at lunch time that although the streets surrounding the park are busy and the sidewalks are full of people, there are very few people actually in the park. I've seen people that need to get from one side of the park to the other take the surrounding sidewalks even if it means waiting for the crosswalk light to change. I guess old habits (of avoiding the people in the park) die hard.

[Tacachale]

I've noticed at lunch time that although the streets surrounding the park are busy and the sidewalks are full of people, there are very few people actually in the park. I've seen people that need to get from one side of the park to the other take the surrounding sidewalks even if it means waiting for the crosswalk light to change. I guess old habits (of avoiding the people in the park) die hard.

Last Friday I walked up from Enterprise to the Skyway station after dropping off a rental car. There were still homeless people there, just sitting on the ground or other areas rather than in the closed off areas. There were 2 cops and literally no one else who wasn't passing through like me. This despite the fact that there were quite a number of people walking around Downtown and on the Skyway that day.

[DTJAXEYE]

Beats this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7eDPQx7HgE

[thelakelander]

^To be fair, that video was clearly shot during a church feeding and is not truly representative. Even the Skyway appears to be closed, meaning it was likely shot on a weekend.

[Gunnar]

Unfortunately, it appears to be the result of tunnel vision, with a lack of understanding the definition of placemaking.

Not wanting to beat a dead horse needlessly but isn't this pretty much the story of the large majority of things in DT Jax and surrounding areas that the city has been involved in over the last what - 40 years ?

[DTJAXEYE]

^To be fair, that video was clearly shot during a church feeding and is not truly representative. Even the Skyway appears to be closed, meaning it was likely shot on a weekend.

Yes, yes, of course, of course.  Not representative at all.  An anomaly.  Extremely rare circumstances when the video was made.  Not like the park at all.  The videographer obviously laid in wait for just the right moment to defame the park.  Probably paid the interviewees.  Youtube should  censor this video and revoke the videographer's Youtube account.  Can't have this sort of thing.  All lies.  Very damaging...

[benfranklinbof]

Hemming looked good today. It wasn't packed but I thought it was a nice and peaceful environment (not dead.)