Make Downtown Jax Vibrant Again.

[jaxjags]

That's my point. These places compete with DT, and we only have 1.7 million people to fill them. Unlike Detroit and other large Met areas with 2-5 million.

[TimmyB]

That's my point. These places compete with DT, and we only have 1.7 million people to fill them. Unlike Detroit and other large Met areas with 2-5 million.

On the other hand, Grand Rapids is two-thirds the size of JAX and kicks the living crap out it, regarding things to do downtown after 5 PM.  Van Andel Arena plays host to probably 275-300 events per year, between sports and concerts.  The people there have a multitude of great places to eat, drink, whatever before or after the event.  Can we say that about our DT?  For goodness sake, we are a city with an NFL franchise.

We can make excuses, but as others have pointed out, we seem to have no vision whatsoever.  We have a bunch of pie in the sky proposals, that are not linked together.  Again, am I complaining?  No.  I'm pointing out the obvious and hoping that in the coming few months, some concrete things are actually nailed down as part of a master plan for the entire area.  I've only lived here very briefly, but I want downtown to be part of the entertainment mix of my life and currently, I have little reason to venture down there.

[ProjectMaximus]

That's my point. These places compete with DT, and we only have 1.7 million people to fill them. Unlike Detroit and other large Met areas with 2-5 million.

Gotcha. It seemed like your point was that we have more competition for our downtown, when many other large metros have far more competition. But if your point is that we are simply much smaller than these other places, that is absolutely true.

[Tacachale]

I was talking more about gathering places, not necessarily suburbs. Places where do people go to eat and have fun. Jax has many of these center, several at beaches, Riverside, 5 points, Avondale, SJTC, etc. The closest to DT, and may emerge next with Live Jax, is sports complex.

Those suburbs are gathering places. If you are talking about something on the scale of Shoppes of Avondale as one stretch, 5 points as one, and Riverside's King St as another, then I'm pretty sure Detroit has over 30 of those within the CSA.

They do. In my experience, they often try to set themselves apart from "Detroit", but it's not really any different than the Town Center or Beaches are for Jax.

[thelakelander]

It's still inaccurate to think that Jax is unique. Metro Jax is a little under 1.5 million. Places in this population range include Milwaukee, Nashville, Louisville, Birmingham, Richmond, Memphis, etc. They all have their versions of Five Points, San Marco Square and Town Center. Most have larger versions like the Gulch (Nashville) Southside (Birmingham) and Highlands (Louisville).