Parking craters: A Downtown vibrancy killer

[thelakelander]

Despite a common perception that parking is difficult in the city center, Downtown Jacksonville has more surface parking lots, garages and empty land – in other words, 'parking craters' – than standing buildings. This vast amount of dead space has long been one of the biggest hindrances to Downtown's progress.

Read More: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/parking-craters-a-downtown-vibrancy-killer/

[Captain Zissou]

It's easy to see why people say the skyway doesn't go anywhere.  Of the existing stations, only 3 are in highly developed areas.  If the areas around the existing stations were to densify, it would become a lot more useful to a lot more people.  Add in 2-3 more stations in adjacent developed areas and the impact will be much greater.  We don't need to spend $500M on a whole new system.  Just a few incremental improvements to the existing system will do wonders.  It starts with building out the Brooklyn Station that would cost less than 60 feet of the new $15M per mile system.

[Tacachale]

It's easy to see why people say the skyway doesn't go anywhere.  Of the existing stations, only 3 are in highly developed areas.  If the areas around the existing stations were to densify, it would become a lot more useful to a lot more people.  Add in 2-3 more stations in adjacent developed areas and the impact will be much greater.  We don't need to spend $500M on a whole new system.  Just a few incremental improvements to the existing system will do wonders.  It starts with building out the Brooklyn Station that would cost less than 60 feet of the new $15M per mile system.

Great points.

[thelakelander]

This is something I've been a fan of for well over a decade now. Without spending a dime on expansion, it seems we can leverage a lot more out of the existing infrastructure by aggressively focusing on infill development around existing underutilized Skyway stations (coordinating infrastructureinvestment with supportive land use initiatives). IMO, the Brooklyn Station should have been built as a no frills station back in 2013-2014. As for the U2C to the stadium, Five Points, etc., we don't have to sacrifice the life of our first born child with unproven technology before running such routes. Run a bus (like Lymmo in DT Orlando) down Bay and Park with frequent, reliable service and stops, from select Skyway stations.

[Captain Zissou]

^Instead of spending half a billion on the U2C, I just don't see why the city can't by a couple dozen tesla model Ys (or something similar) and run them on the open street if these things won't have dedicated lanes anyway.  Tesla or another vehicle provider might even want to partner on the initiative and provide the cars at significant discount or for free.  By the time whatever vehicle the city is using is street ready, the larger EV companies will also be ready for full automation.  I would put money on Uber developing a larger capacity van before anyone JTA has partnered with is able to get above 30 mph.   

[jaxlongtimer]

Great analysis. 

It would be neat to post pictures of all the historic buildings torn down to create these "crater" parking lots to show how much great historic architecture and vitalization we "sacrificed"  in pursuit of the "next big thing" only to kill the ambiance and culture of Downtown.

Might also do more to make the case for historic preservation than most anything else to hopefully save the few remaining historically significant buildings.