JTA meetings on the future of the Skyway

[jcjohnpaint]

I won't be surprised if Ford uses the predicted survey results to save face and serve as a cover for JTA to say it will kill U2C by public demand, not because there hand was forced and it can no longer afford to pursue a wasteful, poorly conceived, pie-in-the-sky, unfeasible project that JTA should never have embarked upon.

I am guessing this is the plan.

[Nmhatt]

This article from JDR about the Phoenix district name-dropping the Skyway is interesting 

Those projects include a concept for a residential building and a parking structure, possibly connected by a skyway, to provide access for district residents and the community to the Emerald Trail, the 30-mile system of pedestrian and cycling paths in and around Downtown Jacksonville.

I'm assuming a hypothetical extension to the Phoenix district would have the line running down Main Street. As a Springfield resident, I would get a lot of use out of this. It would be a cool experience taking my kids to the library or any of the new riverfront parks via the Skyway.

Obviously, this was probably a throwaway line to tie into the current discussion around the skyway's future, but what would the rest of you think about an extension to "PHXJAX"? A few years ago they had public input about a  TOD centered around Phoenix. This could be a way to potentially add to that vision.

Even though I would personally benefit from having the Skyway run through Springfield, I think this should be a much lower priority of the potential extensions compared to Brooklyn or Bay Street toward the Stadium.

[thelakelander]

^Sounds like a walkway connecting two buildings over a street or rail line, not mass transit.

[Nmhatt]

^Sounds like a walkway connecting two buildings over a street or rail line, not mass transit.

Now I feel dumb haha. Let me dream, Ennis

[Jax_Developer]

Just a reminder that Jacksonville has no TOD's & we are unable to qualify any projects as TOD's per Federal Guidelines (other than the land immediately adjacent to our lovely Amtrak station on the Northside).

Any TOD legislation or discussion is purely clout.

[marcuscnelson]

^ TOD doesn't require federal action. There are specific federal financing programs which those guidelines are for, but the basic concept of "we have spent millions of taxpayer dollars building these transit systems, therefore we should make it legal and easy to develop denser housing and urban amenities around them" is generally a state and local affair. Florida has taken a number of steps to mandate looser zoning around transit stations over the last few years (even while also attacking said transit), and ironically local efforts like Rory Diamond's push to remove parking mandates within the beltway would also serve as similar support.

The city last revised its TOD laws about 4 years ago, introducing (in my opinion) a number of onerous rules that made actually building TOD much less likely, hence PHXJAX being one of the only developments to even bother utilizing that process. At the same time, JTA has spent millions of dollars on elaborate TOD studies that seem to do little to guide policymaking or development decisions.

A much more productive course of action would be TOD studies that simply recognize past and potential major investments in transit infrastructure and service, identify large underutilized parcels adjacent to that infrastructure, and clearly define the needed legal changes (via rezoning, land use, and permitting) to allow those parcels to be utilized in a way that justifies and supports that transit investment. At which point City Council should make those changes and let the market do its thing. You don't need big master plans or multiple rounds of charettes or applications. The private (and public) sector can decide what they want to build with the flexibility that should be allowed around this infrastructure that's been paid for and has capacity to spare.

[Jax_Developer]

The whole point in implementing TOD's is largely due to the public element. It's why there is a very large federal program setup around it that many other cities/developers can apply for.

Feel free to call whatever you want a TOD... it's a bastardized version of what an actual TOD is intended to do for both public & private use. At that point, arguably not a TOD.