Mayor John Peyton: Investing in Jacksonville's Future

[Metro Jacksonville]

Mayor John Peyton: Investing in Jacksonville's Future



Mayor John Peyton's complete presentation "Investing in Jacksonville's Future" outlines his focus for downtown in his final two years in office.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-may-mayor-john-peyton-investing-in-jacksonvilles-future

[zoo]

The downtown core, with the exception of Shipyards site, mired in debt/legal issues, and Metropolitan Park, mired in City budget issues, is entirely neglected in this plan. Not much of a surprise. The shift of downtown west to Brooklyn/LaVilla and to the southbank, and away from all of the social service facilities the leadership isn't effective enough to touch, continues.

[heights unknown]

Sounds good, looks good, but what's underneath the perfume and good looks?  I don't understand exactly what Peyton (and possibly His company along with him) are trying to do.  To me this is vision, but blurred vision if you will with no pure or well thought out focus or goals; everything he is planning here appears to be "hodge podge" to say the least, maybe a futile and "last ditch effort" to cure, treat, and smooth over his wrinkled legacy.

Heights Unknown

[thelakelander]

Peyton's downtown vision has considerable potential

Ron Littlepage Editorial

Now is the time to dream and to plan how to implement those dreams.

The sour economy has cut into the city's revenues, making it difficult to spend on new projects.

But the economy won't stay down forever. First steps can be taken now to improve our quality of life and a consensus can be developed about which direction to go when the economy does rebound.

Mayor John Peyton said this week that he's going to concentrate on that in the final two years of his administration and his focus will be on downtown and the riverfront, on both sides of the river.

The ideas he is considering are exciting.

Beginning on the Northbank, Metropolitan Park has been showing its age for a long time and in many ways it was poorly designed.

Adjacent to it, a fence cuts Kids Kampus off from the river and more open space is needed for children to run and play, and for families to picnic and enjoy the St. Johns.

The entire area needs to be redesigned.

Moving west, the Shipyards property is an opportunity for more public space just waiting to be fulfilled.

Also, the site of the current county courthouse will become available when the new courthouse is completed, as will the old city hall site.

Perhaps a convention center could go there and tie in with the Hyatt Regency, but most definitely part of the property should be set aside for public space along the riverfront.

The popularity of the Northbank Riverwalk proves the worth of such projects and the new Riverside Arts Market under the Fuller Warren Bridge adds an exclamation point to that.

Extending the Northbank Riverwalk to Memorial Park will take time but is paramount to finishing a dazzling downtown park.

On the Southbank, work could begin on the public space along the riverfront on the JEA property that used to house the Southside Generating Station.

Moving west once again, plans can be made to redo the Southbank Riverwalk, which has fallen into disrepair.

The area around Friendship Fountain also needs to be reworked to move away from its concrete jungle effect.

The Museum of Science and History could be redesigned so it takes better advantage of its riverfront location.

The Southbank Riverwalk could be extended under the Acosta Bridge to connect with the riverwalks already existing on the other side, creating a linear park that stretches into San Marco.

Big dreams? Sure.

But some of the work could begin now with money that had been set aside for public improvements in Brooklyn, where proposed development is off the table for now because of the bad real estate market.

The improvements could start at Metropolitan Park or Friendship Fountain.

In the meantime, Peyton plans to lead an effort to build a consensus on what should be done to fulfill downtown's tremendous potential.

Great cities have great downtowns. If Peyton sets in motion solid plans to move downtown forward, that will be his best legacy.

http://www.jacksonville.com/opinion/columnists/ron_littlepage/2009-05-22/story/peytons_downtown_vision_has_considerable_potentia

[JaxNole]

As nice as the presentation may be, this represents a fraction of what "downtown" has lacked.  These amenities enhance, no doubt, but the downtown vision somehow did not make it to the presentation.

There is no mention about the residents who would take advantage of these assets.  Where is the focus on increasing downtown's population and sustaining it with services and amenities?  Where is the commitment to bring additional jobs back to downtown?  Where is the commitment to bring the most basic services downtown?

This barely elevates the value of the land if only a handful of people use it.  People will then say this is yet another waste and shy away from anything concerning downtown because of yet another myopic attempt by City Hall.

I get it.  They don't get it.  At all.

[thelakelander]

^From what I heard, the vision will be shaped by the community during a two year visioning process.  To me, it sounded like everything would be on the table.  You want a convention center, push it.  You want a streetcar or skyway extension, push it.  You want more green space on the river, push it.  Museums on the river, push it.  That's how things sounded to me in the press conference.

[fsujax]

Very well said Lake, the public needs to get out and push for the things we want and need for Downtown! Make your voices heard. The Mayor's office as well as City Council members need to hear our voices.

[JaxNole]

Have tentative dates and locations been announced for the visioning process?  I am interested in attending.

First, I would take no more than month to conduct Lessons Learned workshops that demonstrate the poor decisions (Main Street pocket park) and what the alternative could have been with greater city foresight and SME (Metro Jacksonville) input.

I complain enough on here.  Now it's time I contribute.

Is there a listserv or mailing list I can join?

[thelakelander]

At this point, no meeting dates have been announced.  However, Metro Jacksonville will keep everyone informed as more information is released.

[tufsu1]

The downtown core, with the exception of Shipyards site, mired in debt/legal issues, and Metropolitan Park, mired in City budget issues, is entirely neglected in this plan. Not much of a surprise. The shift of downtown west to Brooklyn/LaVilla and to the southbank, and away from all of the social service facilities the leadership isn't effective enough to touch, continues.

Perhaps that's because those areas have already been or are currently being studied...for example, the Laura Street streetscaping project...or the simple hanging flower baskets that have been hung around the Florida Theater are over the last 2 months.

If people don't want to see a plan "just sit on the shelf", then maybe it needs to be taken in smaller chunks...as long asits still compatible with a larger vision....and we already have those...thy are called the Downtown Master Plan and Urban Core Vision.

[JaxNole]

Does the City have a Chief/Public Information Officer?

[tufsu1]

I get it.  They don't get it.  At all.

clearly!

[tufsu1]

Does the City have a Chief/Public Information Officer?

yes...Misty Skipper is the Public Information Officer....she also has deputies that cover various departments.

[zoo]

Woo hoo, ANOTHER 2-year visioning process!! How about we scrap that, and revisit all of the visioning and master planning that has already been done and not implemented!?!?

I like the suggestion of having a month of review of existing visioning, a month of updated feedback on existing plans, and a month of failure/success assessment of initiatives that have been completed. So 90-days to re-focus a plan, and then add another 90-days to estimate. 6 months!

This is where strong leadership, effective project management and streamlined bureaucracy is needed -- to define the project scope such that no more time/dollars are wasted on a reset, and planning for implementation (with non-existent monies) can be achieved!

I can appreciate Lake and fsujax's view that people need to speak out, but that presumes they will be listened to.

There is a Downtown Master Plan from 2000, the task force reports from 2005-2007, and the Zyscovich planning from 2008 for Urban Core 1. I'm sure there are more planning docs from the surrounding areas and agencies that are current enough to aggregate info from. In all of them, there are voices, but there seems to be no listening -- not just from the Mayor's office, but from the Council, as well.

A new 2-year planning process does not a legacy repair, or an effective Council make.

[JaxNole]

zoo, I am with you.

I have lost confidence in these ideas with little to show for it.  Are there no project managers out there with integrity to say no to an out-of-scope task, for fear of retribution or job loss?

If we are to engage City Council at Mayor Peyton's suggestion, I want to know who the responsible parties will be, what channels we will have to continue the dialogue and how action items will be assessed and prioritized.