Jacksonville Beach: Summer of '09

[rjp2008]

Althougth the sand is like concrete and the water brown and rough...

I hope the beaches continue to develop - not at a crazy pace - but enough to get rid of some of the decrepit parts and continue adding clean, modern and urban retail mix areas like the chicago pizza bldg.

[Jason]

Man, there was nearly a complete photographic historic timeline of the evolution of the bikini.  Great work!

[ralpho37]

I feel like 1st Street would be a great location to place a short, 1-2 mile trolley line.

[blizz01]

I'd be willing to say that Jacksonville's Beaches have the best overall nightlife experience in the area - I'm especially fond of Fionn MacCool's.......And it's just a short potato chip truck ride to Pusser's (PVB nightlife mix) one way, or Caribee Key (Neptune/Atlantic Beach nightlife mix) the other!  Collectively, there are plenty of venues up & down that stretch.

[Tripoli1711]

As a beaches native, at no time other than the 4th of July itself has the beaches ever rivaled Orange Park traffic.

[tufsu1]

It should be noted that most of the landscaping cost is actually coming from the City of Jax. Beach, not FDOT....the funds are from their Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) revenues, which are primarily used for infrastructure improvements within the special taxing district.

[reednavy]

I think it is money well spent, and like the variation in palm trees. Hopefully, they're next project will be to replace the ugly lightpoles on A1A with something more pleasing, like the new lights being installed in Panama City Beach.

[stjr]

I like the new medians and the new trees. Silver Date Palms, instead of the overused regular Date Palm. Just a little insight from an agricutlture major, those trees alone are worth about $8,000 each, and I may be estimating on the lower end. Still, great stuff.

These palms are nice but are they Florida natives?  I mean, really, we have to go to Asia for palms?  What's wrong with the state tree, the sable palm?  I think we should use native species where possible.  That would be the REAL Florida that most current residents have no clue about. 

Phoenix sylvestris
Silver date palm
Locality:
India, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan

From: http://www.junglemusic.net/palms/phoenix-sylvestris.htm

[Keith-N-Jax]

Theres plenty of Sabals planted here.

[tufsu1]

I think it is money well spent, and like the variation in palm trees. Hopefully, they're next project will be to replace the ugly lightpoles on A1A with something more pleasing, like the new lights being installed in Panama City Beach.

now there's something you really don't want to know the price of :-)

[reednavy]

These palms are nice but are they Florida natives?  I mean, really, we have to go to Asia for palms?  What's wrong with the state tree, the sable palm?  I think we should use native species where possible.  That would be the REAL Florida that most current residents have no clue about. 

Phoenix sylvestris
Silver date palm
Locality:
India, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan

From: http://www.junglemusic.net/palms/phoenix-sylvestris.htm

I have no issue with palms that can tolerate our climate being planted here, it adds variety and such. Besides, the palms being used, and others elsewhere have been cultivated in America for decades, and more being introduced.

I know some people stomp native, but in some cases, variety never hurt anyone. I like seeing all the different types of palms, and in a way, reflects the diversity of the Beaches.

[stjr]

I have no issue with palms that can tolerate our climate being planted here, it adds variety and such. Besides, the palms being used, and others elsewhere have been cultivated in America for decades, and more being introduced.

I know some people stomp native, but in some cases, variety never hurt anyone. I like seeing all the different types of palms, and in a way, reflects the diversity of the Beaches.

Oh, OK.  I thought botanical gardens and Disney were where people could get a cheap look at other varieties.  Silly me to think that people coming to Florida might actually come here, in part, to see our native landscape.  Maybe we should tear up our national parks and add some more "variety" there too.  Can't have too much of a good thing.    

By the way, we are often reminded there is an environmental impact on replacing native species with nonnatives. Perhaps we should be setting a good example with our public spaces.  And, as you pointed out, these "exotic" species cost far more than more readily available indigenous ones.  Shouldn't that also be a factor in these tough economic times.

[deathstar]

I took this picture my last time out at Jax Beach



My dream is live and work out there, I love our beach.

[reednavy]

Oh, OK.  I thought botanical gardens and Disney were where people could get a cheap look at other varieties.  Silly me to think that people coming to Florida might actually come here, in part, to see our native landscape.  Maybe we should tear up our national parks and add some more "variety" there too.  Can't have too much of a good thing.    

By the way, we are often reminded there is an environmental impact on replacing native species with nonnatives. Perhaps we should be setting a good example with our public spaces.  And, as you pointed out, these "exotic" species cost far more than more readily available indigenous ones.  Shouldn't that also be a factor in these tough economic times.

I'm not trying to please everyone, I just hop you see my observation.

As being an avid landscaper and love different varieties of plants, I welcome variety.

[ErikSetzer]

A new Mellow Mushroom, quite large I may add, opened recently beside the old Harry's location. It Looks good and striking with the use of dark colors and rich wood on the exterior. I couldn't tell if it was stone, stucco, and painted cement, but looks good.

It looks pretty interesting on the inside, too, especially with the psychedelic paintings and all (and *is* quite large, especially compared to the one on Southside).  It has an old bus hollowed out and filled with benches for some seating, a pretty good sized bar in the center, plenty of seats around it, and even seating outside.  The pizza's pretty good (better than Chicago Pizza), and it has a very nice selection of beer on tap (including my favorites such as Guinness, Harp, Smithwick's, and Tucher).

I'm still not sure what's going up beside it, just walked by there yesterday and still no sign, but it looks like it's going to be something equally impressive looking.