Neighborhoods: Englewood

[Metro Jacksonville]

Neighborhoods: Englewood



Metro Jacksonville explores one of the Southside's mid 20th century automobile oriented neighborhoods: Englewood

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-nov-neighborhoods-englewood

[Abhishek]

Spring Park Rd is a very good connection for bicyclists going from Southside to Downtown.

[danno]

I am surprized.... No Picture of the Twistee Treat at University and Beney Rd?

[Cliffs_Daughter]

Does anybody know what the Liberty furniture building used to be?  I've always wondered why they have a drive-up covered structure there.

[sandyshoes]

Re: Korean restaurants shown in this thread (and one Perivian restaurant not shown) - according to the Food Network and various other cable network cooking shows,  Koreans use man's best friend in their cooking...Peruvians use guinae pig.  Of course the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture would never allow such a thing here (??) but it's all I can think of when I pass those places.  Also, my Chinese cooking instructor told us to sit outside any Asian market you may want to try, and just see how the "traffic" is - after 20 minutes, if not many have come and gone, leave.  She said the Asian community knows whose store is clean, fairly priced and has a good reputation for quality - if they avoid a store, so should you.  I'm just sayin....

[sandyshoes]

The old Liberty Furniture store was actually Vallee's Restaurant, a very nice restaurant for the time (1970's), back in the days you dressed up to go to a real steakhouse or seafood restaurant.  It was huge and it was packed. They were the only place where you could get "real" scallops, not shark nuggets passed off as scallops. 

[David]

Ahh yes, the hood where I've spent 2/3rds of my life. Great timing for me on this article, I just ran into someone I went to Englewood elementary with at a backyard BBQ in St. Nicholas this past weekend.

I’ll have to take a picture of the duck pond at the specialty hospital off Richard rd that my parents took me to as a kid and still take my nieces/nephews to today.'Tiz a nice childhood memory.

One of the notable memories I have of going to Englewood Elementary as a kid and living on the other side of I-95 was that we’d often hang out on the pedestrian overpass  (or the catwalk as we called it) during our walk home after school. I always liked the rush of traffic beneath my feet and seeing the skyscrapers in the distance.   But growing up in that area was a bit on the grimy side as you can imagine, it seems even worse as of late.

University Blvd @ 95 has really taken some hits as far as the urban/suburban landscape goes, the demolition of IHOP/the two motels as mentioned (which weren’t that pretty to begin with, but jeesh, that lot looks awful now) and some time back, a lowrise building, approximately 5 stories or so was demolished to make way for the new dunkin donuts I believe. It's a far cry from my parent’s memory of the area when they first moved there in the mid 1970’s. They said it had a country sideish quality to it during those days. There was no railroad overpass on University, I believe it was only a 3 lane road back then. In the place of the Taco Bell you had a Krispy Kreme and on the corner of Phillips and Univ you had a drive in movie theater.

I never left the Englewood area until I was nearly out of high school, (insane I know) so when I discovered other parts of town like Riverside/San Marco, it was a breath of fresh air, felt like I found a new town. Englewood’s where I grew up, but man…that drive down Phillips hwy between Emerson & Univ never gets any less depressing haha. The major thoroughfares are definitely showing their age. 

Off the main roads though, the neighborhood’s decent for the most part. My parent's block is pretty safe, there's a lot of young families in the area. Plus it's really diverse, that's one thing that was cool about growing up in that area, I was exposed to a lot of differnent nationities at a young age.

[GideonGlib]

The construction on these mid-century concrete block homes (and similar neighborhoods like Cedar Hills on the Westside) is so sound for Florida, solid walls that withstand possible wind damage from hurricanes, low rooflines, smaller windows and thick walls that conserve energy,etc. They may not be beautiful like historic homes in Avondale and Springfield, or flashy like newer development, but they were built well. There are some beautifully maintained similar homes/neighborhoods down in Fort Lauderdale, and that might be a good place to look for ways to keep this neighborhood vibrant.

[jeh1980]

I used to live close to Beach Blvd. Ahhh, what good memories. Love before there were Rowe's there was an Albertson's Supermarket in that area.

[David]

Another tid-bid about the Englewood area: since it was established in the late 40's and early 50's,  this was one of the many neighborhoods severed in two by the creation of the interstate system. I’ve always wondered what a pre I-95 map of the neighborhood looked like, or how many homes had to be claimed by eminent domain.

I-95 is probably what robbed this area of that "neighborhoody" feel. Or at least my side of it.

[Wacca Pilatka]

The construction on these mid-century concrete block homes (and similar neighborhoods like Cedar Hills on the Westside) is so sound for Florida, solid walls that withstand possible wind damage from hurricanes, low rooflines, smaller windows and thick walls that conserve energy,etc. They may not be beautiful like historic homes in Avondale and Springfield, or flashy like newer development, but they were built well. There are some beautifully maintained similar homes/neighborhoods down in Fort Lauderdale, and that might be a good place to look for ways to keep this neighborhood vibrant.

The book "Jacksonville Through a Painter's Eyes" by Phil Sandusky argues passionately that mid-century residential neighborhoods are underappreciated for their beauty as well as their functionality.

[stephElf]

I’ll have to take a picture of the duck pond at the specialty hospital off Richard rd that my parents took me to as a kid and still take my nieces/nephews to today.'Tiz a nice childhood memory.

When I lived over there, I would ride my bike to that pond with stale bread. 
It also has turtles and muskrats.. nice lil' habitat.

[David]

The construction on these mid-century concrete block homes (and similar neighborhoods like Cedar Hills on the Westside) is so sound for Florida, solid walls that withstand possible wind damage from hurricanes, low rooflines, smaller windows and thick walls that conserve energy,etc. They may not be beautiful like historic homes in Avondale and Springfield, or flashy like newer development, but they were built well. .

Exactly. This neighborhood was born during the "less is more" post WW II era. The houses aren't what you'd call breath taking but they do have a working-class ruggedness to it, so that can be charming in a way.

The infrastructure is in bad shape like the article said.  Off Abby road, a friend had to replace the main pipe leading up to the street from their house  because back in the 50's they used clay pipe instead of whatever the standard is today.  The roots from a nearby tree had gone through the pipe and obstructed the flow.

And like any other older to middle aged neighborhood, the above ground power lines and heavy tree coverage make for frequent power outages as well. The hurricane season of 2004 was brutal for Englewood...idians? Englewoodagons. Englewoodanites, something....

[danno]

The old Liberty Furniture store was actually Vallee's Restaurant, a very nice restaurant for the time (1970's), back in the days you dressed up to go to a real steakhouse or seafood restaurant.  It was huge and it was packed. They were the only place where you could get "real" scallops, not shark nuggets passed off as scallops. 

I remember it as JP Peppercorns as well.

[sandyshoes]

Wow, that sounds familiar - did that happen right after Valle's closed?