Your Downtown Dream...

[Brick]

There is a wealth of opportunities in the RiverCity and our Downtown landscape... What are your dreams for downtown?  A riverfront park, a new highrise design, affordable housing, entertainment venues, trollies???

Tell us, or even better, show the Forum your dream plan!

Great Ideas can spawn Great Realities! 

[Ocklawaha]

Pretty busy this week and weekend (hey anyone want to carry boxes? ha ha - YUCK!) But I will post a short something here.

[DetroitInJAX]

Hmm.. I think I can rattle off a quick something in my head.

1. Maxwell House has a "factory store" and cafe, and offers tours.

2. Hart Bridge onramps that fly over East Jacksonville torn down in favor of surface streets.

3. LaVilla area infill of any kind that is urban/street oriented, not this suburban designed crap that turns its back to the street.

4. Smart Meters

5. All parking garages must have street level retail (Like Center Square at Forsyth).

6. Bank of America/Modis Building public observation decks.

7. Expand the Landing, include shops that face the street, instead of the current "back turned to the street" design.

8. Expand the Skyway to the stadiums, DOWNTOWN SAN MARCO, Five Points, Springfield.

9. Create a real downtown circulator system that compliments the skyway.

10. Make it so every single bus that travels through the county doesnt have to run a rediculous route through downtown that adds 30 minutes to a journey before heading to Rosa Parks.

11.  One12 = rental apartments ala 11E

12.  More reasonable MARKET RATE upscale rental properties downtown.

13.  Ban surface parking lots.

14.  No more pointless parks.

15.  STREET LEVEL RETAIL, EVERYWHERE.

16.  Train connections to Orange Park, Southside/Baymeadows, The Beaches, The Airport, NAS JAX.. With the ability to connect to a larger system at Union Terminal with service as far north as Kingsland and as far south as St. Augustine (something like the LIRR or Metro-North, on a smaller scale obviously).

17.  Put Jerry Moran on the city council.   

18. Put Jerry Moran on the city council so he can close down "De Real Ting" cafe.

19.  Finally build a parking garage/RiverWatch.. ANYTHING on that site besides a dirt lot in the CENTER of our fair city.

20.  The St. James Building is once again a department store (maybe even a Target).

21.  Publix takes over part of a newly expanded Landing.

22.  Walgreens/CVS opens a store on the corner of Forsyth and Main.

23.  A hookah bar goes next to Eddie Farah.

24.  Buses are replaced with something similar to MBTA "Silver Line" service in Boston... As the lines run through downtown, the buses are electric, allowing quiet and clean transportation to not disturb shoppers/diners.  Hell, why not just have STREETCARS!

thats it for now... 24 points off the top of my head.

[Ocklawaha]

If you REALLY like those ideas... What a cool place this would be if we only had leaders with vision. I think we all wish someone would get in charge that cares about Jacksonville and it's citizens more then he/she cares about his own pocket. Here's a few of mine...


1. Streetcars, honest to God, steel-wheel-on-steel rails, electric, rail vehicles, running on Water, Independence, Newnan, Beaver, Randolph, Duval, Lee, May, Riverside, etc... Reaching into Springfield, Fairfield, LaVilla, Riverside, Avondale, Fairfax, San Marco, San Jose and from Union Terminal to Stadiums.
2. LRT/DMU transit, dual mode (diesel and electric) operating on the former "S" line to the Airport, Cruise Port, Fernandina, NAS, Orange Park, Green Cove Springs, former Maxwell House Spur and across the streetcar line from Union Station to Stadium.
3. Commuter Rail DMU service, on the FEC to South Jacksonville, Avenues, Nocatee, St Augustine Airport, St. Augustine.
4. Commuter Rail push-pull trains to and from downtown to Gainesville and Tallahassee
5. Skyway completed with transfer stations, garages and retail levels to Stadium (Randolph), Edward Waters, San Marco, Saint Nicholas, Riverside/5 points.
6. Interurban rail along Arlington Expressway to beaches
7. BRT/in HOV to Northwest Jax, JT Butler, Blanding, Normandy
8. 10 Cent transit dayz



9. New Matthews tunnel
10. Skycable system over river near or to stadium district
11. Maritime museum, with a rebuilt "City of Jacksonville" riverboat offering cruises to Sanford and connecting with tour buses for Disney etc... Also former war ships, and a promise of the USS Jacksonville when she is retired
12. Sell a tract in Fairfield to the Seminole Tribe of Florida to build a Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.



13. Tie the Hard Rock into a "Southern Music Hall of Fame" with recording studios, sound stage, institute of advanced music theory and 5 star museum
14. Turn the "cookie cutter" baseball park into "The Home of the Negro Leagues" and build a National museum of the Negro leagues and hall of fame.
15. Rip down the flyover ramps in all of Fairfield and replace them with broad parkways.
16. Place a one-of-a-kind, Trolley - streetcar - interurban museum in downtown, complete with a antique powerhouse, car shops, restaurant, retail
17. Line the Riverwalk with life-size statues of Oliver Hardy, Ray Charles and everyone in between that gained fame and called Jacksonville home.


18. A Jacksonville Creek-Walk along Hogans Creek, South of State Street, featuring Creek barges, hotels, unique retail, loft apartments, and lots of shady retreats.
19. Restore/build a Jacksonville film studios, circa 1920, a mini-theme park and museum complex unlike ANYTHING found in Orlando or California. Guests see what the original "Hollywood" was really like, they can leave with their own DVD silent flick that they star in (ONLY IN JACKSONVILLE)



20. We rebuild, restore and create a complete tunnel system and offer tours, clubs and night life in a formerly unknown part of the City known as something unique like: "20 Feet Below"
21. Jacksonville, is the home to an international Tall Ship festival ever 5 years
22. A convention center is built where the former City Hall or Courthouse stood and the Prime Osbourne is restored to transportation purposes as God intended
23. We would create decorative signs that would mark a Jacksonville Civil War trail that starts and ends downtown and passes through the beaches, West-side to Olustee and back
24. We flood the New Acosta bridge with orange lights, the Fuller Warren with green, we create water fall curtains that drape off the sides of the New Acosta and on special events bounce lazer videos off the water screens.



Zeppelins new ship comes to town

25. JSO buys a blimp and we establish the first Airship festival in the century, Zeppelin Airship brings their new ships to visit the River City, we open the first trans-Atlantic Zeppelin cargo port in the North-side

26. The JTA board, directors and BRT planners, decide to take a zeppelin trip over the North Pole and are never seen again

hee hee
[img]http://static.flickr.com/31/43393649_5fa2a4dd40_m.jpg[/]

[big ben]

i would love to have a little more of a nightlife downtown.  perhaps a section of downtown known for it's nightlife, not spread out so people can walk back and forth between places easily.  it seems like it's started in that direction already.

more modern apartments/condos so more people can live downtown.  they especially need to be moderately priced so that it doesn't turn into only the wealthy living downtown.  i think this would complement the nightlife, either following it or leading it.

places open later in the day.  besides during artwalk, it seems like a lot of restaurants and such close down after the workday is over.  of course, restaurants could stay open later if more people lived downtown. 

high city fees for surface parking lots, or any vacant lot that is not developed within a reasonable time frame.  fees for dormant projects.  severely high fees for demolishing structures, if they somehow get approved.

no more demolishing buildings.

city incentives for restoring buildings.

light rail to the burbs and tunneled under downtown, using existing tunnels if possible and/or reasonable.  this could even replace the skyway if it ends up saving lots of money, although that would probably not work with tunnels, since it's a skyway. 

a large and well-maintained urban park, with lots of attractions other than being just a park (museums, sports fields, large events, etc).  i have no idea where it would go, but it'd be nice.

[thelakelander]

a large and well-maintained urban park, with lots of attractions other than being just a park (museums, sports fields, large events, etc).  i have no idea where it would go, but it'd be nice.

yes, this would be nice.

We have one with sports fields, a college campus, medical center and a museum that can be used for large events.  Its the chain that parallels Hogans Creek.  We just have to find a way to keep it maintained and fill up it's surroundings with a diverse amount of uses that open up and feed activity onto it.

Hogans Creek photo tour: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/289/119/

[downtownparks]

I dont know how feasible tunnels are in Florida. Our water table is like a few feet below the surface.

[thelakelander]

There's a tunnel under the Las Olas River in Downtown Fort Lauderdale and we may have our own Big Dig Part II going on in Miami.  Right now, they are considering reconstructing I-395 as a tunnel to reconnecting Overtown back with downtown Miami.  There's also a plan to construct a new tunnel to access the cruise port down there.

[Ocklawaha]

Thanks Downtown Parks and Lakelander, Add to the tunnels Lake mentioned, a score of old tunnels under Jacksonville, that are already in place and another tunnel under part of the old Union Terminal that was big enough to drive a car through, built in a swamp in 1919! I have some of the signs that came from inside that last tunnel... Oh yes, we COULD do this. I like a mix of "cave" and "old Mine" theme myself as there is nothing else like that in the land.

[gatorback]

Get the schoolboard off the river.   

[tufsu1]

There's a tunnel under the Las Olas River in Downtown Fort Lauderdale and we may have our own Big Dig Part II going on in Miami.  Right now, they are considering reconstructing I-395 as a tunnel to reconnecting Overtown back with downtown Miami.  There's also a plan to construct a new tunnel to access the cruise port down there.

I think the part of 395 they are lloking to tunnel separates the new Performing Arts Center (and burgeoning arts district) from downtown....isn't Overtown west of 95?

[thelakelander]

Talk about killing a neighborhood, I-95 went right through the heart of Overtown.  If that wasn't enough, I-395 took out another section.  The old Overtown business district, where the Lyric Theater is at, is located between I-95 and the FEC rail line.  The Performing Arts Center is in the same general area, but a few blocks east of the rail line.  I know we talk about our homeless, situation here, but you don't want to get caught under the I-95/395 interchange at night.  Its like a third world country down there.

[big ben]

a large and well-maintained urban park, with lots of attractions other than being just a park (museums, sports fields, large events, etc).  i have no idea where it would go, but it'd be nice.

yes, this would be nice.

We have one with sports fields, a college campus, medical center and a museum that can be used for large events.  Its the chain that parallels Hogans Creek.  We just have to find a way to keep it maintained and fill up it's surroundings with a diverse amount of uses that open up and feed activity onto it.

Hogans Creek photo tour: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/289/119/

it doesn't seem that big from the ground, but i've never driven along the whole length of it.  definitely, the problem is keeping it maintained.  they also need to try to have outdoor events there.  i definitely enjoyed the springfield old-timey baseball, but there needs to be more than that.  i wonder if they could host a beer festival or music festival there.  i could even give consider enjoying a wine festival, even though wine still seems overly hyped to me.

[Lunican]

The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra played in Klutho Park back in May.



http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/427/117/

[downtownparks]

a large and well-maintained urban park, with lots of attractions other than being just a park (museums, sports fields, large events, etc).  i have no idea where it would go, but it'd be nice.

yes, this would be nice.

We have one with sports fields, a college campus, medical center and a museum that can be used for large events.  Its the chain that parallels Hogans Creek.  We just have to find a way to keep it maintained and fill up it's surroundings with a diverse amount of uses that open up and feed activity onto it.

Hogans Creek photo tour: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/289/119/

it doesn't seem that big from the ground, but i've never driven along the whole length of it.  definitely, the problem is keeping it maintained.  they also need to try to have outdoor events there.  i definitely enjoyed the springfield old-timey baseball, but there needs to be more than that.  i wonder if they could host a beer festival or music festival there.  i could even give consider enjoying a wine festival, even though wine still seems overly hyped to me.

As one of the organizers of the old time baseball, we appreciate the support. We will be having one more game this year in October. I will post it when we have more info.

There is a lot more that could be done, its just a matter of getting someone who will organize it. I have been talking to one of my neighbors about trying to organize a St Patricks Day in the park, and try to get a bunch of beer vendors out there... maybe do it in Confederate Park, and dye the pond green...

Live music would be awesome, we just need someone to do it. I tried to put together movies in the park, but licensing was cost prohibitive. If you have an event you would be willing to put together, please contact SPAR (you can email me at downtownparks@gmail.com) and we will try to help you put it together!!!

There is Dog Days in the Park on Sept 29th in Klutho.



Also, there is the annual Memorial Day, Labor Day softball games in the park (we will be out there next Monday morning)