A "Taking Riverside to the Next Level" Proposal

[rjp2008]

The renaissance that Riverside has been having has been refreshing to see. Already an attraction area because of Five Points, the development to south has been a boost to the area. I think that by adding a few more things, it could really become a hot magnet, especially to a 20's-40's crowd very quickly.

Kids Science/Exploratorium/Art/Music Something
Where: Renaissance at Riverside Building next to Memorial Park
Why: Saves building, Gives a DESTINATION for Parents with Kids

an LA Fitness style gym
Where: Maybe Margaret Street or Riverside Ave North of RAM
What: 2 story structure, Indoor basketball, swimming pool, kids klub, cardio, free weights, machines, etc.
Why: Always jam packed, they literally are a guarranteed positive economic impact. People would
come from all over Jax to use it there'd be nothing like it in town. Health care peopl

Barnes n Noble/Borders
Why: Attracts lots of students and young people, Cafes are always packed late
Where: Perhaps where Wendys is.

A FUN attraction for KIDS - a REAL Pizza Palace!
Build an awesome looking castle exterior, gardens, fountains, a birthday zone for kids! Couple knights and princesses in costume kids wold LOVE IT and right next to RAM it would blow up!

Make Riverside Park ACTIVE!
Fountain shooting up from the lake, a tennis court and IMPROVED basketball court WITH LIGHTS (2 actually) Make it more garden-esque and light it up like CRAZY at night with Christmas lighting, lamps, etc. Make it ACTIVE instead of just a WOODS in the middle of a neighborhood.

Trolley Streetcar
Connecting it all together would obviously be a major draw

So basically what we've done if you've paying attention is to create even more nodes of activity starting from Riverside Park all the way down Margaret Street.

[RiversideLoki]

And can we get a water park A la that park in Murray Hill/Metro Park? Just some fountains the kids can play in? That'd be awesome. I don't understand why the little park in Murray Hill can have one, but Riverside Park doesn't. Hardly anyone uses that little park and it's a really neat thing for the kids on a hot day.

[vicupstate]

Riverside is doing well already, why not put some of these things in an area that really needs it, like Brooklyn, LaVilla, Northbank or Springfield?  The Kids Exploratorium, in particular.

[rjp2008]

Brooklyn or Bay Street Station could be possible for those two big anchors, but those projects are on the shelf now. They wouldnt be viable elsewhere on the Northbank or Springfield, and naturally as a business they want to be in high density not poor areas to start.

But yeah, a Kids Expo would be cool maybe next to Sweet Pete's?

[Fallen Buckeye]

I think that the part of Riverside adjacent to Avondale is already fairly family friendly. I would say that Willowbranch Park could use some sprucing up including possibly lighting the existing basketball courts. My other complaint about the park is that people often take their dogs for walks through Willowbranch Park, but they don't clean up after their pets. Perhaps making a few more garbage cans and a plastic bag dispenser would encourage more people to clean up after their pets. For this reason, I tend to take my kids to Boone Park more often. Plus, there is that one homeless guy who has set up camp right there by the playground equipment at Willowbranch which makes me a mite uncomfortable taking my kids there. I'd also recommend making the playgrounds at the public schools available to kids afterhours.

As far as attractions go, my kids love the Kids Connection in the Cummer and we're only a 10 minute drive from MOSH, too. Honestly, quality schools, park space, quiet pace of life, and convenience to basic amenities are the most important draws for a young family like mine. The other stuff is nice, but not essential. As a parent, I'm not taking my kids to the museum everyday or even every week. Five Points is already oriented to a young adult crowd with the nightlife and funky shops while the rest of Riverside and Avondale seems to be oriented to everyone else. Streetcars and a good bookstore would be very welcome though.

[simms3]

Riverside is successful in terms of Jacksonville's standards, but when other cities our size, even smaller, and of course larger, have similar neighborhoods with said improvements, Riverside's success is only relative to a much smaller scale.  I think Riverside can be A LOT better.  There are no nice "chain" gyms in Jax like LA Fitness.  Where I live in Atlanta there are probably 5 within 3 miles.  There are no "urban" Barnes and Nobles in Jax...once again where I live there are 2 Barnes and 2 Borders within 2 miles of where I live, all in urban environments.  Riverside park could be beautiful (and once was), but currently SUCKS.  The parks in Jacksonville are horrible when compared to parks in just about any other city.  The only park that I can call decent is Memorial Park, and there is no excuse for that.  Jax always touts its park system, but it is the worst park system I have ever seen.  Here in Atl, where we have Piedmont, Chastain, Candler, Centennial Olympic, and countless other heavily used wonderful parks, people still say it's horrible and not enough (so we're building a $3B park called the Beltline).

The one thing Riverside has on that list already is a children's museum (in the Cummer) unless that is gone now.  However, Jacksonville does not have a real "Children's Museum" and perhaps a good place for that would be Riverside.  The only problem with all of this is that there are no nearby universities to put said "students" into these places, but I think there are enough other people to provide demand for a real book store (doesn't have to be chain) and a nice gym and an independent coffee shop (I can't believe how scare those are in Jacksonville considering all the neighborhoods that they would fit into).

Bottom line: Great Ideas and they need to happen in Riverside before stuff like that can happen in Brooklyn.  Growth will spread out from Riverside and I think city leaders envision a "Brickell Ave" type environment for Brooklyn (which I laugh at because that's probably 50 years away).

[rjp2008]

Very, very true Simms. You can place much of the blame on sprawl for why Jax is 20 years behind major metropolitan areas (in terms of development) like where you are (Atl) and my hometown (SoFla).

It's tragically sad there is no RIVERSIDE COLLEGE. I would gladly trade a couple blocks of historic homes for a college there that could one day BECOME historic.

[uptowngirl]

Very, very true Simms. You can place much of the blame on sprawl for why Jax is 20 years behind major metropolitan areas (in terms of development) like where you are (Atl) and my hometown (SoFla).

It's tragically sad there is no RIVERSIDE COLLEGE. I would gladly trade a couple blocks of historic homes for a college there that could one day BECOME historic.

I am beginning to get the feeling you do not like anything historic?

[rjp2008]

I actually worked on restoring one on Herschel ten years ago.

I like a healthy mix of both new and old. Not everything old is historic, and not everything new is good. A well placed college in Riverside would be AWESOME for the area, and hopefully it could be done with losing as little history as possible BUT if need be, there are so many homes there it wouldn't hurt the big picture to transform a fraction into a college.

[Captain Zissou]

^ I think you're looking for a bunch of magic bullets to solve the 'riverside problem'. 

Just as you said not everything old is historic, not every college is worth having.  Our city already has 3 four year colleges. Why have none of them created a neighborhood that caters to young adults and young professionals.  One more college wouldn't do that for Riverside, especially when you consider the type of footprint it would have and what would need to be destroyed for it to work. 

The problem is not just riverside, the problem is Jacksonville and its people.  If you build a college in Riverside, people will just commute from Kernan and no problem is solved, just a new traffic jam will develop.  What we need to do is grow and improve our current colleges, not build new ones.  We also need to create city policies that will facilitate urban development, not transplanting suburban stores into an urban area.

[rjp2008]

Let me rephrase then - I think Riverside would be a tremendous place to start a very small, unique college, offering things that neither UNF nor FSCJ nor JU does. Something like 50-100 students working out of a couple re-purposed homes or a single block building that sort of thing.

[Fallen Buckeye]

It'd be great to get an art school somewhere in the vicinity of the Cummer and RAM. That could create a lot of synergy.

[CS Foltz]

It'd be great to get an art school somewhere in the vicinity of the Cummer and RAM. That could create a lot of synergy.

That idea has merit for sure! Area could be self feeding and the Riverside Art Walk could be a tie in!

[simms3]

I agree with Captain Zissou that we should just expand our current colleges.  I also agree that a small non-4 yr trade school college could work, probably related to Art or Culinary training.  Of course Art Institute has to be in an office building like they are most other places, too, but perhaps a small footprint office building that is around 4 floors and provides street level activity would work.

The problem is that we are not a large enough city to have 2 Art Institutes and the current Art Institute is not going to move from their current location for a long time, and would an investor really try to compete with Art Institute when opening a new art school?  It's a quandary that could only have been fixed 2 years ago when the city had the chance to do something to entice them to stay in the core.

[rjp2008]

CS Foltz - exactly, re: RAM tie-in.

I didnt know Jax had one already, just looked it up. Southpoint Baymeadows location (go figure - typical). A branch of Miami International.

I disagree the city is too small for more. Specialized private colleges enhance a city no matter the size. It will draw MORE people because of it's character, courses and reputation.

Who's going to move to Jax for "The Art Institute of Miami Branch in a Baymeadows Shopping Center"?