Nice snippit from today's Daily Record
http://jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=532714 (http://jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=532714)
QuoteShe said a Downtown restaurant wants to add outdoor seating and has been working on the issue for a year and has hired legal counsel to help.
“Why is this more than a 10-minute decision?†she asked. “If Rick Scott hears this, he is going to say, ‘we’re not bringing companies there,’†she said.
Alba said the next mayor has to answer a question: “What do we do to show Rick Scott we will welcome the business he’ll bring us?â€
She said that “CEO types are not emotional guys†and they make decisions “like that,†snapping her fingers.
“You can’t have a restaurant wait a year to get outdoor seating.â€
A year to get a decision on outdoor seating? This is exactly what Peyton should have to answer for regardless of being directly responsible or not. If it took a restaraunt in NYC a year to get a decision on something so trivial Bloomberg would have a coniption.
A year to make a decision on outdoor seating is insane. The modification of hostile public policy and forcing seamless coordination between departments is the one of the simple ways to immediately change the face of downtown and stimulate foot traffic on the streets. With that said, I'll plug this article we ran a few months back.
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-nov-creating-downtown-vibrancy-by-exposing-secret-retail
Quote from: thelakelander on January 14, 2011, 10:45:49 AM
A year to make a decision on outdoor seating is insane. The modification of hostile public policy and forcing seamless coordination between departments is the one of the simple ways to immediately change the face of downtown and stimulate foot traffic on the streets. With that said, I'll plug this article we ran a few months back.
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-nov-creating-downtown-vibrancy-by-exposing-secret-retail
I was in downtown Orlando last Friday. I didn't even walk the whole area(about 6 blocks, I spent most of my time exploring Lake Eola and Thornton Park-which by God Springfield could mimick one day), but I counted 24 sandwich boards and 15 restaurants that had welcoming street-level entrances and outdoor seating.
I mean, why not here?? Simple freaking sandwich boards are considered unwelcome. Talk about a hostile business policy designed to discourage the pedestrian experience all of these agencies give lip service to.
while i strongly agree that a year just for a decision on outdoor seating is ridiculous, i question this sudden rash ov apparent rick scott idolatry. have we all forgotten what a sleazy creature he is? any business gains he brings the state will only last until someöne higher up realizes he's done it all illegally--i don't think he knows any other way.
See, this conversation really has nothing to do with Rick Scott. He doesn't control Jacksonville's downtown business environment any more than the Pope does.
FYI I voted for Alex Sink, but that doesn't have anything to do with making downtown more attractive to small business either.
Quote from: fieldafm on January 14, 2011, 10:10:29 AM
Nice snippit from today's Daily Record
http://jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=532714 (http://jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=532714)
QuoteShe said a Downtown restaurant wants to add outdoor seating and has been working on the issue for a year and has hired legal counsel to help.
“Why is this more than a 10-minute decision?†she asked. “If Rick Scott hears this, he is going to say, ‘we’re not bringing companies there,’†she said.
Alba said the next mayor has to answer a question: “What do we do to show Rick Scott we will welcome the business he’ll bring us?â€
She said that “CEO types are not emotional guys†and they make decisions “like that,†snapping her fingers.
“You can’t have a restaurant wait a year to get outdoor seating.â€
That's preposterous, and typifies the attitude towards downtown that has effectively killed it. COJ should be embarrassed.
Why is this such a hard thing to figure out? where the hell was DVI during this process????
I wonder what restaurant was trying to get the outdoor seating?
Should anyone really be surprised?
Did that actually occur or is it a hypothetical based on negative perceptions?
Quote from: vicupstate on January 14, 2011, 04:08:00 PM
Did that actually occur or is it a hypothetical based on negative perceptions?
It was something that already happened, a restaurant wanted to open up downtown and have outdoor seating, which would require an exception. Apparently it's been over a year and they've still not received an approval from COJ, and were forced to hire an attorney. This should have been a no-brainer, you'd think COJ would have been thrilled.
So which restaurant?
Quote from: vicupstate on January 14, 2011, 05:00:58 PM
So which restaurant?
Ask the business journal. It's their article not mine.
Maybe they made the whole thing up and you'll win a Pulitzer for busting them...
It's the Daily Record actually. They were quoting a member of the JCCI committee. Just because someone says something doesn't make it true. It may be true that they SAID it, but it doesn't make what was said true.
Take it with a grain of salt. Or maybe a pound.
Is Bill Brinton behind this, too? Don Redman? Why do we let literally a few individuals with some power in this city bring the whole deck of cards down? This reminds me of the whole Mayport issue. One 90 year old crabby lady and about 10 sympathizers versus the entire metro and all of the other businesses and residents in Mayport, and old lady wins. I feel like every city has some bit of red tape, but Jacksonville seems to have a red carpet for blocking progress and improvements (and small businesses). Higher taxes are less business-unfriendly than our ridiculous policies and red tape.
Quote from: vicupstate on January 14, 2011, 06:28:52 PM
It's the Daily Record actually. They were quoting a member of the JCCI committee. Just because someone says something doesn't make it true. It may be true that they SAID it, but it doesn't make what was said true.
Take it with a grain of salt. Or maybe a pound.
I didn't realize the daily record was circulated in Charleston South Carolina, so what would you know about its credibility anyway? Seriously? Well like I said, why don't you investigate the Daily Record then and win a Pulitzer when you bust them for making this up. Lol. This is rich.
The credibility of the Daily Record is not the issue. I don't doubt that it was SAID. But is it TRUE? There was no mention of what type of restaurant, or who owned it, or where it was other than DT. People hear someone say something, and repeat it elsewhere as gospel all the time. Urban legends, for example.
I have read the Daily Record since about 1999, which I would guess is before you were out of diapers. I've visited Charleston many times, but I have never seen it there. They DO have the internet in Charleston, so if someone living there wanted to read it they could.
Quote from: thelakelander on January 14, 2011, 10:45:49 AM
A year to make a decision on outdoor seating is insane. The modification of hostile public policy and forcing seamless coordination between departments is the one of the simple ways to immediately change the face of downtown and stimulate foot traffic on the streets. With that said, I'll plug this article we ran a few months back.
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-nov-creating-downtown-vibrancy-by-exposing-secret-retail
How would this stimulate foot traffic?
Quote from: vicupstate on January 14, 2011, 08:35:24 PM
The credibility of the Daily Record is not the issue. I don't doubt that it was SAID. But is it TRUE? There was no mention of what type of restaurant, or who owned it, or where it was other than DT. People hear someone say something, and repeat it elsewhere as gospel all the time. Urban legends, for example.
I have read the Daily Record since about 1999, which I would guess is before you were out of diapers. I've visited Charleston many times, but I have never seen it there. They DO have the internet in Charleston, so if someone living there wanted to read it they could.
So a guy 500 miles away is lecturing me on the credibility of interview subjects that he doesn't know, in a city where he doesn't live, in an article by a newspaper he doesn't even get in South Carolina. Thanks for the lecture, maybe when you're finished you can throw your hat in the ring to be the next mayor of San Francisco too, since the Internet apparently makes you so much more knowledgeable about local issues than the people who actually live there.
Maybe you could expound on how or why someone would just make that up, considering we have several current and former downtown business owners like Stephen Dare and Jerry Moran on this site, who incidentally all say the same thing about COJ's attitude towards downtown. Why don't you go ahead and state exactly which person that you've never met in the article in the newspaper that you don't get in the city where you don't live was lying, and I can contact Jim Bailey who owns the Daily Record for you and since he posts on this site as well, we can get a clarification for you since I'm sure this issue must be huge up in Charleston.
Quote from: JC on January 15, 2011, 08:33:57 AM
Quote from: thelakelander on January 14, 2011, 10:45:49 AM
A year to make a decision on outdoor seating is insane. The modification of hostile public policy and forcing seamless coordination between departments is the one of the simple ways to immediately change the face of downtown and stimulate foot traffic on the streets. With that said, I'll plug this article we ran a few months back.
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-nov-creating-downtown-vibrancy-by-exposing-secret-retail
How would this stimulate foot traffic?
How would it not? Restaurants bring people, you have to walk downtown at a minimum from on-street parking or a parking lot to your destination. The more people you have walking around, the better vibrancy is. That's the problem in a nutshell with what we did when we allowed every big building to build a dedicated parking garage, those people no longer walked and interacted with the street.
Quote from: vicupstate on January 14, 2011, 05:00:58 PM
So which restaurant?
The few details included in her example seem specific enough to me that it refers to an actual business she's familiar with on some level. My guess is she left details out on the specific restaurant on purpose, because specifics aren't necessary in this instance.