Metro Jacksonville

I'm being forced to use the rest of my vacation days in December.  This means I'll going to take advantage of the opportunity and do a little traveling on the road.  Since I'll be spending Christmas in Detroit, there are a few stops I'm interested in making to get an urban photo update on.  One is Chattanooga, TN and I've already booked my downtown hotel for that city.  Now I need to choose one out of the following three:  Indy, Louisville or Winston-Salem.

Is there a city out of these three that readers would like to see more than the others?  If so, vote for it here and I'll book a hotel in the city that leads the results a week from today.

Would like to help, but aside from Chattanooga, I can't say that I've spent any quality time in the others that you mentioned....although I'm more likely to lean towards Indy...

I'm pretty familiar with the cities, I just haven't been to any since I moved to Jacksonville.  This is a good opportunity (from a planning standpoint) to see how revitalization schemes they had planned and were implementing five years ago have turned out.

Greensboro/Winston-Salem has a fresh Light Rail Project Planned. I'd like to see some details and perhaps a photo spread of what and where they plan to place it. Perhaps we could learn from their choices.

Ocklawaha

i wanna see indy, city of the enemy.

so far it's Indy in a landslide.

Indy is the most comparable, although louisville isn't far behind.  

Both are similiar size and conservative and consolidated.  I saw Indy up close in 2002 or something like that, the years all run together.  If you go there, Indy's man-made 'canal-walk' is the must see.  Also, the American Legion/monument area.  The DT Simon mal too.      

Oh well, I still like Winston-Salem. Perhaps indy if you do two things, go talk to and photograph the Indiana Railroad... A shortline success story that purchased a DEAD sub-mainline from a major carrier and created a whole new empire from dust and rust. http://www.inrd.com/

The other thing to do in Indy, is take a Teal Blue blow torch to the town! BTW does Indy have a football team?

Ocklawaha

Quote from: Ocklawaha on December 01, 2007, 05:18:58 PM
Oh well, I still like Winston-Salem. Perhaps indy if you do two things, go talk to and photograph the Indiana Railroad... A shortline success story that purchased a DEAD sub-mainline from a major carrier and created a whole new empire from dust and rust. http://www.inrd.com/

The other thing to do in Indy, is take a Teal Blue blow torch to the town! BTW does Indy have a football team?

Ocklawaha

They do have a team, but they are not that good....LOL

Things of interest in each that I would make an attempt to check out off the top of my head.

Indianapolis
1. Downtown Simon Mall
2. Canal Walk
3. Convention Center
4. Broad Ripple
5. Privately financed monorail system

Louisville
1. 4th Street Live
2. Waterfront
3. Convention Center
4. Old Louisville

Winston-Salem
1. Old Salem
2. 4th Street (Downtown restaurant row concept)
3. Old cigarette plants converted into lofts
4. Burke Street/Brookstown

Considering I'm driving and a portion of that drive will be on I-65, it may be possible to hit Indy, Louisville and Nashville in one trip.  Which would be interesting because they all are consolidated cities like us.

Lake if it's still going to be Indy, take a look at Union Station, a restored Romanesque Temple of Railroading, with a upscale hotel, school, Amtrak and Mexican Embassy inside.

Also don't miss the Monorail, the vehicles could be stacked aginst our own Skyway for interest. Clarian Medical Center? Operates it, it has two stations and is open to the public. It also flys over the canal walk.

The Canal Walk is something like I'd love to see done with the lower end of Hogans Creek, all the way to the River, though it would be quite narrow alongside Maxwell house to the riverwalk.  

Ocklawaha

Quote from: thelakelander on December 02, 2007, 08:36:05 PM
Things of interest in each that I would make an attempt to check out off the top of my head.

Indianapolis
1. Downtown Simon Mall
2. Canal Walk
3. Convention Center
4. Broad Ripple
5. Privately financed monorail system


Winston-Salem
1. Old Salem
2. 4th Street (Downtown restaurant row concept)
3. Old cigarette plants converted into lofts
4. Burke Street/Brookstown

It's been awhile since I have been to either one, but Greensboro was more than the equal of Winston-Salem when I visted last.

As for Indy, I would add these:

* Monument Circle.
* American Legion Mall
* Residential section along Massachusetts Avenue (I think that is the street) DT.
* Union Station
* There is a lush park with underground parking near the Capitol. I THINK is is between Maryland St, Washington St. and Capitol Ave.

10 for Indianapolis, 1 for Louisville and 0 for Winston Salem.  I just got a good deal at a downtown Indianapolis Marriott for $39/night.  Although, I was originally going to wait till Friday, I booked the hotel last night.  So here are the places I'll be checking out over a week and a half later this month.

Chattanooga
Dayton
Detroit
Toledo
Indianapolis
Louisville
Lexington
Greenville
Columbia

I reserved hotel rooms in the bold cities and I'm planning to stop for a few hours in the others.

That sound like it'll be one heckuva trip Ennis.  How are you getting the kids to go along?  Do they enjoy urban sightseeing as much as you? :)

I've got this down to a science now.  You do most of the major driving beween cities at night (while they are sleep) and you schedule your day stops (they have to eat, use the restroom) in cities along the way you want to explore.  If downtown, we'll do family activities (hit the museums, parks, waterfronts, travel by rail (if its available), etc. and I'll bring the camera along.  If I want to explore urban neighborhoods, I get up at 6am or 7am, leave them in the hotel where they can sleep in and eat breakfast, while I explore the desired districts on foot or by car for three hours or so.

If its a trip where I'm going to fly to town and use mass transit, instead of renting a car, I drop them off at their grandparent's house in Central Florida and fly out of Orlando or Tampa (depending on who has the cheapest tickets for the intended destination).

The boys are now 6 & 4, so traveling is not as bad as it was a few years ago.  This trip will be interesting because we'll be taking our year old neice with us.

Chattanooga is the place for the whole family... Take in Lookout Mountain, Ruby Falls and Rock City, incredible stuff. Downtown the Choo Choo and the Aquarium are stuning. I just wish old "Union Station" were still there, somewhere I have photos of them tearing it down.

Ocklawaha

I'm in Chattanooga right now.  We checked out Ruby Falls, Lookout Mountain and the Chat Choo Choo today.  I also found a neighborhood springing up south of downtown with several live/work lofts mixed in with old warehouses that have been converted into lofts.  Although the city is fairly small, there is a critical mass of development along the riverfront and the hotel I'm in.  Within a two block walk there's an Imax Theater, Aquarium, baseball stadium, movie complex, and a few museums.  All share two pretty large parking garages that have restaurants in them at street level.

I'm going to explore the riverfront, North Chattanooga and a few older neighborhoods in the morning, before hitting I-75 to Detroit.

I remember as a youngin in Murfreesboro,TN, lol, who am I kiddin, I'm 20,a nyways, takin field trips to the TN Aquarium, then walking down the street to IMAX for a movie. Honestly, downtown Nashville is better than Indy, at least we got stuff to do. I'd definetly choose Louisville over Indy, FFA Nat'l Convention moved to Indy 2 years ago, and it sucks, way to spread out. In Louisville, it was all either at the EXPO Center by Six Flags, across from Louisville Int'l Airport(Standiford Field), or at the convention center downtown. 4th Street LIVE! was badass. Jacksonville, just milk the St. Johns for all its worth to better yourself!, damnit!

To continue my rant.

I'd actually compare JAX and Nashville in many ways. Both are major U.S. cities on rivers of navigable depth, unlike Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando, and many others. Each city has several distinct neighborhoods full of their own flavor. Nashville has West End, Green Hills, The Gulch, SoBro, Music Row, East Nashville, Oak Hill, Forest Hills, and Belle Meade to name a few. Jax has many of the same caliber one, mainly in the residential component side. Nashville does have a much larger, busier, and actual international airport. Jacksonville, is developing int'l flight plans, and has PLENTY of expansion room to grow the needs of NE Florida and SE Georgia. Both cities have a broad economic base to pull on, and don;t rely on a few sectors. Jax has a thriving blue collar sector and equally powerful white collar, office jobs, yet, this city still is mainly blue collar, with its location as an actual gift. Nashville, is becoming a more office city, but still has a good sized avg. joe sector. Location is prime for both cities, Jax actually has an edge over Nashvegas in this sector. I-10 terminates/begins here, I-95 crosses thru, and is the gateway to Florida. This is huge for transportaion sectors, hence, JAXPORT really getting a leg up. Both highways cross significant population centers, and one crosses the whole country. Nashville, 3 interstates(40, 24, and 65) juncture here, and TN borders 8 states. 70% of the U.S. population is within 650 miles of Nashville as well! Rail is big here, no further explination needed for JAX, other than CSX. Nash has a large CSX yard, Radnor Railyard. These states have quite a bit in common, well, except for the fact Jax is on the coast, and Nashville wins the entertainment department hands down.

I wanted to stop in Nashville on this trip also, but I'm going to have to push it back to be a part of another road trip or just fly there for a short stay.  However, I do plan to hit Indianapolis and Louisville later this week and early next.

Btw, I spent a few hours in Downtown Dayton, Ohio yesterday.  Now that's a place that seems to be light years behind us when it comes to downtown revitalization.  We had to search for a while to find a spot for dinner.  Most of the buildings seemed vacant (they're still standing so that's a good thing), and it seemed like a ghost town (imagine downtown with no Landing...but they did have a CVS), but we finally found a Uno Chicago Grill to get a bit to eat.  They could use a "Learning from Jacksonville" thread of their own.

What??? you mean there is another city that has a more dead Downtown than we do? man, what a relief to hear.

Toledo has a pretty dead downtown too.  I'll probably stop through there Saturday morning.  I spent most of yesterday in downtown Detroit.  Campus Martius Park was pretty crowed with visitors in town for the Motor City Bowl skating on the seasonal ice staking rink.  We parked the car for free at the riverwalk, walked a few blocks to the RenCen building and took the peoplemover to Greektown.  After lunch at Fish Bones, we took the peoplemover on a tour around downtown and then watched a movie at a four screen theater in the RenCen.  I also spent a little time exploring Brush Park.  Brush Park is a neighborhood close to downtown like the Cathedral District.  Suburbanites are moving into it at a rapid pace.  Lofts start at $149k and townhomes at $220k.

As far as Jax goes, our attractions, retail, restaurants and bars are too spreadout to create a visible critical mass, which makes it seem deader than it really is.  Hopefully the Library project will help end that.

Gosh, too bad you couldn't check out Austin, TX.  There's the Domain--it's a Simon Mall.  Plus, you can hear them testing the RedLine.   Then, you could hit 6th's street, check out the damn, and have fun with old hippies...

We did a Learning from Austin series a little over a year ago.

Here's a link: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/225/118/ (http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/225/118/)

Thanks for reposting that.  Much has changed in a year.  Did you mention Austin City Limits.  I saw Bob Dyla there and um, what's her face was suppose to perform but I think she went to rehab.  I'm sending tickets back home for my family and friends to come to ACL this year.  ACL is awesome and so much fun.

If you want to submit a guest story on an updated Austin series, just email us the text and a few photos and we'll run it as a front page article.

Toledo - still on life support, but looks better than it did when I visited in 2004.

Fort Wayne, IN - downtown was larger and nicer than expected.

Indianapolis - pretty vibrant considering it was 27 degrees.

Louisville - the most urban of these cities by far.

I'm in Greenville, SC now.....almost back to Jax. 

Have a safe trip back, Lake.  I cant wait to see your pictures.   :)

Quote from: thelakelander on December 22, 2007, 09:01:37 PM
I'm in Chattanooga right now.  We checked out Ruby Falls, Lookout Mountain and the Chat Choo Choo today.  I also found a neighborhood springing up south of downtown with several live/work lofts mixed in with old warehouses that have been converted into lofts.  Although the city is fairly small, there is a critical mass of development along the riverfront and the hotel I'm in.  Within a two block walk there's an Imax Theater, Aquarium, baseball stadium, movie complex, and a few museums.  All share two pretty large parking garages that have restaurants in them at street level.

I'm going to explore the riverfront, North Chattanooga and a few older neighborhoods in the morning, before hitting I-75 to Detroit.

I lived in TN for many years and only went to that site (Ruby Falls, LO Mt., etc.) last summer.  It was truly amazing!  Did you happen to take a drive through the old Fairytale Subdivision?  It was originally built around the late 20's early 30's (alot of 50's homes in there too), and there are some really cute homes in there that are very reminiscent of...well, a fairytale book;-) I'm a sucker for the arched and dutch doors.

Quote from: reednavy on December 22, 2007, 09:30:26 PM
I remember as a youngin in Murfreesboro,TN, lol, who am I kiddin, I'm 20,a nyways, takin field trips to the TN Aquarium, then walking down the street to IMAX for a movie. Honestly, downtown Nashville is better than Indy, at least we got stuff to do. I'd definetly choose Louisville over Indy, FFA Nat'l Convention moved to Indy 2 years ago, and it sucks, way to spread out. In Louisville, it was all either at the EXPO Center by Six Flags, across from Louisville Int'l Airport(Standiford Field), or at the convention center downtown. 4th Street LIVE! was badass. Jacksonville, just milk the St. Johns for all its worth to better yourself!, damnit!

OMG, I grew up in Smyrna and I have family that still lives up there in the 'boro today.

Well I'm back in Jax, just in time for the New Year.  I had a great time on the road, but there's nothing like home.  Btw, I visited two more cities today.

Greenville, SC - Vicupstate gave me a tour of this city.  Considering the size of the community, there's some great things going on there.

Columbia, SC - Main Street in Downtown needs some help, but the Vista District is vibrant and there are several well maintained historic residential districts north and south of downtown.

I'm downloading images from the trip now, so look for a "RoadTrip" series in January 2008.