There is an article in the Gainesville Sun from this weekend about downtown Gainesville and its revitalization.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120225/ARTICLES/120229652/1003/NEWS?p=1&tc=pg
We've been using the downtown stop for our park and ride to the Gator football games for about 6 years now and have seen the changes. If I lived in G-ville that's where I'd be. The DT Jax bar scene is about where DT G-ville was 4 years ago only it's much more spread out here.
Gainesville has a great downtown, despite its lack of size. They have a good balance between open space and buildings, most parking is at the perimeter, all buildings interact with the street.... etc. As the downtown grows, they will run into some problems with some of the surrounding land uses, but as it is the downtown is doing very well.
I have heard of Billy Scheel and I have met his son a few times. For a while they had a home on Ortega Blvd on the river, but I know that it was recently on the market. I dug a little deeper and found a Gainesville Today article that basically names him as the current boss of downtown Gainesville.
Read more here: http://www.gainesvilletoday.com/2011-july/2011/06/28/billy-scheel%E2%80%99s-downtown/#comments
Both the Gainesville Sun article and the Gainesville today article mention Innovation Square. I wasn't familiar with the project, so I did more research and it absolutely blew my mind. Trimark properties is a company that has bought up most of the land east of campus and has put in some really great student housing in mid density apartment buildings, historic homes, and adaptive re-use multi family properties. Some of them are just genius. Anyway, from the looks of it they partnered with UF to masterplan a 40 acre office campus on land that used to be owned by shands. It has office, retail, residential, the works. They maintained the street grid throughout and have dedicated some blocks for green space. It will obviously have phased development. The first phase is complete I believe.
Read more here: http://www.trimarkproperties.com/commercial_rentals_gainesville/innovationsquareuf/
The entire second avenue corridor has been exploding since 2006 when Jefferson 2nd Ave was underway. If I had more time I could do a huge write up on the transformation of that corridor and the partnerships between UF and the City of Gainesville that made that happen.
"The entire second avenue corridor has been exploding since 2006 when Jefferson 2nd Ave was underway. If I had more time I could do a huge write up on the transformation of that corridor and the partnerships between UF and the City of Gainesville that made that happen."
I'd love to read that.
Innovation Square is going up on the former Alachua General Hospital site....when Shands took it over a few years ago, the decision was made the hospital was no longer needed
(http://www.lightrailnow.org/images02/dtn-rpr-DCTA-RDC-trn-reflect-water-20110622x2_c-Blair-Kooistra.jpg)
DENTON COUNTY TRANSIT AUTHORITY Just another little Texas cow town WAY AHEAD of Jacksonville!
Time to reestablish a passenger rail link with Gainesville. Track is still in place via: Jacksonville-Baldwin-Lawtey-Starke-Brooker-Alachua-Gainesville (to 23Rd Street close to Greyhound) The right-of-way is still in place from University Avenue and 6Th in downtown all the way out to 23Rd, clear and empty. In town the passenger station still stands, the platform still in place waits, but I suspect the Jurassic Period thinking in Tallahassee will hold this back.
BTW, Denton Texas recently established a very similar link with Dallas (or at least to the Dallas DART terminal nearest Denton). They are using exactly the cars I've been writing about here for the last 7 years or so. Refurbished 1950's era Budd RDC cars, what are called DMU's today.
Set this train up and strive to duplicate it between JAX - TALLAHASSEE, and JAX - ATLANTA.
We are, after all, the natural hub for all of these!
OCK
Downtown Gainesville made a lot of the right moves. I lived in Gainesville from 2001 to 2005, when downtown was still in what I'd call a "recovery" period. While all the cool people, such as yours truly, knew it was the place to be, it was really struggling while other areas like Midtown and the Archer Road nightmare saw huge crowds and new developments. But the city plugged on, encouraging infill, cleaning up the streets and facades, cracking down on panhandling, and embarking on a positive marketing campaign to change residents' image of their downtown.
As a college town utterly dominated by its college, Gainesville will always be fighting an uphill battle for urbanism, as so much of its population (and voters) only live there for a few years and then leave, only to return for football games and T-shirt buying expeditions. One thing I think their downtown has done well is moving away from the city's general dependence on catering to college students. As the article mentions, it helps that there are more and more companies starting up providing jobs for people who want to stay there.
I wouldn't say their downtown is quite there yet, but they're definitely starting to see the fruit of their labor, and I'd hope it can only get better from there.
QuoteWAY AHEAD of Jacksonville!
Who isn't these days? I mean really?!
Quote from: mtraininjax on February 28, 2012, 04:38:01 PM
QuoteWAY AHEAD of Jacksonville!
Who isn't these days? I mean really?!
Was just in Tally and its crazy how many "urban" or quasi urban projects are completed or proposed near downtown/Gaines St. corridor. The area between West Jefferson and Gaines is unrecognizable with several projects completed and several underway/proposed. In about 5-10 years there will be a continuous belt of urban development from Woodward to the All Saints neighborhood.
Gainesville and Tallahassee have both made great strides in urban development. Jacksonville not having a college campus like JU, UNF, or Florida Coastal in the urban core, imo has really hurt our ability to attract affordable new rental housing developers to the urban core. Rental housing geared towards college populations is a much safer investment in this economy and we are missing out on this hot spell of rental development.
Back in 1905, Napolean Bonaparte Broward fought to have the University of Florida located in Jacksonville, would have been a great coup for Jacksonville. But the rest of the state was jealous over the success of Jacksonville, yeah it happened back then as if the rest of the state is hurting now-evil mouse, and a war of actions and words broke out between Lake City (go figure) and Jacksonville, so some farmer gave the state all those acres in Gainesville for the first state college. The rest is history.
FCCJ downtown could be so much more, but they never really look to expand that campus or build a downtown environment, almost as if they are afraid to take away from their other campus areas. It really is a shame, I don't know why Wallace created 4 year degrees but is so afraid to develop the downtown campus area as something more than a night school? Their HQ are downtown, there is great JTA access, where is that great idea that the downtown leaders have for making downtown great with a downtown campus?
Yup, I'm really blown away with the uber megalopolis that is Gainesville! I'm really in awe of it's very impressive high-rise architecture, bustling nightlife, and world-renowned prominence. G-ville is quickly becoming one of the major tourist destinations in FL, esp for a glimpse of Timmy Tebow's statue at the Swamp, and Albert the Alligator. Someone said that G-ville is WAY ahead of J-ville, hell yeah, I couldn't 'agree' more! Miami, Tampa, and Orlando better watch out, here comes G-ville!!!! ::)
^^ Knew this response was coming.
Quote from: I-10east on February 28, 2012, 11:57:49 PM
Yup, I'm really blown away with the uber megalopolis that is Gainesville! I'm really in awe of it's very impressive high-rise architecture, bustling nightlife, and world-renowned prominence. G-ville is quickly becoming one of the major tourist destinations in FL, esp for a glimpse of Timmy Tebow's statue at the Swamp, and Albert the Alligator. Someone said that G-ville is WAY ahead of J-ville, hell yeah, I couldn't 'agree' more! Miami, Tampa, and Orlando better watch out, here comes G-ville!!!! ::)
just close your eyes...that way you won't see others passing you by
Looks like Im moving to Gainesville ::)
Quote from: mtraininjax on February 28, 2012, 11:55:57 PM
Back in 1905, Napolean Bonaparte Broward fought to have the University of Florida located in Jacksonville, would have been a great coup for Jacksonville. But the rest of the state was jealous over the success of Jacksonville, yeah it happened back then as if the rest of the state is hurting now-evil mouse, and a war of actions and words broke out between Lake City (go figure) and Jacksonville, so some farmer gave the state all those acres in Gainesville for the first state college. The rest is history.
Jacksonville was never seriously considered as the location for the University of Florida in 1905. The only two major contenders were Lake City and Gainesville, the homes of the modern UF's two primary predecessors. Lake City was home to the Florida Agricultural College, a land-grant university founded in 1884 (which was confusingly called the "University of Florida" from 1903-1904); Gainesville had the East Florida Seminary, which had been there since after the Civil War.
In 1905 the legislature voted to merge these two schools, as well as two others, into the modern University of Florida, and ultimately chose Gainesville over Lake City as the location.
Quote from: mtraininjax on February 28, 2012, 11:55:57 PM
FCCJ downtown could be so much more, but they never really look to expand that campus or build a downtown environment, almost as if they are afraid to take away from their other campus areas. It really is a shame, I don't know why Wallace created 4 year degrees but is so afraid to develop the downtown campus area as something more than a night school? Their HQ are downtown, there is great JTA access, where is that great idea that the downtown leaders have for making downtown great with a downtown campus?
I agree with that 100%. We definitely need to do more with the downtown campus. For what it's worth, FSCJ is expanding its food safety program and plans to open a new building for it downtown.
Quote from: I-10east on February 28, 2012, 11:57:49 PM
Yup, I'm really blown away with the uber megalopolis that is Gainesville! I'm really in awe of it's very impressive high-rise architecture, bustling nightlife, and world-renowned prominence. G-ville is quickly becoming one of the major tourist destinations in FL, esp for a glimpse of Timmy Tebow's statue at the Swamp, and Albert the Alligator. Someone said that G-ville is WAY ahead of J-ville, hell yeah, I couldn't 'agree' more! Miami, Tampa, and Orlando better watch out, here comes G-ville!!!! ::)
Great Post!! What year did you graduate from FSU?
Q: What do a UF student and an FSU student have in common???
A: They both got into FSU!!!
Quote from: Captain Zissou on February 29, 2012, 09:13:20 AM
Q: What do a UF student and an FSU student have in common???
A: They both got into FSU!!!
And neither got into UNF, judging by this year's freshman admission rate!
Quote from: Captain Zissou on February 29, 2012, 09:13:20 AM
Q: What do a UF student and an FSU student have in common???
A: They both got into FSU!!!
what that tells me is UF students don't choose wisely ;)
Sorry to derail the thread, but I had to draw attention to the absurdity of the FSU grad's post.
Nobody was comparing Gainesville to Miami or Orlando, because there is no point to it. Comparing a city of less than 200,000 to two cities over 2 million is not a fair comparison. However, a city of any size can admire the connectivity, the vibrancy, and the beauty of Gainesville's downtown, be it ever so small. There have been good decisions made and money well allocated that have resulted in a picturesque downtown that is very fun to be in. Anyone can appreciate and learn from that, no matter where you live.
However, I would say that from a street level perspective and in terms of new businesses opening in the past couple years, Gainesville has far outpaced Jacksonville, which is unacceptable. Tall Paul's, Rocky's, Ichiban, Mochi, Urban Flats, Boca Fiesta, Half Corked, Blue Water Bay have all opened since 2009 in a compact 3-5 block area. If that happened in Jacksonville, that would have far reaching effects on the metro area. That is basically like building a new Avondale strip in an already vibrant area. It would create vibrancy and synergies that currently we only see in Jax Beach. That kind of culture and activity center would start to pull people towards the core and away from some of the fringe suburbs.
Like a magnet, the cultural epicenter would eventually be drawn back into its home in the city core. The process has already started, but the city and the various agencies and groups in support of downtown need to keep feeding the fire.
Part of Jax Beach's success over the past 10 years is tied to the growth of UNF. A great deal of UNF students either live at the beach or frequent its bars/restaurants. That is why it is so much easier for Gainesville and Tallahassee to revitalize their downtown's and urban neighborhoods. Both UF and FSU are in the shadows of downtown. FSU's Law School and basketball arena are virtually downtown. UF's historic part of campus and University Avenue strip are right next to downtown. Developer's and businesses just have to look at the universities projected enrollments to know how many potential users they have and will have.
Look at UCF. They are located in the burbs, further from downtown Orlando than UNF is from DT Jax. Yet there is a Downtown UCF Campus, focused mostly on business and MBA's. There is also a "UCF Center for Emerging Media" in Downtown Orlando. Orlando and some developers are trying to create a "creative village" that is near UCF's new center of emerging media. Of course UCF is a lot further ahead of UNF, but I'm sure UNF could find a way to create a downtown presence if they wanted.
JU is located in a dying part of town, that has seen decline, and will likely see worse. They should be looking to create a second campus. Either downtown or at the beach. Downtown Brown is a JU guy...perfect opportunity for him to make something happen.
I believe Florida Coastal just re-signed their lease. However, they need to get their heads out of their ___ and open a downtown branch. It makes no sense to have a law school away from the courthouses and law firms. Oh and by chance our city owns a ton of unused property in close proximity to the new courthouse....hello Coastal. I know you are trying to make a profit and all, but time to start thinking about a downtown campus.
Downtown and the urban core can and will still "come back", but it would be a lot easier with the involvement of our universities.
Quote from: Captain Zissou on February 27, 2012, 02:02:19 PM
Both the Gainesville Sun article and the Gainesville today article mention Innovation Square. I wasn't familiar with the project, so I did more research and it absolutely blew my mind. Trimark properties is a company that has bought up most of the land east of campus and has put in some really great student housing in mid density apartment buildings, historic homes, and adaptive re-use multi family properties. Some of them are just genius. Anyway, from the looks of it they partnered with UF to masterplan a 40 acre office campus on land that used to be owned by shands. It has office, retail, residential, the works. They maintained the street grid throughout and have dedicated some blocks for green space. It will obviously have phased development. The first phase is complete I believe.
Read more here: http://www.trimarkproperties.com/commercial_rentals_gainesville/innovationsquareuf/
The entire second avenue corridor has been exploding since 2006 when Jefferson 2nd Ave was underway. If I had more time I could do a huge write up on the transformation of that corridor and the partnerships between UF and the City of Gainesville that made that happen.
Thanks for this. I lived near the intersection of SW 2nd Ave. & SW 12th Street my senior year at UF, so it is quite interesting to see the big changes in store for this area.
Quote from: Tacachale on February 29, 2012, 09:28:38 AM
Quote from: Captain Zissou on February 29, 2012, 09:13:20 AM
Q: What do a UF student and an FSU student have in common???
A: They both got into FSU!!!
And neither got into UNF, judging by this year's freshman admission rate!
I know this is only a joke, but come on...
Quote from: CityLife on February 29, 2012, 01:55:18 PM
Quote from: Tacachale on February 29, 2012, 09:28:38 AM
Quote from: Captain Zissou on February 29, 2012, 09:13:20 AM
Q: What do a UF student and an FSU student have in common???
A: They both got into FSU!!!
And neither got into UNF, judging by this year's freshman admission rate!
I know this only a joke, but come on...
While it was indeed a joke in the spirit of the Captain's earlier comment, UNF does in fact have a lower freshman admission rate than UF and FSU. USF and FAU are even lower than that.
Quote from: Captain Zissou on February 29, 2012, 10:32:13 AM
Sorry to derail the thread, but I had to draw attention to the absurdity of the FSU grad's post.
Nobody was comparing Gainesville to Miami or Orlando, because there is no point to it. Comparing a city of less than 200,000 to two cities over 2 million is not a fair comparison. However, a city of any size can admire the connectivity, the vibrancy, and the beauty of Gainesville's downtown, be it ever so small. There have been good decisions made and money well allocated that have resulted in a picturesque downtown that is very fun to be in. Anyone can appreciate and learn from that, no matter where you live.
However, I would say that from a street level perspective and in terms of new businesses opening in the past couple years, Gainesville has far outpaced Jacksonville, which is unacceptable. Tall Paul's, Rocky's, Ichiban, Mochi, Urban Flats, Boca Fiesta, Half Corked, Blue Water Bay have all opened since 2009 in a compact 3-5 block area. If that happened in Jacksonville, that would have far reaching effects on the metro area. That is basically like building a new Avondale strip in an already vibrant area. It would create vibrancy and synergies that currently we only see in Jax Beach. That kind of culture and activity center would start to pull people towards the core and away from some of the fringe suburbs.
Like a magnet, the cultural epicenter would eventually be drawn back into its home in the city core. The process has already started, but the city and the various agencies and groups in support of downtown need to keep feeding the fire.
I don't think it's a bad comparison. It's on a much smaller scale and there are a lot of factors that don't compare (for instance, there's much less to do outside the core city in Gainesville than in Jacksonville), but like Jacksonville, Gainesville's downtown has its struggles and problems. They've made some great strides doing the kind of things that help regardless of size: encouraging infill, residential developments, and small business growth in the CBD, as well as cleaning it up, promoting the area, and establishing regular programming. Those investments are starting to pay dividends.
Quote from: Tacachale on February 29, 2012, 02:52:42 PM
Quote from: CityLife on February 29, 2012, 01:55:18 PM
Quote from: Tacachale on February 29, 2012, 09:28:38 AM
Quote from: Captain Zissou on February 29, 2012, 09:13:20 AM
Q: What do a UF student and an FSU student have in common???
A: They both got into FSU!!!
And neither got into UNF, judging by this year's freshman admission rate!
I know this only a joke, but come on...
While it was indeed a joke in the spirit of the Captain's earlier comment, UNF does in fact have a lower freshman admission rate than UF and FSU. USF and FAU are even lower than that.
Apples and Oranges. UNF's applicant pool is completely different than that of UF and FSU.
I think I remember you posting a bit about UNF in the past. Does Delaney or the University have any interest in a branch or center Downtown?
Quote from: Tacachale on February 29, 2012, 02:52:42 PM
Quote from: CityLife on February 29, 2012, 01:55:18 PM
Quote from: Tacachale on February 29, 2012, 09:28:38 AM
Quote from: Captain Zissou on February 29, 2012, 09:13:20 AM
Q: What do a UF student and an FSU student have in common???
A: They both got into FSU!!!
And neither got into UNF, judging by this year's freshman admission rate!
I know this only a joke, but come on...
While it was indeed a joke in the spirit of the Captain's earlier comment, UNF does in fact have a lower freshman admission rate than UF and FSU. USF and FAU are even lower than that.
What does the admission rate really matter. What I would say matters is the average GPA and testing scores of those admitted. FWIW I heard UF's average GPA for admission this year was 4.3
Quote from: CityLife on February 29, 2012, 03:12:39 PM
Quote from: Tacachale on February 29, 2012, 02:52:42 PM
Quote from: CityLife on February 29, 2012, 01:55:18 PM
Quote from: Tacachale on February 29, 2012, 09:28:38 AM
Quote from: Captain Zissou on February 29, 2012, 09:13:20 AM
Q: What do a UF student and an FSU student have in common???
A: They both got into FSU!!!
And neither got into UNF, judging by this year's freshman admission rate!
I know this only a joke, but come on...
While it was indeed a joke in the spirit of the Captain's earlier comment, UNF does in fact have a lower freshman admission rate than UF and FSU. USF and FAU are even lower than that.
Apples and Oranges. UNF's applicant pool is completely different than that of UF and FSU.
I think I remember you posting a bit about UNF in the past. Does Delaney or the University have any interest in a branch or center Downtown?
Not as completely different as you'd think.
At any rate, for downtown, there has long been talk about establishing more of a downtown footprint, and we've made some headway with that, but we're probably a good way off from having anything like dedicated center (or branch campus). The downtown presence was a big part of the motivation to purchase MOCA Jax. The Art & Design department has been using that more and more for both classes and programs, and hopefully that will expand in the future. Everyone that I've talked to at UNF regards the purchase as a big success. Another thing currently in the works is the takeover of WJCT. But this may have limited opportunity to establish a downtown footprint.
Part of the problem is that we're just now catching up with appropriate facilities on the campus (we were really left behind in the first few waves of state university building booms, and there's very little comprehensive vision in the university system), and trying to shake off the commuter vibe. Another issue is the consistent state cuts to the university budgets, which make it harder and harder to get anything done.
In the end, there's considerable interest, but barring things like MOCA that just sort of fall into place at the right time, it's still a matter of when and how.
Quote from: Keith-N-Jax on February 29, 2012, 06:58:41 AM
^^ Knew this response was coming.
It's funny that you said that Keith; I KNEW as soon as I saw this thread that anti-Jax remarks are were gonna quickly follow. Believe me, I HATE to be predictable with posts (I love to be spontaneous) but unfortunately I'm forced to be predictable when I hear dumb comments like 'Fill in the blank'_______(hicktown) is blowing Jax away'. Most of yall love to dish out anti-Jax comments, but yall can't take it when someone put things into perspective. Geez, why would me standing up for my city annoy anyone? Esp comparing Jax to Gainesville-freaking-Florida!!!!
Quote from: Captain Zissou on February 29, 2012, 09:12:16 AM
Great Post!! What year did you graduate from FSU?
Nope, I didn't go to FSU. Back in the day, I did a lil' bit of college at Jones College, never graduated though, although I'm a proud Raines High School grad. 8)
Quote from: tufsu1 on February 29, 2012, 08:09:16 AM
just close your eyes...that way you won't see others passing you by
Blah, blah, blah. I go to G-ville pretty often at the VA, believe me, I'm not the one with my eyes closed here.
Quote from: Captain Zissou on February 29, 2012, 10:32:13 AM
Sorry to derail the thread, but I had to draw attention to the absurdity of the FSU grad's post.
Nobody was comparing Gainesville to Miami or Orlando, because there is no point to it.
Oh yeah, no sense to compare G-ville to MIA, and ORL, but you can compare G-ville directly to Jax because we are supposedly getting 'blown away' by G-ville, no questions asked; Anyone with a differing opinion is a wayward troll, and is automactically way offbase! Hey 'Florida grad', please chill with using words like 'picturesque' when referring to G-ville; If a dry to the bone, waterless sleepy lil' college town is picturesque, then Jax looks like a world class city. G-ville is what it is, a city with an above average college that keeps it afloat, nothing more. It won't be on the Travel Channel anytime soon.
^why would a site dedicated to jacksonville compare other cities to each other? It's pretty routine to compare other areas of various sizes to the one we all have a reason to care about.
Quote from: Tacachale on March 01, 2012, 06:50:47 AM
^why would a site dedicated to jacksonville compare other cities to each other?
Yall took that WAY too seriously (MIA, ORL, and TAM better watch out because of G-Ville). I was trying to be funny, evidently I failed in making that humorous.
Quote from: Tacachale on March 01, 2012, 06:50:47 AM
It's pretty routine to compare other areas
of various sizes to the one we all have a reason to care about.
Yeah you left out something, always say that we are getting "passed by" or "blown away" no matter what the circumstances is when comparing us (the city that we all 'care' about) to a smaller city; Jax will ALWAYS lose that argument on MJ no matter what. Talk about being 'predictable'!
Lets put things into perspective, a town that's the size of a walnut with an ENORMOUS university; Where virtually EVERY BUSINESS in the town has the word 'Gator' in it; I hope that it does have a lil' DT that caters to all of those college kids, and alum; What college town doesn't? It's anycollegetown USA. Contrary to popular belief on MJ, urban settings can have an 'Anytown USA' feel too. I guess that Dodge City in the 1800's was urban when you think about it, with everything lined up on both sides of the street , ya know with it's Livery, Saloon, Hotel, General Store, and County Jail.