2012 State Of Downtown Jacksonville Report Released
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/2577853913_BwnQ7zS-M.jpg)
Did you know that downtown Jacksonville is home to 90 restaurants and 30 bars? Have you ever wondered how many people really live or work in downtown? Perhaps you have a desire to see a list of all proposed downtown development projects? You'll find the answers to these questions, general statistics and more in Downtown Vision's recently released 2012 State of Downtown Report.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2013-aug-2012-state-of-downtown-jacksonville-report-released
To me this is a glazed look at DT. Yes there is some growth but just a few mere blocks from DT there is destitution.
The information from the OED does not mention how much they fail at.
On top of that how much the community suffers because of their failures and also how much they dont do but have the power to do.
According to FS chapter 163 there is soooo much the OED can pursue but they dont! They continue to cater to the banks, Jaguars, a small handful of developers and never do a thing for the areas just outside of DT. There is a high need to employ those with just high school education and even those with less then stellar backgrounds but that have turned their lives around. There is a need to employ the displaced housewife, the freshly detached military personnel who can run a nuclear submarine or destroyer class ship but doesnt have a college degree yet the OED continues to create corporate welfare for million and billion dollar companies that require college degrees for job opportunities.
You must remember with the creation of the DIA the OED should not touch a thing within the DT borders. The OED should be concentrating on everything outside of DT like the North and Northwest side of town. Arlington is going down hill fast why isnt the OED trying to prevent that from happening?
The article is a feel good article which doesnt tell the whole story of how much this community is hurting.
Where are the homicide, homeless and crime rate statistics? Or a poll of how many people in the MSA who actually WANT to come downtown.
How about the average length of time people actual stay downtown, who haven't been mugged, detained or accosted?
Or how many actually come downtown for the food trucks and murals?
^The JSO will tell you crime is low, and thousands of people have come to events like food truck rallies. Nice try at trolling, though, you'll get it one day I'm sure.
Quote from: Max on August 23, 2013, 09:25:45 AM
Where are the homicide, homeless and crime rate statistics? Or a poll of how many people in the MSA who actually WANT to come downtown.
How about the average length of time people actual stay downtown, who haven't been mugged, detained or accosted?
Page 19 actually addresses the crime. Downtown is one of the safest areas of town to live in, accounting for only 2% of JSO calls.
Edit: Wait, crap, I just checked Max posting history. So, it's not like he'll care about the report. :'(
Quote from: Max on August 23, 2013, 09:25:45 AM
How about the average length of time people actual stay downtown, who haven't been mugged, detained or accosted?
In my case that would be 7.5 years of living downtown
Quote from: Max on August 23, 2013, 09:25:45 AM
Where are the homicide, homeless and crime rate statistics? Or a poll of how many people in the MSA who actually WANT to come downtown.
How about the average length of time people actual stay downtown, who haven't been mugged, detained or accosted?
Or how many actually come downtown for the food trucks and murals?
It seems to me that whether people in Mandarin or Murray Hill or any other part of the city "want to come downtown" is rather myopic and wholly immaterial to the discussion. A more vibrant downtown will benefit everyone in Jacksonville both directly (by increasing property taxes collected from currently underperforming properties in an area where existing infrastructure investment is huge) and indirectly (as a result of improved perception of the city by companies who may choose to locate or expand operations here and by potential visitors who bring their wallets to our restaurants, hotels and retailers when they visit) whether they ever set foot in downtown or not.
Most of the numbers look great but man what the heck is going on at the Florida Theater it went from having 380,000 to 128,000 and Metropolitan Park 257,000 to 85,000 what the heck? Talk about wasted resources.
^ Both of those numbers stuck out to me as well.
Anyone have any insight into this?
The Baseball Grounds numbers also seemed a bit strange.
How was this year's attendance nearly double that of the last three or four years?
Florida Theater's numbers noisedived right at the start of the crash, plus the St. Augustine Ampitheater opened in 2007. Attendence went from 380,000 to 187,000 between 2006 to 2007. Metro Park's numbers are a joke. Good thing those people in St. Nicholas can sleep well 362 nights a year.
Quote from: Bridges on August 23, 2013, 09:32:26 AM
Edit: Wait, crap, I just checked Max posting history. So, it's not like he'll care about the report. :'(
Can we just ban him already? I'm all for free speech, but obvious troll is obvious.
Quote from: CityLife on August 23, 2013, 11:30:10 AM
Florida Theater's numbers noisedived right at the start of the crash, plus the St. Augustine Ampitheater opened in 2007. Attendence went from 380,000 to 187,000 between 2006 to 2007. Metro Park's numbers are a joke. Good thing those people in St. Nicholas can sleep well 362 nights a year.
That's the reasons. NIMBY applies everywhere from farm to city. It is a shame though because the potential for Metro Park is so untapped.
Also, keep in mind that it is Downtown Vision's mission to present the core in a positive light, so those looking for the gritty dirty facts in their glossy publication will be disappointed. But then, why would one want to know those except to knock DT?
This is always a puff piece for Downtown and more of a marketing material than an objective analysis. I take it with a grain of salt
I hate that the troll's name is Max. In my experience, we are generally cool and intelligent individuals. 8)
FYI: At 9am this morning Kathy Hardwick, Director of Marketing for DVI will be appearing on Channel 4's "This Week in Jacksonville" to discuss the improvements slated for DT.
QuoteMetro Park's numbers are a joke. Good thing those people in St. Nicholas can sleep well 362 nights a year.
+1
Downtown is perfect for singles and people out of college, meet someone, fall in love and move to a burb, to raise a family and go to school. What choices does a downtown family have for Elementary, MIddle and High School if in 32202? North Riverside for Elementary comes to mind, Lee for HS? Lee is improving, but not sure about the others, and these are only public with no charters involved. I don't see much of a draw for kids, unless the downtown art programs are expanded with monopoly money.
OK- Projects Completed -2012
Catherine St. Riverwalk Connection to Bay St. $300,000
Proposed Projects
Hogans Creek Greenway - $8,200,000 Is there an amendment to 2013-384 for 24/7 access to Hogans Creek? Friendly amendment.
I95 Overland Bridge Reconstruction - $227,000,000 Artificial Reefs in the river south of the Fuller Warren.
Old St. Luke's Hospital and Casket Factory -$1,250,000 Public Access to Hogans Creek?
Southbank Riverwalk -$15,000,000 Will there be 24/7 Public Access to the new floating dock?
South Shore Marina- What's That? $6,400,000
^When is the next Public meeting on any of this? DIA? OED? DVI? Chamber? Jacksonville Waterways Commission meeting 8 days out. HUGE!
Quote from: Noone on August 25, 2013, 05:52:05 PM
South Shore Marina- What's That? $6,400,000
There's a piece of property adjacent to the DCPS building on the southbank. It's city owned. Possibly something they'd like to develop into a public-private commercial property.
^The South Shore Marina is a long proposed marina that will eventually be constructed at the Aetna Building or whatever it's called today. Argylian, the property I think you're talking about is the JEA parcel.
Quote from: mtraininjax on August 25, 2013, 09:36:42 AM
QuoteMetro Park's numbers are a joke. Good thing those people in St. Nicholas can sleep well 362 nights a year.
+1
Downtown is perfect for singles and people out of college, meet someone, fall in love and move to a burb, to raise a family and go to school. What choices does a downtown family have for Elementary, MIddle and High School if in 32202? North Riverside for Elementary comes to mind, Lee for HS? Lee is improving, but not sure about the others, and these are only public with no charters involved. I don't see much of a draw for kids, unless the downtown art programs are expanded with monopoly money.
Quality Edu is the 2nd biggest reason prohibiting families from moving DT- the first being an absence of apts big enough for a family of 4 or 5 (3br) or any housing of that size a family (and their exponentially increasing cost of living) could afford.
To the school issue- There is Susie Tolbert for elem, and Darnell Cookman for middle (and magnet HS?) and they then get shipped to Andrew Jackson- if your kid isn't an Artist (Lavilla) or has the grades to get into Stanton or Paxon.
I love living in the Core- but when I moved back to Jax from Fernandina, (I moved out there for the schools- but it is VERY expensive to live there.) I could not allow my kids to go back into the educational environments of the Core and adjacent area. I found a kind of "returning resident" form, and I now drive my kids out to Abbess Park, (Atl blvd and Kernan) an hour round trip, though we live on the Murray Hill/Riverside line.
If I knew my kids were going to have access to the kinds and quality of services that are available to them now, in a more socioeconomically diverse area; I would LOVE to NOT spend 2 hours of my day driving- in a car w/ no AC.