Introducing Jaxsons Night Market
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/3184799470_RKQVwgn-M.jpg)
The future of downtown Jacksonville gets better by the minute. Fresh off the heals of a successful One Spark 2014 Festival, Jaxsons Night Market launches in the heart of downtown tonight.
Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2014-apr-introducing-jaxsons-night-market
Yes, a great new positive for Downtown and the Urban Core.
Please understand that the parking lot is used by downtown employees during normal business hours. We have been promised a clear lot at 5pm to begin setting up, however we have no control over whether that is actually the case. It might be chaotic at first while scrambling to set everything up in time.. so please bear with us.
This is a fantastic idea! I wont be able to attend this evening but I look forward to attending in future months!
Great idea. Hopefully it turns into something that happens every week though. 3 hours once a month isn't exactly a whole heck of a lot of time.
Even better, why not set up booths that never get taken down and get filled with vendors each evening. Like a permanent fair or gathering spot. It's not like we don't have a bazillion empty lots downtown :-)
Quote from: IrvAdams on April 17, 2014, 08:42:17 AM
Even better, why not set up booths that never get taken down and get filled with vendors each evening. Like a permanent fair or gathering spot. It's not like we don't have a bazillion empty lots downtown :-)
I'm sure that is the ultimate goal, but you've got to test market demand first.
Weird approved :D
very cool will try and make it out after meditation tonight to get my dig foods on.
Legit. We'll be there - Skyway don't fail me now.
Looks like there won't be any rain tonight. Weather forecast says 0% . Its going to be a little windy, but otherwise, looks like a great night for food, drinks, and fun.
Great idea. Hope it thrives. Maybe eh event can be on a tour - moving locations around Downtown (if there are more). Near the Skyway would be a plus. Take advantage of the positive buzz about the Skyway after One Spark.
Does the Skyway run that late?
Why not on Friday? Fridays are so dead in downtown right now and I think you would get a lot more people to come out on a Friday night. Still great to see!
thanks for the jinx CityLife
We just left good mix of shopping and dining.
Even with the rain there was a good turnout. Great start to what I hope is an amazing series of events.
Great event. I had a fun time. Took a lot of pics but unfortunately had the camera on the wrong setting and forgot to put the memory card back in the other one.
Quote from: For_F-L-O-R-I-D-A on April 17, 2014, 05:46:26 PM
Why not on Friday? Fridays are so dead in downtown right now and I think you would get a lot more people to come out on a Friday night. Still great to see!
Friday's are dead downtown? Have you been to bay street or the landing around 11 on a Friday? The bars all do quite well. I think we should leave fridays to the pub crowd. Just my $0.02 :)
Quote from: coredumped on April 17, 2014, 10:56:36 PM
Quote from: For_F-L-O-R-I-D-A on April 17, 2014, 05:46:26 PM
Why not on Friday? Fridays are so dead in downtown right now and I think you would get a lot more people to come out on a Friday night. Still great to see!
Friday's are dead downtown? Have you been to bay street or the landing around 11 on a Friday? The bars all do quite well. I think we should leave fridays to the pub crowd. Just my $0.02 :)
+1
Quote from: tufsu1 on April 17, 2014, 08:43:03 PM
thanks for the jinx CityLife
Best profession in America has to be meteorologist. I'm convinced they spin a wheel to get their forecasts. The weather channel said there was zero percent chance of rain between about 5 and 9 when I posted that at 4:30.
Quote from: coredumped on April 17, 2014, 10:56:36 PM
Quote from: For_F-L-O-R-I-D-A on April 17, 2014, 05:46:26 PM
Why not on Friday? Fridays are so dead in downtown right now and I think you would get a lot more people to come out on a Friday night. Still great to see!
Friday's are dead downtown? Have you been to bay street or the landing around 11 on a Friday? The bars all do quite well. I think we should leave fridays to the pub crowd. Just my $0.02 :)
Yeah. It is underwhelming at best at Mark's, Dos Gatos, and the Landing on a Friday night. You get a better crowd Saturday night. I am ashamed to take anyone out in DT Jax most nights. I usually head over to King St. with people from out of town.
The new Jaxon's Night Market, and all other events in the downtown core, will gradually improve the image of the core, and thus ultimately encourage new residents to it.
Whereas there might be some validity to the rather limited view ... "Entice and invite residents and workers to the core directly ... somehow.... so as to occupy buildings, as doing so is KING when it comes to measuring revitalization progress" -- these new events suggest that it is possible for multiple events (Art Walk, Jazz Festival, One Spark, the upcoming Hemming Park Programming, Food Truck Rallies, and now the Jaxons Night Market) to indirectly encourage new residents and workers to the core by gradually removing the stigma that the core is dead, and unsafe.
Just as the building boom and density momentum in Riverside and Brooklyn is slowly encroaching upon the DT core, and will gradually move into it, the accumulating new core activities can, if they continue, gradually add to the energy and momentum, ultimately causing and encouraging new residents to move into the core. These two forces apply "indirect" pressure for solution and progress.
The momentum of energy via these two forces should give confidence to anyone contemplating projects in the core. It should give confidence to, and allow action by, lenders and those in the city who might see the benefit of measured incentives.
With the upcoming Atkins Barnett project too ... I am becoming more optimistic that we are seeing, cautiously, the beginnings of a respectable increase in speed on the journey to the goal of downtown core revitalization.
The fact that Atkins has had high signups, or at least solid interest in, the new apartments in the Barnett building, and the fact that I have a solid waiting list for the six apartments on my small (Gus Bldg) project, gives more reason for confidence in movement toward "the" goal.
I believe there's been a huge perception and usage uptick regarding the DT core over the last few years. People are beginning to view it as a destination, an alternative. It is now on the list.
We've been here before. It was like this leading up to and immediately after the super bowl. They key is to continue to facilitate individual innovation and creativity. The people here are pretty smart and prideful of their community. We need to take advantage of that strong local trait.
Quote from: IrvAdams on April 18, 2014, 08:26:40 AM
I believe there's been a huge perception and usage uptick regarding the DT core over the last few years. People are beginning to view it as a destination, an alternative. It is now on the list.
+1
Quote from: ronchamblin on April 18, 2014, 03:09:22 AM
The fact that Atkins has had high signups, or at least solid interest in, the new apartments in the Barnett building, and the fact that I have a solid waiting list for the six apartments on my small (Gus Bldg) project, gives more reason for confidence in movement toward "the" goal.
That is good to hear about the Gus project!
Great time last night. A Look forward to watching it get better and grow over time. Saw a lot of people stop over after the Corporate 5K, which was great. You have 4,000 people downtown and events like the Farmer's market make sure that they stay a little longer downtown. Spend money there, feel more comfortable there.
Good job by all involved.
Quote from: thelakelander on April 18, 2014, 08:32:38 AM
We've been here before. It was like this leading up to and immediately after the super bowl. They key is to continue to facilitate individual innovation and creativity. The people here are pretty smart and prideful of their community. We need to take advantage of that strong local trait.
I am not as involved as most of you on here but it seems like that was a huge wated opportunity. And it seemed like alot of that was because of John Peyton. I remember ideas like putting hot dog carts on the Main Street bridge making me cringe. And that million dollar waste of a pocket park on the back of the library that has turned into a homeless camp/trash dump/dog poop ground. Not much right was done downtown on his watch.
No, but the Southside boomed!...
Unfortunately, I had the wrong camera setting on, so the images didn't come out too great but here are a few for those who did not make it out last night:
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/Dining/Jaxsons-Night-Market/i-Q5hb47w/0/M/P1690669-M.jpg)
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/Dining/Jaxsons-Night-Market/i-QhcjDTT/0/M/P1690675-M.jpg)
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/Dining/Jaxsons-Night-Market/i-nZmGxtc/0/M/P1690703-M.jpg)
Just a correction, it's not rain or shine. We went down there to check it out and nothing was going on. I pulled up their Facebook page and saw it's cancelled tonight due to the weather.
Well, maybe it was a bit too extreme today. Rain might be ok (it was actually drizzling last month when I was there) but thunderstorm and tornado warnings (heard there were actual tornadoes in a neighboring county) might have been too much.
Very sorry the market was cancelled. I'm just as dissapointed as you (even more so because I'm out the money to rent the lot).
Really hope you consider coming out to the June market, despite last night's inconvenience (which will be in a new location, more to come on the location).
Thanks for the update and looking forward to hearing about the new venue, Field!
Quote from: fieldafm on May 16, 2014, 06:31:51 AM
Very sorry the market was cancelled. I'm just as dissapointed as you (even more so because I'm out the money to rent the lot).
Really hope you consider coming out to the June market, despite last night's inconvenience (which will be in a new location, more to come on the location).
No worries, we're already planning on coming out next month. We weren't able to go for the inaugural one so we were especially bummed last night. But with Florida weather you never know. We're looking forward to the June event!