Downtown Frankenstein! Rewind
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/images/downtown_frankenstein/dynamiteburns.jpg)
Blight. Transportation. Race Riots and Civil Rights. Recreation. Regional Thinking. Cars. In order to begin our series on the wholesale destruction of the historic downtown, it is important to understand the reasoning and ideas which made it possible. After all, it really wouldn't make sense to assume that the city leadership just willy nilly went out with the explosives and started blowing up buildings. There had to be some guiding principles or reasons.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/380
Fantastic intro! This series is going to be very interesting.
I've never heard of an article that outlines city history and its relation to the automobile quite like that. Very well done, can't wait for the rest.
How do you know what the Devil's Ass Crack smells like?
Superb preliminary article. The rest is going to be exciting and I have an inkling of what you are going to say relative to the bulldozing, etc.
I've never smelled the devil's ass crack, but I think it might smell much much worse than the tar, oil, and other chemicals associated with pavementing.
According to Siemens Corporation, a major supplier of modern Light Rail Vehicles, you numbers are way off on Light Rail vs Automobiles. A Hummer 2, takes just over 10 feet of space, one lane wide and can carry 4-8 persons. A new Siemens LRV, is 91 feet long (or about 9 Hummer 2´s), and carrys 220 people. Ultra-Light rail is also cheaper to install then standard commuter rail in new construction, such as trebuilding the old "S" line North to Springfield, Phoenix, to a standard that could handle the DMU trains. Ultra-Light rail CAN operate on regular railroad tracks as long as the freight trains can work the line at different hours. So it is cheaper, WITH the possibliity of operating on: private right of way, railroad tracks, in street, in mall, in median or curbside. I believe this is our most flexible and lowest cost option for Northside and Arlington/Beaches. As long as the City doesn´t over -plan and over-build it. Starting with a "Heritage Trolley Line" like Tampa´s, running from Transporation Center to the Stadium, en-mall, would give us a key link to any future expansion into Modern Light Rail, and we could do it for "museum" prices. Great Article!
When the skyway was built, it was not envisioned to become the largest world's outdoor movable sculpture. It was thought to be the first link of extended lines south, north and west. And perhaps in 30 years, when there is more density it will come into its own. Think of the cost of buiilding the first link if it was being done today!!!!
I think we need to spend some time reflecting on what the shift of shopping to the St. Johns Town Center means in terms of where the core of the town is being relocated. Downtown has the potential to become a very vital and vibrant alternative area but will never be the core center again.
We all dream of getting people out of their cars, and they do get out, when they can park for free close to where they are shopping. Just as most people in our culture want a piece of land with their home, even if only a small piece, they also want a car. Just not sure that mass transit will ever work in this area of the country.
Downtown has been evolving since the early 70's, even as the major department stores shut down downtown, the Modis building was being built along with a number of others. The landing and southbank riverwalk came along in the 80's, inititated under Jack Goldbold. At the same time, major construction began along Butler and many jobs were relocated from downtown and other areas to that area.
Downtown to be dynamic has to have a strong core population, easy access, perhaps specialty stores that cannot be found elsewhere(but the St. Johns Center has been very good at snapping up those stores also).
Thank goodness we are a consolidated city, so that the property taxes from Southpoint and St. Johns Center go into the same account as the taxes from downtown. And of course, with enterprise zones, and three TIF districts, downtown does have some advantage.
Im sorry. I refuse to believe that the friggan St Johns town center will replace downtown as the core. That glorified collection of strip malls will be nothing more than Gateway Mall in 30 years. The condos and apartments they are building around it are stucco and styrophome, and will not age well. There is almost no longevity to what they are doing.
It is stealing some thunder now, but it will eventually pass to some degree.