Metro Jacksonville

I believe that Jacksonville's image and tourism will be 110% better if we presented a better urban core.....Please share your thoughts!

I think you just summed up the entire ethos of this site.

^ LOL

Some high rise condos would be fine, but we need affordable apartments as well. They don't need all the frills such as granite counters or dishwashers. Kitchenettes are all that's really needed, small bedrooms but decent sized living rooms, something that low wage workers can afford. That's just part of my opinion as we do need much more.

Quote from: Murder_me_Rachel on May 18, 2016, 01:59:29 PM
I think you just summed up the entire ethos of this site.

I understand that lol

You can improve and have a vibrant urban core without skyscrapers.  See Savannah, Charleston, DC, Portland, Maine . . . the list goes on.  Sometimes skyscrapers take away from the street level vibrancy.  Jacksonville needs infill of any size, not necessarily skyscrapers right now . . . baby steps.

I agree with other posters that you do not necessarily need to have new high rise buildings but a downtown per-se. Filling in many of the gaps with mid rise buildings (that existed before) would IMHO probably be better as a starter than building a few Skyscrapers (that really only make sense financially if land is expensive) in the middle of almost nowhere.

This would also make for a livelier downtown (ground floor retail, above that apartments and offices).

Which reminds me that a friend of mine once referred to Jacksonville as "Spartanburg with Skyscrapers" - that was before the BMW plant was built, btw. So not sure if more of them would help.

I don't think they'd hurt, but the issue (as I see it) is lack of infill and any sort of street-level stuff going on. I'd rather a few cafes and shops or whatever than 10 skyscrapers.

There doesn't just need to be skyscrapers downtown. There needs to be things to do, places to see, places to live, places to shop, places to eat. Why currently none of that exists downtown is wildly confusing to me. Not everyone likes the suburban atmosphere, and the city's most mainstay developers are failing to see that because they are too busy building more strip malls in Mandarin, Nocatee, and the beaches to care. The closest "commercial" or "big chain" movie theatre is a 44 minute bus ride away from the core, that's unacceptable. Jacksonville is the only city that I know of that fails to embrace a famous river running right through the center of it. There should be developers and visionaries climbing over each other for the chance to put their radical vision on the banks of the St. Johns. There should be water taxis going to riverside and other places along the river. The convention center is supposed to be this grand spectacle directly on the Southbank. After all that happens, then those high-rise skyscrapers that everyone knows and loves will start to grow into existence. But we should take care and fill the holes that aren't there, first, before we remotely get to that point.

We have enough skyscrapers. We desperately need that entertainment district around the stadium to grow and become a district that isn't limited to sports entertainment, but entertainment as it is broadly understood. It looks like that is about to happen. This, more than folks on this MetroJax board seem to understand, will change everything.

Quote from: BenderRodriguez on May 19, 2016, 11:09:09 AM
There doesn't just need to be skyscrapers downtown. There needs to be things to do, places to see, places to live, places to shop, places to eat. Why currently none of that exists downtown is wildly confusing to me.

I'd guess because too much existing building stock in dt and dt adjacent was destroyed. This removes a lot of places that could be rented out cheaply to start making the area interesting (i.e. low budget pioneers first, then gentrification).

Quote from: BenderRodriguez on May 19, 2016, 11:09:09 AM
There doesn't just need to be skyscrapers downtown. There needs to be things to do, places to see, places to live, places to shop, places to eat. Why currently none of that exists downtown is wildly confusing to me.

I wasn't aware that none of that exists.  Seems to me there are things to do downtown just about every day (and night).  We have museums, theaters, arenas/stadiums.  Interestingly enough, there are also places to live (my home is proof), shop, and eat.

I voted we need more than that.

So active legislation 2016-305 and for some of you MJ'ers will get the inside joke that we have all given up asking you know who about you know what.
But this is an opportunity to immediately use the SHIPYARDS PUBLIC FISHING PIER. This was reinforced by Stephanie Burch, Real Estate with Public Works at the 5/11/16 Jacksonville Waterways Commission meeting and then reinforced again by Stephanie at the 5/16/16 Finance agenda meeting.
We need this.

Visit Jacksonville!

Quotebut we need affordable apartments as well.

There are plenty of affordable apartments in the new City Center called Town Center, and movie theatres closeby as well as restaurants and shopping. The residents are in and around Town Center. The lease rates prove this, we looked at an 8000 sqft property recently near TC and the rates are $25 a square, compare that to downtown. There is no real demand or push in downtown because the people are not there. You can demand all you want, but until there are more people downtown, you won't see a lot of new or more services downtown.

Jax tried this back in the early to mid 2000s, right after the Super Bowl and it went nowhere. Would love to see it happen, again, but got to get more people living downtown.

Seems like a chicken and egg problem.

The question could have been rephrased:

"Would a larger skyline improve our image [what image, image of what and to whom - to NFL viewers, to the AP/nighttime news viewers]?"

I can't think of a moment when anyone I know would see the Jax skyline.  Not a lot of NFL/Jags watchers in my camp and nobody watches cable news to see anybody with a shot of the skyline behind them.  The only news we see may be whatever filters up to John Oliver or Bill Maher or an article on social media.

You could double Jacksonville's skyline and it would still be small.  Moreover, Tulsa, OK has a larger skyline and taller buildings and is a nonexistent place.  OKC just built some fantastic new buildings and I wouldn't say it's all of a sudden "the place".  Austin, TX was cool and popular well before it started sprouting office and residential towers right and left.

The question and answer deserves some brain power, which is what is lacking in NEFL.

Quote from: mtraininjax on May 20, 2016, 04:48:53 AM

Quotebut we need affordable apartments as well.

There are plenty of affordable apartments in the new City Center called Town Center,

really?  what's your definition of affordable?

The newer apartments around the Town Center strip mall are some of the most expensive in town.

Quote from: mtraininjax on May 20, 2016, 04:48:53 AM

Quotebut we need affordable apartments as well.

Jax tried this back in the early to mid 2000s, right after the Super Bowl and it went nowhere. Would love to see it happen, again, but got to get more people living downtown.

Which is precisely why project like the Laura Trio need to happen ASAP.

Quotereally?  what's your definition of affordable?

And since you provide no examples, I presume your version of affordable would be Eureka Gardens.  ;D

QuoteThe newer apartments around the Town Center strip mall are some of the most expensive in town.

Lake, who cares if the sidewalks are paved with gold? If people are renting them, there is obviously more value in living there than the cost. Brooklyn's rents are ridiculous, but people are renting them. No matter what the cost is for the rent.

^ You're the one who made the claim that there are plenty of affordable apartments in the Town Center area....I'm just asking what you define as affordable?

Quote^ You're the one who made the claim that there are plenty of affordable apartments in the Town Center area....I'm just asking what you define as affordable?

Obviously more than you can afford!  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D