In April, 5,220 people were documented living in Downtown Jacksonville.
The number of Downtown residents is approaching 10,000 — the residential density many officials, including JAX Chamber CEO Daniel Davis and Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer, see as a threshold for housing in the urban core to become self-sustaining.
Boyer said 10,000-12,000 residents will allow the Downtown market to attract essential services like grocers and a pharmacy as well as more retail, restaurants and entertainment.
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/market-rate-rentals-a-growing-option-downtown
Sounds like a bunch of hot air. The majority of the market rate apartments listed for over $2/sqft arent even ready for occupancy. Plus, only one is actually "downtown".
All a step in the right direction, more in the true core/CBD will help a lot.
This is a real fluff piece. It lists 1230 Hendricks Ave as having the "magical" $2 number, but they haven't started turning dirt and have no timeline to do so.
What would be more helpful to provide is the number of units under construction and what zones they are being built in. Like acme said, most of these are not actually in the CBD, so that 10,000 is misleading.
This info really isn't very good. Only one of those developments is in the Downtown core. Even using the city's overly expansive definition of Downtown, two of these projects aren't Downtown at all.:
Quote
A report submitted to the DIA from commercial real estate services firm CBRE Jacksonville shows, as of April 1, five Downtown residential projects have hit or exceeded the average $2 per square foot price point:
• Vista Brooklyn, a 10-story, 308-unit tower at 200 Riverside Ave. As the name applies, this is in Brooklyn, not the Northbank core.
• Bishop Gate, a three-building, 145-unit apartment complex in Riverside This is in Riverside south of the Cummer, which isn't part of anyone's definition of downtown.
• Broadstone River House Apartments, a 263-unit apartment community on the Southbank On the Southbank, not the northbank core.
• 1230 Hendricks Ave., with 345 apartments, parking and 5,500 square feet of retail space. This is south of I-95, which puts it outside even the broadest definition of Downtown. This is San Marco
• The Residences at Barnett, the 18-story, 107-apartment high-rise at 112 W. Adams St. The only one in the Downtown core.
It also falls into the conventional wisdom about 10,000 downtown. Originally, people talked about the need for 10,000 within the Northbank core. That would be considerable density within a small area and would probably get Downtown moving again. However, the city now considers Downtown to include Brooklyn, LaVilla, the Downtown core, the Southbank
and the stadium district. These districts are miles apart from each other and not particularly walkable. As such, getting to 10,000 people across that very broad area is not going to do much for Downtown.
I wonder what the populations of Riverside-Avondale and San Marco are in comparison to the arbitrary "Downtown" that the city has created.
Just spent this past weekend in downtown Cleveland. Just wow, what an amazing transformation since I lived there many years ago. I saw at least 10 historic old buildings being retrofitted for apartments and two new construction projects. One approximately 20 stories and the other 34 stories. Read an article that once these projects are completed downtown Cleveland will have in excess of 20,000 residents.
Agreed. The goal (though lofty right now) IMO should be something like 12,000, half of which are on the northbank between 95, State, Hogan's Creek, and the River. Even 6,000 in that area would do wonders for things.
Quote from: edjax on July 18, 2019, 02:00:48 PM
Just spent this past weekend in downtown Cleveland. Just wow, what an amazing transformation since I lived there many years ago. I saw at least 10 historic old buildings being retrofitted for apartments and two new construction projects. One approximately 20 stories and the other 34 stories. Read an article that once these projects are completed downtown Cleveland will have in excess of 20,000 residents.
Did you go into the AMAZING grocery store there?
We can ball that 10,000 number up and throw it away because it literally means nothing. Downtown isn't on an island. The actual market includes the neighborhoods surrounding the DIA's imaginary borders.
QuotePopulation (within 3 miles)
Overall Population: 78,739
Daytime Population: 202,718
source: https://www.regencycenters.com/property/detail/60648/Brooklyn-Station-on-Riverside1. We already have nearly 80,000 people living and +200,000 working during the day within a three mile radius of downtown. What are we doing to benefit from those existing numbers? What specific corridor is our Euclid (Cleveland), Woodward (Detroit), Main (Greenville), etc.?
2. There are downtowns with blocks of street retail alive and well that don't have anywhere near 10,000 residents living in them. Little Thomasville, GA is one of them.
So while everything we call downtown today could use all the additional residential it can take, if the desire is pedestrian friendly retail, none of these numbers really mean anything without context. Using market rate commercial development along State and Union and in Brooklyn as evidence (i.e. Fresh Market, McDonald's, Chipotle, etc. didn't wait for some 10k downtown magic number), clearly there is already a viable retail market. What's lacking is the policy, direction and a vision to guide its incremental growth into a clustered, compact and pedestrian-centric form.
You'd witness the visual impact a lot quicker if there was a vision and direction for corridors facilitating major through traffic to become urban retail streets. Streets like State and Union should be a market rate gold mine, but we ignore them. Riverside Avenue was already walkable and mixed-use for over a century but we demolished blocks of buildings to widen the street less than 20 years ago. Now we have infill taking place but its coming in a less dense, autocentric development pattern. Adams, Laura, Hogan, etc. have the built density but we screwed with the roadway travel patterns and razed the dense neighborhoods that they connected with the downtown core, so they don't have the necessary traffic counts and visibility for market rate retail. We claim we want to focus on the river but we're demolishing the few buildings that are designed specifically for retail, in favor of green space with little programming or amenities to attract people on a consistent, round the clock basis.
When it is all said and done, when we speak of stimulating the retail market in downtown, most of what I read in the papers and quotes from local leaders comes across as most not having a clear idea of what type of retail they actually want, where it should go and how to get it there, sooner rather than later. This is one of those little situations where having a vetted downtown master plan that serves as a guide map for future implementation would help tremendously.
Quote from: vicupstate on July 18, 2019, 02:53:48 PM
Quote from: edjax on July 18, 2019, 02:00:48 PM
Just spent this past weekend in downtown Cleveland. Just wow, what an amazing transformation since I lived there many years ago. I saw at least 10 historic old buildings being retrofitted for apartments and two new construction projects. One approximately 20 stories and the other 34 stories. Read an article that once these projects are completed downtown Cleveland will have in excess of 20,000 residents.
Did you go into the AMAZING grocery store there?
Oh yea. Heinens
Quote from: thelakelander on July 18, 2019, 02:59:45 PM
2. There are downtowns with blocks of street retail alive and well that don't have anywhere near 10,000 residents living in them. Little Thomasville, GA is one of them.
Thomasville? I mean, it's a cool place but we have like 5 Thomasvilles in the urban core. 5 points, San Marco, King St, Avondale, and Springfield to some extent are pretty comparable to downtown Thomasville IMO.
Yes we don't have the antiquing that they do, LOL. My mom an her old lady friends still love Avondale though ;D
^Exactly. The problem is we don't have "it" downtown. And let me further define "it". "It" is an environment where you have multiple options to get a coffee, breakfast or buy a shirt on a weekend. "It" is being able to experience continuous blocks and storefronts that engage the street and that have multiple businesses that can maintain reliable operating hours when the 8 to 5 crowd flees the scene. "It" is not being the only human on the block when walking in the heart of the city on a Sunday afternoon.
Thomasville has "it". Lakeland has "it". Mount Dora has "it" but DT Jax does not have "it" despite a historical nationwide trend towards urban revitalization and since the 1990s. Forget about the Chicagos, Bostons, South Beaches and Charlottes. Honestly, we're decades away from that type of urban vibrancy. A major accomplishment for anyone in office right now would be finding a way to activate a few blocks of life in the core of the city within the two to four years. That will blow away all of the puff piece press releases we'll be reading about the Shipyards and the District during the remainder of Curry's second term.
Overall, it is pretty inexcusable that the heart of DT Jax can't claim one full block of activity and multiple continuous businesses that are open 7 days a week. Now with that said, there's nearly 80k people already living in close proximity to downtown and there's a strong national market and demographic of people who want to invest in settings like DT Jax. Thus, if we can get the basics right, "it" can happen quick and easy (well before some 10k population number being pulled out of thin air with no context). However, that easy fix is embracing the concept of clustering.
5 points, San Marco, King St, Riverside-Avondale, and Springfield
I question the degree to which you can depend on these areas to support vibracy in the Northbank core. Each of those except Springfield already has their own commercial district with true vibracy. Springfield is on that path, albeit it still has a way to go.
Why would residents in those areas drive past their own vibrant core to go DT? Only for somethign truly different and unique, IMO. I think having residents in the core itself is a requirement for true vibracy there.
Greenville's Main Street pulls from the whole city, so it didn't need 10,000 residents of its own to get there, but I would argue that DT Charotte didn't reach a critical mass until it reached that level.
Using their definition of downtown to count housing, there are already 3 grocery stores. How many more are desired?
Quote from: vicupstate on July 19, 2019, 08:55:02 AM
5 points, San Marco, King St, Riverside-Avondale, and Springfield
I question the degree to which you can depend on these areas to support vibracy in the Northbank core. Each of those except Springfield already has their own commercial district with true vibracy. Springfield is on that path, albeit it still has a way to go.
Why would residents in those areas drive past their own vibrant core to go DT? Only for somethign truly different and unique, IMO. I think having residents in the core itself is a requirement for true vibracy there.
Greenville's Main Street pulls from the whole city, so it didn't need 10,000 residents of its own to get there, but I would argue that DT Charotte didn't reach a critical mass until it reached that level.
In a roundabout way, you just proved my point with my example of Greenville's Main Street. In Jax, all that new development in Brooklyn isn't there because downtown or Brooklyn can support it. Fresh Market is a niche and scale of retail either not present or difficult to build in Riverside or San Marco, yet close enough to them along a high traffic corridor that connects multiple neighborhoods with direct access to I-95 and I-10.
Since downtown Jax has no foot traffic, for retail to really succeed, target the arterial corridors carrying through traffic. Here's a list of every street with an Average Annual Daily Traffic count of 10,000 or above according to Florida Traffic Online (https://tdaappsprod.dot.state.fl.us/fto/):
Above 20,000State Street - 31,500
Union Street - 29,500
Riverside Avenue - 29,00010,000 to 20,000Bay Street (Main to Broad) - 13,000
Main Street - 11,500These are all corridors that funnel crosstown traffic at pretty high volumes. Other than Riverside Avenue in Brooklyn, they are also no-man's land in terms of vision of taking advantage of their volumes, access and visibility, which are key ingredients for commercial development.
State and Union really stick out IMO. When combined, they carry just as much traffic (61,000) as Atlantic (61,000) and Beach (59,000).
Winn-Dixie/Harvey's, McDonald's, 7-Eleven, etc. aren't there because downtown can support them alone. They're pulling from downtown, Springfield, Eastside, Durkeeville and everyone traveling between the Westside, Arlington and the Beaches. Common sense says with supportive land use policies, targeted anchor redevelopment site opportunities, established Skyway access and FSCJ's desire to turn their campus into more of a traditional 4-year one, they should be walkable centralized gateways for the urban core. Working with them is working with the market.
Randomly hoping someone can open a clothing store or cupcake shop on a low volume, out-of-sight street like Laura and expecting them to maintain evening and weekend hours without consistently programming the hell out of the area to generate foot traffic is wishful thinking at best. Waiting for a population of 10,000 spread across what is now considered downtown is also fool's gold. In reality, that's a pitiful population density of less than 2,600 people. Using that random number as a benchmark without physical context essentially guarantees that things will be morbid for the foreseeable future, regardless of the puff press releases.
So as of now, from what I can see, we do have a market and we do have opportunities that we can take advantage of for quick short term change. However, currently, we have no real plan of how to take advantage of what drives the commercial retail market and how clustering around those market realities can create synergy that stimulates the real change that most dream about and would like to see.
Quote from: Kerry on July 19, 2019, 09:25:31 AM
Using their definition of downtown to count housing, there are already 3 grocery stores. How many more are desired?
Pretty much. Despite the expansion of DT's borders, most still recognize downtown as the core of the Northbank. No matter what takes place at the stadium, Southbank or Brooklyn, it sets the visual tone, perception and image of downtown being vibrant or dead. The two grocery stores (what is the third one?) either fall outside of that boundary (Fresh Market) or happen to be located in no-man's land (Harvey's). Until something opens between Broad and Liberty and south of Church or so, you're likely going to hear people still complaining about not having a grocery store.
Earlier in this thread, I asked what are we doing to take advantage of the 80,000 already present in the urban core. The grocery store situation is a prime example of a quick fix that is still ignored. Fresh Market opened in Brooklyn a few years ago to serve that 80,000. Because we have no vision or plan, that center ended up being a lot more suburban than it had to be. Nevertheless, a grocery store did open right across the street from a skyway maintenance yard right across the street. It has been known that some form of commercial development was going to take place on the Brooklyn Station site for at least a decade or more now. That's more than enough time to figure out how to get, fund and implement a Skyway stop in Brooklyn. Assuming we had an urban circulator transit system that operated during the weekends, that one stop alone would directly tie most Northbank and Southbank residents and office workers with a grocery store without the need of an individual having to drive in a car. It's not taking advantage of the little things like this that ultimately hold DT Jax from creating synergy to speed up market rate revitalization.
DT Greenville draws across the whole city because that is the restaurant/entertainment/leisure district for the whole city. There aren't many 5 Points/San Marco style districts to compete against DT.
The State/Union traffic is commuters going to work or just crossing thru to get to the other side of the river. They aren't on their way to buy groceries or going out for the evening. A convenience store or something of that nature could capture some business, but I don't see much else. Plus the one-way freeway nature of the streets won't experience walkablity until that changes.
Why would someone in Riverside drive past the Fresh Market in Brooklyn, to shop at a similar place in the Northbank?
I could see someone in San Marco driving to a Fresh Market on the Nbank but probably not once the Publix is built in San Marco.
Quote from: vicupstate on July 19, 2019, 10:56:49 AM
DT Greenville draws across the whole city because that is the restaurant/entertainment/leisure district for the whole city. There aren't many 5 Points/San Marco style districts to compete against DT.
The State/Union traffic is commuters going to work or just crossing thru to get to the other side of the river. They aren't on their way to buy groceries or going out for the evening. A convenience store or something of that nature could capture some business, but I don't see much else. Plus the one-way freeway nature of the streets won't experience walkablity until that changes.
Why would someone in Riverside drive past the Fresh Market in Brooklyn, to shop at a similar place in the Northbank?
I could see someone in San Marco driving to a Fresh Market on the Nbank but probably not once the Publix is built in San Marco.
State and Union, if done right, could be dramatically nicer than it is today. Not many roads have the traffic count that they do combined.
In terms of a grocery store, to a degree I see your point. With Fresh Market in Brooklyn and assuming the Publix does happen in San Marco, then a downtown grocery store likely only serves the Northbank and Springfield, perhaps southern Brentwood (though I'd think someone on 25th street would go to Gateway). But, there's a huge opportunity for a Walgreens or CVS. If that existed, then at least people who needed a couple things had a place to go that they could walk to vs. driving out of downtown.
Quote from: vicupstate on July 19, 2019, 10:56:49 AM
DT Greenville draws across the whole city because that is the restaurant/entertainment/leisure district for the whole city. There aren't many 5 Points/San Marco style districts to compete against DT.
I think you're getting caught up on specific type of retail and also overlooking market size. In Jax, we have Brooklyn as the perfect example. Riverside Avenue is a "commuter" corridor, just like Atlantic, Beach and Blanding. It just happens to fall within what the DIA defines as downtown. Brooklyn Station isn't successful because of downtown or Brooklyn's population. It's also not the restaurant/entertainment/leisure district for the whole city (when you get Jax's size, you'll always have multiple districts as opposed to one). It's successful because it is positioned to serve a specific trade area for tenants requiring certain design criteria not easily found or readily available in other parts of said trade area. It doesn't really matter if the population being exposed happens to be commuters, those who work specifically in downtown or people living nearby.
QuoteThe State/Union traffic is commuters going to work or just crossing thru to get to the other side of the river. They aren't on their way to buy groceries or going out for the evening. A convenience store or something of that nature could capture some business, but I don't see much else. Plus the one-way freeway nature of the streets won't experience walkablity until that changes.
From personal experience over the years of parking next to FSJC and walking to my old DT Jax office location on Forsyth Street to avoid paying for parking, the streets actually already have more pedestrian traffic than most of downtown. However, they do suffer from poor land use planning and long term incremental demolition of mixed-use building stock. However, they're no different from a SW 7th/8th Street pair in Miami, a Tampa St/Florida Ave pair in Tampa or Fannin/San Jacinto Street pair in Houston. All are one-way pairs carrying large volumes of crosstown traffic yet are examples of corridors where there are commercial opportunities. State and Union are not different, if what is perceived as a negative (one-way and high auto traffic) is viewed as a positive (centralized access and high visibility). They all offer the type of traffic counts that are attractive to a diverse range of commercial uses. However, what makes or breaks the walkability isn't necessarily the traffic count. It's the policies that drive or prohibit pedestrian scale mix of uses and the ability to cross them safely.
QuoteWhy would someone in Riverside drive past the Fresh Market in Brooklyn, to shop at a similar place in the Northbank?
I could see someone in San Marco driving to a Fresh Market on the Nortbank but probably not once the Publix is built in San Marco.
Why would someone drive past Publix in Riverside to shop at Fresh Market in Brooklyn? Why do some drive miles to get gas at a Dailys when a Race Trac could be right around the corner? Why do some drive pass multiple locations of Sonnys BBQ to get Jenkins BBQ on State & Union? I don't think we can answer those types of questions for people. Consumers make personal decisions for a variety of reasons. However, what isn't questionable is the high traffic counts, centralized access, visibility and what roles these characteristics play into retail site selection. What I'm saying is use these market rate truths to your advantage.
Also, I tend to prefer not to characterize the specific types of businesses that make up a successful commercial district. I don't believe successful retail strips have to equate to being a restaurant/entertainment clusters or town center style mix of tenants. Perhaps it is places like CVS, ALDI, 7-Elevens, etc., mixed with local businesses like dry cleaners, sandwich shops and an occasional Waffle House, McDonalds, clothing boutique or two that cater to the surrounding population and commuting traffic being funneled through the area. That's essentially what SW 8th is in Miami. Local land use policies just tend to make those corridors more pedestrian scale. So if Walgreens or Burger King wants to come....they can. However, they'll be designed in a manner where there's not a surface parking lot between the building and the street or the building's neighbors.
Quote from: Steve on July 19, 2019, 11:12:30 AM
State and Union, if done right, could be dramatically nicer than it is today. Not many roads have the traffic count that they do combined.
In terms of a grocery store, to a degree I see your point. With Fresh Market in Brooklyn and assuming the Publix does happen in San Marco, then a downtown grocery store likely only serves the Northbank and Springfield, perhaps southern Brentwood (though I'd think someone on 25th street would go to Gateway). But, there's a huge opportunity for a Walgreens or CVS. If that existed, then at least people who needed a couple things had a place to go that they could walk to vs. driving out of downtown.
But even with the grocery example, everything isn't set in stone. Harvey's on Union Street doesn't survive on Northbank consumers alone. Neither does the McDonald's on State. Both would die if placed on Monroe Street in the heart of the Northbank (in fact, both did once have locations on Monroe in the heart of the Northbank and either moved to their present location or outright closed). They pull from commuters and residents not only living in DT, Springfield, etc. but also the Eastside, Durkeeville, New Town, etc. Trips are made for a variety of reasons. I have a Publix down the street from me but depending on what I need at a specific time and what's available along the route of that particular trip, I'll stop in competing chains or other Publix locations when they accommodate my personal schedule more efficiently. I love Boiling Crawfish and Soul Food Bistro. Both have locations on both sides of the river. I still end up at all of the locations, depending on if I happen to be in a particular area for another reason and decide to grab a bite to eat during that particular trip. I believe it would do us well to start viewing State and Union in a different light. They aren't negatives.
Three words in your post really lay out the challenges: policy, direction, vision. In spite of the remaining legacy assets (which give us a starting point for CBD multi-purpose redevelopment) and the "start and stop" short flurries of promised activity (e.g. new convention center, Lot J, Berkman II), we have skipped the foundational prerequisites.
Without slowing down any current residential projects underway and emerging (San Marco/First Presbyterian letter of intent) , could the DIA, commencing under new leadership, at least frame and articulate two of these: direction and vision? Policy will probably have to be produced through other channels. But I think you nailed it Lake: vision, direction, policy. Thanks!
Quote from: thelakelander on July 19, 2019, 10:40:52 AM
Pretty much. Despite the expansion of DT's borders, most still recognize downtown as the core of the Northbank.
I'm not sure what group you have in mind by "most people".
Most people in the region think of places like Springfield and Riverside downtown.
Either way in an age when Wal-mart will deliver groceries to your door, I don't see wisdom in dwelling on the notion that a grocery at just the right corner serving just the right demographic is a missing piece of the puzzle.
QuoteEither way in an age when Wal-mart will deliver groceries to your door, I don't see wisdom in dwelling on the notion that a grocery at just the right corner serving just the right demographic is a missing piece of the puzzle.
The missing ingredient is foot traffic or doing things in a way to generate it consistently. It's not about what we personally see or don't see, in terms of specific business uses. It's about coordinating public policy with the market to create a built environment where continuous blocks of economic opportunity can flourish in a pedestrian scale environment. Create the traffic and people way smarter than you and me in the businesses that they're involved in will invest in opportunities and enterprises that the market can support. With the correct public policies in place, the investments they make will incrementally build the physical environment that the community envisions. If Jax desires a walkable one for select areas (in the case of DT and the urban core), public policy should be crafted to guide things to that outcome. If walkability isn't important, just keep things status quo and don't get too sensitive about being questioned about being one of the few major cities with a sleepy central business district at nights and on weekends. Either way, Jax has total control over the ultimate outcome.
Quote from: vicupstate on July 19, 2019, 10:56:49 AM
DT Greenville draws across the whole city because that is the restaurant/entertainment/leisure district for the whole city. There aren't many 5 Points/San Marco style districts to compete against DT.
We went to Greenville this weekend for a quick get away. I've only been there twice but I can't get over how nice their urban core is. The amount of downtown housing is staggering, with lots more under construction spreading north of downtown. Seeing that it has taken them 30 years to get where they are today I've basically given up on Jax. I'll be long dead before Jax is even close to Greenville's level of walkable urbanism.
Quote from: bl8jaxnative on July 20, 2019, 04:19:28 PM
Either way in an age when Wal-mart will deliver groceries to your door, I don't see wisdom in dwelling on the notion that a grocery at just the right corner serving just the right demographic is a missing piece of the puzzle.
In an age where catastrophic climate change is a reality, the luxury of having your groceries delivered (or even driving to the grocery store) is indefensible and hopefully something that will disappear.
Of course, some people will always be too lazy to walk to their local* grocery store.
*when the local store is within reasonable walking distance, of course.
Quote from: Kerry on July 23, 2019, 09:29:19 AM
Quote from: vicupstate on July 19, 2019, 10:56:49 AM
DT Greenville draws across the whole city because that is the restaurant/entertainment/leisure district for the whole city. There aren't many 5 Points/San Marco style districts to compete against DT.
We went to Greenville this weekend for a quick get away. I've only been there twice but I can't get over how nice their urban core is. The amount of downtown housing is staggering, with lots more under construction spreading north of downtown. Seeing that it has taken them 30 years to get where they are today I've basically given up on Jax. I'll be long dead before Jax is even close to Greenville's level of walkable urbanism.
Because you were always such a cheerleader for Jax before.
Quote from: Kerry on July 23, 2019, 09:29:19 AM
Quote from: vicupstate on July 19, 2019, 10:56:49 AM
DT Greenville draws across the whole city because that is the restaurant/entertainment/leisure district for the whole city. There aren't many 5 Points/San Marco style districts to compete against DT.
We went to Greenville this weekend for a quick get away. I've only been there twice but I can't get over how nice their urban core is. The amount of downtown housing is staggering, with lots more under construction spreading north of downtown. Seeing that it has taken them 30 years to get where they are today I've basically given up on Jax. I'll be long dead before Jax is even close to Greenville's level of walkable urbanism.
LOL, we're already 65 to 70 years to get to the point of where we've destroyed enough in the name of revitalization to get to where we're at today. In reality, DT Jax probably has witnessed more investment than Greenville over that time period but its spread out across a four square mile area, so we're not getting the synergy or resulting foot traffic stimulated through the clustering of said investments. With that in mind, if we take advantage of what's already in place and currently coming online by focusing on select few infill/adaptive reuse sites, it won't take 30 years to get the "walkable urbanism" that Greenville has.
It isn't even close. Greenville has the St Johns Town Center in an actual town center, and it isn't surrounded by parking lots. The number of people on the street was staggering (downtown residents, area residents, tourist, and convention goers all lumped together in one location). What was missing? The homeless. I maybe saw 3 or 4 and they were all walking - not loitering.
^I'm pretty familiar with DT Greenville and the how clustering can make scenes look dramatically different. Unfortunately, the importance of the concept is still not fully embraced on the 4th floor.
I was reading some of the history of Greenville resurgence and here is the key - in 1989 the Mayor said Greenville needs to stop focusing on companies and start focusing on humans. That is a huge shift in mentality and is the exact opposite of what Jax does. All of our funds and efforts go to attracting corporations or subsidizing their operations. If we spent just a fraction of our money on parks, venues, and housing we would be much further along. For example, all the land in Brooklyn between Riverside and the river is reserved for corporations. It should be exclusively reserved for residential (ideally fronting Riverside) with recreational open space on the riverbank.
Well... maybe they took your advice because we're spending $25M on a brand new riverfront park. That should turn things around.
I'm pretty sure it's been mentioned maybe a time or two on this site, but I fixed it for you regardless....
Quotestop focusing on companies vehicular traffic and start focusing on humans foot traffic... we would be much further along.
Quote from: Non-RedNeck Westsider on July 23, 2019, 02:52:38 PM
I'm pretty sure it's been mentioned maybe a time or two on this site, but I fixed it for you regardless....
Quotestop focusing on companies vehicular traffic and start focusing on humans foot traffic... we would be much further along.
That is just an extension of what I said. This isn't a chicken and egg debate. Build a place for humans (which includes foot traffic) and businesses will follow. It doesn't work the other away around (build for corporations and humans move nearby). Throwing dollars at larger employers to locate downtown IS NOT resulting in more downtown housing. All theses companies do is build giant parking lots/garages and their employees commute from the suburbs. No one is relocating just to be closer to their employer because they were already commuting before their employer moved. Hell, Aetna moved to the Southside to be closer to their employees - who ALL still drive to work.