Quote(https://photos.moderncities.com/photos/i-mrgH9ft/0/L/i-mrgH9ft-L.jpg)
Analyses of Downtown Jacksonville's continued struggles typically focus on factors within Downtown's boundaries. Though generally overlooked, one external factor may play the biggest role: the Urban Core neighborhoods that historically sustained Downtown have seen their population plummet by 100,000 since 1950.
Read More: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/the-forgotten-factor-behind-downtown-jaxs-struggles/
Awesome article Lake. Thoroughly enjoyed it. It seems that we might be finally on the right track or finally on to something regarding the prosperity of the Urban Core, which includes downtown. 30 square miles is not all that big, and I would guess that had we not consolidated, we would have gobbled up, or annexed more areas around that 30 square miles; but I don't think that the problem experienced by the urban core would not have happened. I think we still would have had a decrease of population and prosperity within the Urban Core and downtown. Thank you Lake, great article.
QuoteDowntown Jacksonville has been the heart of the city since it was founded in 1822. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, neighborhoods like LaVilla, Brooklyn, Sugar Hill, Hansontown, Springfield, Riverside, the Eastside and Durkeeville grew up around the city center.
This article is right on. Focusing only on the downtown area, mainly defined for DVI, is way to parochial. The surrounding areas are the low hanging fruit to support the core. If those "urban dwellers" won't, there is little hope of getting those living further away.
It doesn't help that mass transit doesn't offer urban area only routes that circulate in loops rather than spokes to the burbs.
A forgotten factor; Consolidation has proven to be a Poof.