I asked AI/CO-PILOT about downtown Jacksonville and Jacksonville; and here is the reply:
You're touching on something that urban analysts, longtime residents, and even city planners have been saying quietly for years: Jacksonville is a major city on paper, but it hasn't always acted like one. And the reasons for that are cultural, historical, political, and structural.
Let me unpack this in a way that respects the nuance but also speaks plainly.
1. Jacksonville is a major city — the numbers prove it
If you look strictly at population:
Jacksonville city limits population: ~975,000+
Metro population: ~1.7 million
Land area: Largest city by land area in the continental U.S.
Urbanized area population: Larger than Charlotte, Nashville, and Miami proper
On paper, Jacksonville is a top‑15 U.S. city.
But perception hasn't caught up to reality — and that's where your point hits home.
2. Why Jacksonville hasn't been seen as a major city
There are a few big reasons:
✅ A. Consolidation masked urban growth
When Jacksonville merged city/county governments in 1968, it created a huge landmass with suburban-style governance. The city grew outward, not upward.
Result:
A massive population
But a small, underdeveloped downtown
A "big city" on paper, "small town" in feel
✅ B. The "good ole boy" political culture
For decades, Jacksonville leadership prioritized:
Low taxes
Suburban expansion
Car-centric planning
Avoiding risk
Avoiding density
Avoiding "big city" identity
This kept the city stable — but also kept it timid.
✅ C. Lack of a strong urban core
Cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, and Houston built:
Dense downtowns
Transit systems
Corporate clusters
Signature skylines
Jacksonville's downtown lagged behind, even while the population soared.
D. Cultural modesty
Jacksonville has always had a "don't brag" culture. It's a Southern, military, working-class city with a humble streak.
That humility is admirable — but it also kept the city from projecting confidence.
3. But you're right: Jacksonville is changing — fast
The last few years have brought a new generation of leadership, both public and private, who are:
✅ More urban-minded ✅ More ambitious ✅ Less tied to old political networks ✅ More willing to take risks ✅ More focused on density, walkability, and placemaking
You can see it in:
Gateway Jax's massive downtown investment
The Related Group's Southbank tower
Riverfront Plaza's transformation
RiversEdge rising
Friendship Fountain's redevelopment
The DIA's more aggressive posture
A shift toward mixed-use, not just parking lots
This is not the Jacksonville of 1995 or 2005.
4. The "big city but small town" mentality is fading
You're absolutely right: Jacksonville is finally shedding the old mindset that held it back.
The new mentality is:
"We are a major city."
"We deserve a real downtown."
"We can build towers."
"We can attract investment."
"We can be bold."
This shift is cultural as much as political.
⭐ 5. My take, in plain language
Jacksonville has always been a major city — it just didn't always believe it.
For decades, the city acted like:
A big suburb
With a small downtown
And a cautious political culture
But now?
The city is finally stepping into its identity.
You're seeing:
Bigger projects
More ambitious developers
A more assertive DIA
A more urban vision
A willingness to build vertically
A desire to compete with peer cities
Jacksonville is no longer afraid to look like the major city it already is.
And honestly? It's about time.
https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/will-10k-residents-really-revitalize-downtown-jax-page-2/
Does anyone know the population of the proposed 1 mile square of the north bank and LaVilla? Can't seem to find it in DV. Funny that The Jaxon has been talking about this forever and only now DIA and DV are coming to terms with this idea.
Quote from: jcjohnpaint on December 27, 2025, 11:43:09 AM
Does anyone know the population of the proposed 1 mile square of the north bank and LaVilla? Can't seem to find it in DV. Funny that The Jaxon has been talking about this forever and only now DIA and DV are coming to terms with this idea.
Per Colin Tarbert, by way of the Daily Record, current population of the stretch between LaVilla and the stadium is around 4,000 currently.
Source: https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2025/dec/19/tarberts-target-getting-downtown-jacksonville-past-the-resident-tipping-point/
Better than I thought.
Quote from: heights unknown on December 15, 2025, 06:41:42 PM
I asked AI/CO-PILOT about downtown Jacksonville and Jacksonville; and here is the reply:
You're touching on something that urban analysts, longtime residents, and even city planners have been saying quietly for years: Jacksonville is a major city on paper, but it hasn't always acted like one. And the reasons for that are cultural, historical, political, and structural.
Let me unpack this in a way that respects the nuance but also speaks plainly.
1. Jacksonville is a major city — the numbers prove it
If you look strictly at population:
Jacksonville city limits population: ~975,000+
Metro population: ~1.7 million
Land area: Largest city by land area in the continental U.S.
Urbanized area population: Larger than Charlotte, Nashville, and Miami proper
On paper, Jacksonville is a top‑15 U.S. city.
But perception hasn't caught up to reality — and that's where your point hits home.
2. Why Jacksonville hasn't been seen as a major city
There are a few big reasons:
✅ A. Consolidation masked urban growth
When Jacksonville merged city/county governments in 1968, it created a huge landmass with suburban-style governance. The city grew outward, not upward.
Result:
A massive population
But a small, underdeveloped downtown
A "big city" on paper, "small town" in feel
✅ B. The "good ole boy" political culture
For decades, Jacksonville leadership prioritized:
Low taxes
Suburban expansion
Car-centric planning
Avoiding risk
Avoiding density
Avoiding "big city" identity
This kept the city stable — but also kept it timid.
✅ C. Lack of a strong urban core
Cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, and Houston built:
Dense downtowns
Transit systems
Corporate clusters
Signature skylines
Jacksonville's downtown lagged behind, even while the population soared.
D. Cultural modesty
Jacksonville has always had a "don't brag" culture. It's a Southern, military, working-class city with a humble streak.
That humility is admirable — but it also kept the city from projecting confidence.
3. But you're right: Jacksonville is changing — fast
The last few years have brought a new generation of leadership, both public and private, who are:
✅ More urban-minded ✅ More ambitious ✅ Less tied to old political networks ✅ More willing to take risks ✅ More focused on density, walkability, and placemaking
You can see it in:
Gateway Jax's massive downtown investment
The Related Group's Southbank tower
Riverfront Plaza's transformation
RiversEdge rising
Friendship Fountain's redevelopment
The DIA's more aggressive posture
A shift toward mixed-use, not just parking lots
This is not the Jacksonville of 1995 or 2005.
4. The "big city but small town" mentality is fading
You're absolutely right: Jacksonville is finally shedding the old mindset that held it back.
The new mentality is:
"We are a major city."
"We deserve a real downtown."
"We can build towers."
"We can attract investment."
"We can be bold."
This shift is cultural as much as political.
⭐ 5. My take, in plain language
Jacksonville has always been a major city — it just didn't always believe it.
For decades, the city acted like:
A big suburb
With a small downtown
And a cautious political culture
But now?
The city is finally stepping into its identity.
You're seeing:
Bigger projects
More ambitious developers
A more assertive DIA
A more urban vision
A willingness to build vertically
A desire to compete with peer cities
Jacksonville is no longer afraid to look like the major city it already is.
And honestly? It's about time.
Like all AI slop this is a combination of accurate information stolen from others (some of it definitely from us), inaccurate information stolen from inaccurate sources, and gibberish. Most of the factors it says lead to downtown's struggles were true of most cities in North America after World War II. As we've pointed out before, there's not an especially strong correlation between consolidation and a vibrant downtown; in fact many if not most consolidated cities really hold their own. The difference is in what happened in the last 30 or 40 years when cities began to get more serious about reviving their downtowns. That's the big difference for us -- we've intermittently made investments like our peer cities, but we just haven't consistently built on them, and we haven't been as strong as some peers in making necessary policy changes. That's changed recently, and the results have been dramatic, we went through a lot of years where we didn't do enough to make the city center thrive (or actively made things worse, as Lenny Curry did by blowing up buildings with no plans.)
It would also be worth looking into how much this impacted other consolidated cities, but the Jax Urban Core that once sustained Downtown saw a precipitous decline that's only started to turn around in the last 6 years. Consolidation did mask the severity of this decline, and unlike some cities, Downtown Jax itself hadn't had much of a residential base for generations.
I'd attribute the current growth in Downtown to a couple of things. First of course is the leadership of Mayor Deegan, who's gotten a huge amount of projects finished and moving. Having DIA - and it being reasonably independent in its planning and certain incentives - has been a huge help. Even in years where little was visibly going forward, they were setting the stage. That made it *much* easier for the mayor to hit the ground running. There's also been an upsurge in residential developments for the last five years or so, adaptive reuse at first but more recently new construction as well. Not only has that incrementally increased the residential population, it's signaled to other developers that they can get things done here. We'd grown a reputation that we weren't friendly to outsiders besides the select few. That has changed dramatically the last few years with a lot of the big moves coming from said "outsiders".
Quote from: Ken_FSU on December 27, 2025, 12:51:03 PM
Quote from: jcjohnpaint on December 27, 2025, 11:43:09 AM
Does anyone know the population of the proposed 1 mile square of the north bank and LaVilla? Can't seem to find it in DV. Funny that The Jaxon has been talking about this forever and only now DIA and DV are coming to terms with this idea.
Per Colin Tarbert, by way of the Daily Record, current population of the stretch between LaVilla and the stadium is around 4,000 currently.
Source: https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2025/dec/19/tarberts-target-getting-downtown-jacksonville-past-the-resident-tipping-point/
I chatted with Tarbert after that came out. Definitely worth a read on many fronts. He saw right through the "10k residents will restore Downtown" myth from the jump and is setting DIA's goals to be more effective. More focus on the Northbank specifically, and more focus on creating an attractive environment with the the tools we've already got.