Quote
Saving Arlington
A neighborhood hangs between deterioration and determination; some decide to choose the latter.
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-02-14/story/saving_arlington
Good article, too bad the debate in the comments has turned to racial comments (no surprise I guess). However, most postings recognize the decline of Arlington is due to HUD housing, not to say all HUD residents are bad, but there is always a bump in crime when HUD takes over.
To me, Arlington is mostly working class families. Nothing fancy, most people take care of their homes & lawns, but like anywhere you get a few bad apples. Arlington doesn't deserve the reputation it gets - it's really the best located suburbs in jax.
I like living in Arlington. We're close to downtown, close to the beaches, close to some good shopping areas, and my neighborhood has a small-town feel. I've seen the Ramones and some other good shows at Jacksonville University, which is in Arlington. When I go for a walk every day after work, I'm delighted to see children of several different races playing together in each other's yards.
I too enjoy living in Arlington - there are some bad neighborhoods, but hey, it's jacksonville, there are problems everywhere. There was just a murder at the beach last week or so.
Arlington has a pretty good history too, it's just not represented as strong as other neighborhoods on this site.
For those interested in Arlington history:
http://oldarlington.org/home.php
That's a good link, Coredumped. Thanks. I almost forgot, Arlington also has the restored Norman Studios building, but nothing seems to be going on there. I don't think it's open to the public, but then again, I haven't stopped and tried to go inside. Here's a link to their web site:
http://normanstudios.org/
I also live in Arlington and love it. Have been here 8 years and have had no problem with crime at all (unlike all the other areas of town that I have lived in over the years). I don't think that Arlington deserves all of the bad press that it gets. I have many new young families that have moved into my neighborhood in just the last two years.
Quote from: Arlingtondude on October 01, 2010, 04:34:17 PM
I also live in Arlington and love it. Have been here 8 years and have had no problem with crime at all (unlike all the other areas of town that I have lived in over the years). I don't think that Arlington deserves all of the bad press that it gets. I have many new young families that have moved into my neighborhood in just the last two years.
I stayed in Arlington for 3 years and loved it, HOWEVER I could no longer deal with crime in that area. I stayed on univeristy near merrill and ft carloine and the crime was outrageous. I was gonna move further down merrill in the Paddock club because its not as bad down on that end, but I ended moving to baymeadows instead. I miss Arlington though :(
duvaldude08.........I can understand! No where in Bay Meadows is there the panache of a Springfield, Ortega, Riverside or Arlington..............no where!
Arlington could benefit from some light rail with a TOD center at Regency. Is JTA listening?
Arlington could benefit from City Council representation that cared. District 1 and District 7 have more "glamorous" neighborhoods drawing their attention.
The real problem, as it sounds duvaldude08 has experienced, is the zoning. They need to plow that entire area around justina. All those section 8 apts are where the crime is. I'm not saying all people in section 8 housing are bad, I'm saying in this particular area the crime is isolated around these apts.
It's very frustrating, since there are literally million dollar homes less than 1/2 a mile away from there on the river.
I'm living in a 90K home that has been loved, respected and maintained for 35 years. I'm sandwiched between two other homes that are the same. Why does the guy in the $1M home deserve more than my neighbors and I? Unless you roll through, you don't know where the crime is. The whole University corridor and all along Merrill Rd, Townsend by Parker even up to 9A are areas with high crime. Do we bulldoze that and just make it a playground for the kids who live in million dollar homes?
Under-representation in the City Council, a lack of JPD presence, failing/underperforming schools, no community development...these are the issues truly plaguing this area of Arlington. The crime is just a natural result of those factors.
Quote from: Singejoufflue on October 19, 2010, 11:05:07 PM
Under-representation in the City Council, a lack of JPD presence, failing/underperforming schools, no community development...these are the issues truly plaguing this area of Arlington. The crime is just a natural result of those factors.
Nonsense. Are you trying to tell me the schools in southside out perform arlington? Duval schools are generally bad, but so is the crime. I live in a similar priced house in arlington, so let me clarify. I don't think we should buldoze these houses. Many of them are quite nice, and if were in a different part of town they'd be called "historic."
What I'm saying is that the high concentration of section 8 apts are the problem.
I will agree there is a lack of JSO (jpd?) presence in the area, but that can be said for all of jax.
I don't know how long you have been actively living in this area (Cesery and Merrill), but I go back to '86 and my Grandparents bought here in the mid-70s. I went to Justina Elementary. It was starting to fail then when I was in 1st grade. But the community was going downhill then, too. Development along Merrill and University dried up, larger businesses moved further East and all this well before Section-8. Section-8 only comes in when there are large complexes that remain vacant. Those vacancies were caused by folks moving to the developing Southside/Inter-coastal areas in the 90s.
No question - you got me beat! And don't get me wrong, I like living in arlington, as Bill said it's very convenient. Given it's location we have a real diamond in the rough, we just need to clean it up some. I really don't think the school are much better anywhere in jax, perhaps a little better, but they all have their problems. In this neighborhood, looking at JSO's crime map, there is a VERY HIGH concentration of crime across from JU.
The area has a HUGE potential given it's location, but I guess we can say that for all of jax, lots of potential and that's about it.
Perhaps it's just a victim of sprawl.
I sadly, live right in the thick of the crime-mess. Nothing like semi-automatic gun shots at 4:30am to get a day going. You will find; however, that the way the council lines are drawn, the worst portion is a no-man's land for District 7 leadership, what with Springfield and Hogan's Creek to draw focus. As for my District 1 rep...ugh, don't get me started.
Well, it's 2015 and we finally have a new City Council rep for District 1. We've heard promises from all the candidates (just like the campaign speeches of prior years) to help move Arlington forward, to end the crime, to end the blight, to help with some of the bad zoning areas. Let's hope that CW Joyce Morgan is more than lip-service and a pretty face. We need a very dedicated rep with a burning fire in the belly to push Arlington into the forefront. Without that passion, we will have another passive representative and Arlington will finally meet its last chance because the time-clock for helping Arlington make a U-turn has almost expired. We need a strong advocate for Arlington who is front and center every week, pushing, promoting, advocating for Arlington.