The Great Reset: What Will It Mean for Jacksonville?
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/889014925_Drgtw-M.jpg)
A local planner reviews Urban theorist Richard Florida's explanation of why the recession is the mother of invention and ponders what it means for Jacksonville.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-jun-the-great-reset-what-will-it-mean-for-jacksonville-
Excellent article.
Things will never be the same.
Once we grasp this simple fact, we can move forward.
Awesome article! Lets all hope that while we're at a crossroads now, we can all help to push our city towards the right road leading to real change and prosperity.
[Standing up clapping] Great review and awesome insight into the problems our city will need to address over the next few years. If we don't address these problems soon, we will be dealing with much more serious ones in the near future (think Detroit).
The concept of megaregions has been talked about quite extensively for several years....and while some see Tampa-Orlando-Miami, others see one Florida megaregion that includes Jax.
http://www.america2050.org/
All the more reason we should care about and support high speed rail, Sunrail, Amtrak/FEC, and TBARTA plans....even if there some don't seem to have a direct benefit for Jax.
QuoteJacksonville â€" which, curiously, is nowhere mentioned in the book
Why is that so surprising?
This map is interesting: http://www.america2050.org/images/2050_Map_Megaregions_Influence_150.png
Florida's region looks to have no influence beyond the borders of our mega-region. Also, Tallahassee is not included in our mega-region. Houston is a part of two regions, while california has two regions within the same state. It will be interesting to see the dynamics between city and state governments against the powerful mega-regions.
In the short term, Jacksonville should be strengthening its ties to the academic hub of Gainesville and encouraging more collaborations between our bio-tech industry and UF. Also, we need to shore up our industry with the port and our opportunity as a transit hub. We need to grow our finance and insurance sector. We need to encourage the growth of all three industries to tie into the growth of our downtown core. We need to develop our local Universities and improve our public school system. All this while maintaining smart growth and developing our transit network to be less auto dependent.
I noticed he mentions Benton McKaye in the article talking about regionalism. Benton McKaye is actually the founder of the world famous Appalachian Trail. And his concept of what the AT should have been really gives you a clue to how he thought of things. In his vision, the AT would have actually been a foot path that linked up a series of self-sustaining mountain top communities. Basically in these communities workers from the cities could come to engage in some sort of forestry based work not so much tied to turning over a profit as a retreat from their usual jobs. As is implied here, McKaye was generally considered a failure in his time. He was let go from positions at Harvard and the US Forest Service, and even his baby the AT didn't turn out according his vision (which I'm personally glad it didn't because it's wonderful as is). Even so, a couple aspects of his world view are very useful: connectivity and community.
As someone else said, we live in close enough proximity to other major Florida cities that we could feasibly become a part of an important geographic region, but that would depend on our leadership taking action to foster that kind of relationship. I remember seeing a lot of discussion a while back about the absence of Jax leadership when there was a push to establish higher speed rail service up the Florida East Coast. We cannot afford to be MIA here.
We are at an advantage compared to some of these regions mentioned as be we could enact measures as a state that would support regional growth whereas as a region like Char-lanta doesn't have that. For instance that fact that there is no state income tax makes us attractive as a region for educated workers. We can take steps at the state level to innovate public education (such as modifying teacher licensure to make it more similar to a doctor's residency). We can work as a state to boost our technology infrastructure. Etc. We just need everyone present at the table and someone to get the ball rolling.
Quote from: finehoe on June 17, 2010, 09:49:19 AM
QuoteJacksonville â€" which, curiously, is nowhere mentioned in the book
Why is that so surprising?
I presume because Jacksonville faces the specific problems at the central focus of the article. Also, it's mentioned as an example in some other books about excessive disconnected suburbanization, such as "Crabgrass Frontier."
Quote from: Captain Zissou on June 17, 2010, 09:52:29 AM
In the short term, Jacksonville should be strengthening its ties to the academic hub of Gainesville and encouraging more collaborations between our bio-tech industry and UF. Also, we need to shore up our industry with the port and our opportunity as a transit hub. We need to grow our finance and insurance sector. We need to encourage the growth of all three industries to tie into the growth of our downtown core. We need to develop our local Universities and improve our public school system. All this while maintaining smart growth and developing our transit network to be less auto dependent.
Perfect! Also, Jacksonville, by not being tied specifically to a mega-region, will retain it's independence in decision making, budget controls, incentives, etc, without having to get the OK from a neighbor. These mega-regions aren't always going to agree on everything, it sounds like Florida (the author) is looking at Europe's demographic evolution and applying it to the States.
^^^^ *of course I mean no disrepect/discredit, nor do I necessarily disagree. :)
I figure you could have it both ways here. Being part of a regional cluster of cities doesn't have to mean that cities lose their independence. But cities in a region can work cooperatively to benefit all. I think the article might exaggerating how revolutionary this idea is if anything. I'm proudly Appalachian and the cities around my hometown have strong ties for a long time in bringing in industries or drawing tourists or what so have you (albeit on a smaller scale). Really this article just describes ways to improve our city, and in doing so one of the questions we have to ask ourselves how can we work with other cities to achieve that end for everyone?
Thanks for the interesting article. Just put the book on reserve at the library!
Quote from: Captain Zissou on June 17, 2010, 09:52:29 AM
In the short term, Jacksonville should be strengthening its ties to the academic hub of Gainesville and encouraging more collaborations between our bio-tech industry and UF. ... We need to develop our local Universities and improve our public school system. All this while maintaining smart growth and developing our transit network to be less auto dependent.
+1000 Captain, we agree fully on this point.
Instead of contributing to our problems of the past by building the worthless $1.8 billion urban sprawl creating Outer Beltway from one interstate to another, we should spend the same money to improve our connectivity to Gainesville (and, maybe, Tallahasse, both for FSU/Florida A & M and the direct political and economic ink to our state capital). Imagine Jax as the hub of UF, FSU, A&M, UNF, JU, and EW. See my prior thread along these lines at: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,4269.0.html We could have a technology corridor stretching from Jax/St. Johns County, through Clay County to Gainesville with a quality connection. Further, maybe UF would establish more extensions/departments/research facilities/divisions/schools (with or without FSCJ/UNF) in downtown Jax that would energize it as there is nothing like a university facility to light the development fires of an urban area.
And, instead of our community wasting $200 million on worthless do-nothing-to-make-things-better interchanges at I-295/Blanding and I-95/Butler, we could take that money and upgrade our public schools or invest in mass transit (so we won't ever need those interchanges or any others to be "upgraded") to reap far better economic dividends for decades to come.
stjr, we are in agreement! I'm drinking a beer to that and giving you air fives over the internet.
Quote from: Captain Zissou on June 17, 2010, 07:20:41 PM
stjr, we are in agreement! I'm drinking a beer to that and giving you air fives over the internet.
Likewise, Captain. Now, if we could just get those bought & sold St. Johns and Clay County commissioners to back off the beltway and understand our suggestions would be far better for their communities both economically and environmentally = far better quality of life. It sure beats me why they want to recreate Blanding/I-295 interchange clones across their counties. I can't imagine anyone is happy living next to the original.
Quote from: stjr on June 17, 2010, 06:30:03 PM
Instead of contributing to our problems of the past by building the worthless $1.8 billion urban sprawl creating Outer Beltway from one interstate to another, we should spend the same money to improve our connectivity to Gainesville (and, maybe, Tallahasse, both for FSU/Florida A & M and the direct political and economic ink to our state capital).
maybe you can get some private equity company to buy into this proposal instead of the beltway
Has a company stepped up to the plate to burn their money on the Outer Beltway yet?
Presumably some major internal zoning changes would be part of a Jacksonville "reset". I'm surprised no one has mentioned Miami21 on this site yet: the newly implemented form-based code for Dade-County, based on smart-growth/new-urbanist principles. first large scale form-based rezoning as far as I know. Jacksonville should take note how the experiment works out in the coming decades.
Quote from: tufsu1 on June 17, 2010, 08:07:14 PM
maybe you can get some private equity company to buy into this proposal instead of the beltway
Yeah, just like your friends at JTA did with a private company paying for bus shelters? :D Outer Beltway may just turn out to be another road-building agency pipe dream. Let's hope so.
stjr, I've never really thought about Tally and Jax collaborating much, but we're 2 hours apart by car and could really do some good together. We could have a whole North FL mega-region that would be focused on bio-tech, shipping/ logistics, finance, and academia.
Stephen, the way I see it, mega regions are hubs of development linked by technology as well as physical ties. I see inventions and innovations being developed at FSU and UF, incubated and financed in Jax, then distributed out towards the greater market of the US and the world. Like a silicon valley for bio-tech and medicine.
Sprawl would be an absolute failure of an interpretation of this book. I'm not saying Jax wouldn't find a way to do that, but thanks to technology we don't need to physically develop out to Gainesville or Tally in order to establish stronger ties with them. I know you know this is true, I just wanted to try and clarify my point.
I have not, but I'd like to pick it up. I hope to in the next week.
I think you could make the argument that we are great region for medicine and research with our strong ties to Shands and with the Mayo Clinic. How actively are we pushing forward that image to the rest of the country? Also, we have a couple universities here in town, but what kinds of health programs do they have beyond nursing and nutrition? Not much. If we seriously want to become a biotech center having an abundance of educated healthcare professionals couldn't be a bad thing. How about having a college of pharmacy or medicine at UNF? Look at Boston with research hospitals tied to Harvard and Tufts and Boston University. The more experts in the area the better.
The line of traffic on I 10 coming to Jacksonville early in the morning from Baker and Columbia Counties, and going back in the evening, suggests that the idea of light rail might have a bright future connecting rural hinterlands with the Jacksonville urban core. The problem is, as long as oil is available, people will chose to drive their personal vehicles rather than take mass transit...until there isn't a choice. People won't stop driving when gas is $10 a gallon...only when it it no longer available at any price. We need to have a plan in place for when that time comes. Check out James Kunstler's book, The Long Emergency. - JM
Off to Chamblin to pick up this book.
great article! who do I vote for?
I am about halfway through this book and am finding it very insightful. After reading the comments, I am surprised that nobody jumped on this quote (in page 84 of the book and in the main article that started the thread):
QuoteSo what can be done? Instead of spending millions of dollars to lure or bail out factories, or hundreds of millions and in some cases billions to build stadiums, convention centers, and hotels, use that money to invest in local assets, spur local business formation and development, better employ local people and utilize their skills, and invest in improving quality of place.
I couldn't agree more and is why I am not in favor of any form of significant public investment in a new convention center. We have plenty of available meeting space around town to replace the Prime Osborn once the Jacksonville Terminal is restored to its original function (assuming we can get that right).
Great article...and I love the UF/FSU/DT Jax talk! DT seems the perfect place for a new medical or business school. Or both?