Elements of Urbanism: San Francisco

[thelakelander]

define albatross?

A problem.  Homelessness is a social problem, although San Francisco definately deals with it better.

[tufsu1]

I can guaranbygumtee you that if you took our fatheaded leadership here and switched them with the San Franciscan Leadership, within two years, The Financial district would be a ghost town, and Jacksonville would be the Athens of the South.

I'll take that bet 

Seriously though...Mayor Peyton was quoted recently as saying "Jacksonville is as conservative as San Francisco is liberal"....this was in regards to our aversion to higher taxes and government spending....I know you may not agree Stephen, but he is right!

[BridgeTroll]

It would still be too hot and humid... in the summer.

[stjr]

San Fransisco and all of the northern half of California are among the most "with it" places in this country.  We can call Californian's left wing/liberal wackos but their "quality of life", even with their State's current budget struggles, is far advanced in most respects to ours.  Especially with regards to the environment, public spaces, historic preservation, cultural and educational resources, architectural and aesthetic design, and mass transit.  When you visit San Fran you immediately sense a city of VISION.

SF and Northern California have mostly done a particularly great job preserving their beautiful vistas, redwood forests, and other green spaces.  Having steep ridges and hills has been a blessing in discouraging development in many locales.  Of course, if this was Jax, we would have probably just let developers level such elevations and build on them.

Like Jax in 1901, the SF quake of 1906 mostly leveled the city (the ensuing fires may have done more destruction than the quake) yet SF still maintains a wonderful sense of character, history, and old world charm.  Maybe some one should do a "tale of two cities" to see where they went right and we went wrong.

By the way, although Californians have some of the nations highest taxes and costs of living, it didn't stop such awesome economic engines such as Silicon Valley, running from San Fran to San Jose, from exploding.  No place in Florida can compare to this epicenter of high tech.

[stjr]

A couple more comments:

Geographically, due to our expansive water bodies, I have often thought Jax could represent an eastern U.S. incarnation of SF by the Bay, albeit without the hills.  Unfortunately, I see no community vision transpiring to get us there.

Second, Silicon Valley is a direct outgrowth of a couple of Stanford guys starting a technology company in their garage .... in 1939. That would be Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard of Hewlett-Packard.  From there, all else flowed.  No Stanford University, no Silicon Valley.  It's why we need universities to be more intergrated into our community.

Stanford University classmates Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard founded HP in 1939. The company's first product, built in a Palo Alto garage, was an audio oscillatorâ€"an electronic test instrument used by sound engineers. One of HP's first customers was Walt Disney Studios, which purchased eight oscillators to develop and test an innovative sound system for the movie Fantasia.


The HP Garage is California Historic Landmark No. 976 â€" Birthplace of Silicon Valley. (1939 photo)

In September of 2004, HP announced efforts to preserve for future generations its most famous piece of real estate - the HP garage. The project turned the clock back on the original house, shed and garage at 367 Addison Avenue, Palo Alto, to conditions much as they were in 1939, when the founders established the now legendary Hewlett-Packard partnership. Completion of the project was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting on December 6, 2005.

From: http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/

[fsu813]

Mr. Herbin,

did you see The Tanner's residence, by chance?

[Ocklawaha]

Behold, the Common Albatross defined!

OCKLAWAHA

[Keith-N-Jax]

Very nice city been there only once. I love the seals. I could never live anywhere the grounds shakes!!

[ralpho37]

I have to ask, how can Jacksonville be the country's LEAST walkable city with a rating of 88/100.  88%  seems pretty darn good to me...

[thelakelander]

88 is just for downtown.  The average for the entire city is a horrible 36 out of 100.

link: http://www.walkscore.com/rankings/most-walkable-cities.php

With that said, overall a city like Jax who's municipal limits include suburbs and rural areas will never rank high in walkability.

[tufsu1]

and once again for clarity....they only ranked the 49 largest cities....Jax. is last on that list, but other Florida cities like Tampa, Miami, and Oralndo weren't even ranked.

[TPC]

I miss SF, I haven't been there in years but I plan on going next year. It's easy to get around town and there is so much to do and see. Apart from the fog the weather is pretty nice throughout the year also.

If I move anytime soon It will probably be to SF.

[jaxlore]

went on the honey moon. love it. hands down. would stay forever if it wasn't for the fact i could barely afford a room there.

[ralpho37]

thanks for clearing that up tufsu1, 36/100 sounds much more realistic for Jax.  I don't think that's absolutely terrible considering how huge Jacksonville is, as long as we do have areas like downtown, San Marco, Riverside, etc. that are walkable... Now all we need is fast, reliable transportation to unify them... [cough - commuter rail].

[north miami]

One of the world's favorite cities.Comparison to my beloved Jacksonville would be correctly questioned.There are similar opprtunities here but most not recognized.This is not intended as 'negative';rather an insight.
Thank you San Francisco.You are not "stand alone", but rather a segment of a certain Californian history,outlook and "lifestyle".You cherish every square foot of your existence.It shows. This ethic extends outward.Northern /Central as different to Southern California as Southern Florida is to Northern California....except Northern California enjoys a string of National Forests and Northern Florida enjoys....St.Joe.

It is good for us to look to the San Francisco region.