Top 10 Things to Make DOWN-town a BOOM-town

[stjr]

Per the T-U article on the success of revitalizing the downtown of Greenville, SC, note the attention to parks and pedestrian friendly streets!  Sound familiar?  We need to make the Shipyards and JEA sites public parks with playing fields, jogging and bike paths, riverfront friendly, etc.

If our "planners" would just self examine what they, themselves, demand for living somewhere, and make it happen for downtown, we would be well on our way.  Anyone who looks for a nice place to live is an expert on this subject!  It's common sense, not rocket science.  Sooooo... frustrating that we can't implement something sooooo.... simple.

Greenville, South Carolina's, makeover was a natural for old textile center
Falls Park helps transform an Upstate gem.

    * By Charlie Patton
    * Story updated at 7:08 PM on Friday, Dec. 11, 2009

......Much of the residential development was triggered by the Falls Park on the Reedy, a 26-acre park that opened about five years ago.

Greenville is significantly smaller than Jacksonville â€" an official city population of 56,000, according to the 2000 Census, and an estimated metro population of slightly more than 600,000.

And the Reedy River is significantly smaller than the St. Johns River.

“It’s what my father would call a creek,” Whitworth said.

But as it passes under Main Street, the Reedy tumbles over rock ledges, becoming a narrow, picturesque falls. For years, the falls were ignored, largely hidden from view by a vehicular bridge.

The city eventually convinced the state to remove that bridge and now the falls are a centerpiece. That project was simply the most recent development that over three decades has transformed Greenville’s core from ghost town to jewel.

The process started when Main Street was redesigned to be more pedestrian-friendly. Sidewalks were widened. Parallel parking gave way to angled parking. Meters were removed. A canopy of oak and maple was planted.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-12-15/story/greenville_south_carolinas_makeover_was_a_natural_for_old_textile_center

[stjr]

Once again, another city, Oklahoma City, investing in parks, recreation, quality of life projects, pedestrian friendly streets, connectivity/transit, and a balance of attractions. Duuuuhhhhh!

MAPS3

Fresh off the success of MAPS and MAPS2, MAPS3 is intended to take Oklahoma City to the next level by heavily focusing on connectivity and creating a vibrant central urban environment.

MAPS3 Projects:

$280 million - A new downtown convention center, adjacent to the new central park, featuring 400,000 square feet of exhibition hall space.

$130 million - 70-acre central park linking downtown with the Oklahoma River.

$130 million - 5 to 6 mile rail-based streetcar system

$60 million - Oklahoma River improvements, including a whitewater kayaking facility and upgrades to achieve the finest rowing racecourse in the world.

$60 million - Renovations to State Fair Park public buildings, meeting halls and exhibit spaces.

$50 million - State-of-the-art health and wellness aquatic centers throughout the city designed for senior citizens.

$40 million - 57 miles of new public bicycling and walking trails throughout the city.

$10 million - For sidewalks to be placed on major streets and near facilities used by the public throughout the city.

$17 million - Contingency funds to cover unforeseen costs.

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php?action=post2

By the way, the total investment here is $777 million.  How are they funding this?  The 70 acre park and convention center are about 14% more than our new Courthouse.  Which investment would do more for the future of Jax?

Likewise, the total $777 million is only about a third of the $2+ billion to build the Outer Beltway.  Which of these investments will advance Jax the most?  Invest these dollars downtown and "toll" the residents and businesses there (i.e use tax increment financing - the increase in property taxes to offset the investment).  That makes a lot more sense.


And, what does this architecture say about the vision, energy, excitement, and progressiveness of the City?








The canal to replace an alley?  Brilliant.  We could dig canals to connect to Hogan and/or McCoys Creek easily.  Jax could be the "Venice of the South".

[stjr]

Here is an outsider's view on Jax's downtown.  Interesting take on their reasons for our failures.

Charlotte, Jacksonville offer economic lessons for Tampa Bay's future

By Robert Trigaux, Times Business Columnist
In Print: Tuesday, December 15, 2009

More than 20 years ago, Tampa embraced a quixotic spirit and chose the slogan Tampa, America's Next Great City. Today it sounds hallucinogenic at best.

In this recession, in Tampa Bay's 11.7 percent unemployment rate, and in Florida's postbubble era of financial contrition, it's doubtful we'll be on a "next great" list for anything for a while.

We're not alone.

Other southeastern metro areas are taking painful stock in where they're going from here. Two of them â€" Charlotte, N.C., and Jacksonville â€"are peers and competitors, and may offer some economic lessons for Tampa Bay.

Charlotte transformed from a sleepy North Carolina town to become a banking behemoth, claiming bragging rights to the headquarters of both Bank of America and First Union (which later became Wachovia). Those banks powered into Florida, buying up market share while local bankers blinked their eyes. The two banks still dominate Florida.

But in Charlotte, both banks' powers are now waning. Bank of America is muddling through a series of embarrassing situations, and harshly criticized CEO Ken Lewis is retiring early. When weak Wachovia last year stumbled into the acquiring arms of California's Wells Fargo Bank, Charlotte lost one of its top bank headquarters.

In Charlotte's power structure, the two banks were once known as the "two rich uncles." Now Charlotte is struggling to figure out who will fill the leadership void.

In Jacksonville, decades of misguided downtown revival efforts produced a lot of finger-pointing but little lasting value. Jacksonville has been a repeat victim of fiscal blunders, bankruptcy-plagued private development efforts and a political structure that has forced the city's downtown to compete with suburban demands for public funding.

Former Jacksonville City Council member Matt Carlucci favored suburban funding until business executives asked "if they were moving to a city on the go or a city that's just drifting along aimlessly." That changed his mind. Now he backs a downtown core.

For Tampa Bay, there are lessons to be learned:

1. Tampa Bay has never enjoyed the simplistic luxury of Charlotte's "two rich uncles" boldly leading the economic development way. But Tampa Bay will never have to replace any dominating corporations because we don't have any of such magnitude here. That's also good news because economic development is a more democratic (if sometimes slower) process here, something Charlotte is belatedly embracing.

2. With Tampa Bay's more complicated tri-city structure of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, each of the three cities has labored with different success to make its downtown a compelling place to work and live. Still, Tampa Bay overall has a better track record than Jacksonville in making progress downtown.

3. Severe recessions test metro areas differently. They can weaken the role of long-standing businesses. They can undermine metrowide confidence when economic development efforts fail to deliver. And they can create economic standstills by sapping public funding resources.

For now, let's skip the daydream of being America's next great city and concentrate on becoming America's best comeback city.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/economicdevelopment/charlotte-jacksonville-offer-economic-lessons-for-tampa-bays-future/1058785#

[AaroniusLives]

Jax could be the "Venice of the South".

That's already Fort Lauderdale.

[stjr]

Jax could be the "Venice of the South".

That's already Fort Lauderdale.

We would be the "Venice of the REAL South".  Ft. Lauderadale can be the "Venice of the Pseudo-South", South Florida!    I'm calling the Charlie Daniels Band now to set them straight. 

[AaroniusLives]

LOL. You can have the "Real South" moniker, although I've never quite understood the outsized pride...but I don't judge, at least, not out loud!

[finehoe]

Actually, Fort Lauderdale is "The Venice of America" 

http://goflorida.about.com/od/fortlauderdale/a/fortlauderdale.htm

[urbanlibertarian]

Shouldn't New Orleans be "The Venice of America" as in "built below sea level"?

[rjp2008]

Jax has a long documented history of dreaming big, big ideas, even planning them, and never seeing to real fruition.
First, this will make things boom - then this, no...this...etc.

[dhouston]

Jax has a long documented history of dreaming big, big ideas, even planning them, and never seeing to real fruition.
First, this will make things boom - then this, no...this...etc.

My friend at work told me Jacksonville could've/should've had NASA. 

[Ocklawaha]

Shouldn't New Orleans be "The Venice of America" as in "built below sea level"?

Sorry but New Orleans was NOT built below sea level. When it was first settled, the farms and village stood well above the level of the Mississippi River or the lake. In the 1600-1700's no one had a clue about river and delta hydrology. Delta's work through a continuous system of the river finding a suitable channel then filling in that same channel with silt deposits over dozens of years. When the river becomes too shallow to handle the water volume, it simply shifts to another channel. The older channel becomes a bayou backwater of dead end channels.

By the time the city had already become an important and permanent settlement, the river appeared mature and settled in it's course. It was only natural that people settled all along it's banks, with easy access to the sea or to the inland waterways of the USA. Annual flooding was a way of life but nobody realized that with it, millions of tons of the Prairie's and northwestern mountains were flowing along in the stream.



As the region grew, the city got bigger and the port more important, nobody understood why the river channel was getting drastically shallower every month. Finally the river bottom was equal to the street levels, there was nothing left to do but encircle the City with flood walls. The whole of the Southern Mississippi is close to suffering a historic channel change to the atchafalaya basin. A federal diversion control dam north of Baton Rouge is completely undermined and has been labeled unstable. WHEN this dam or weir gives way, the entire Mississippi is headed a new direction. The lack of water flushing out any channel in the old riverbed, will be another disaster for Louisiana.

OCKLAWAHA

[Fallen Buckeye]

Per the T-U article on the success of revitalizing the downtown of Greenville, SC, note the attention to parks and pedestrian friendly streets!  Sound familiar?  We need to make the Shipyards and JEA sites public parks with playing fields, jogging and bike paths, riverfront friendly, etc.

If our "planners" would just self examine what they, themselves, demand for living somewhere, and make it happen for downtown, we would be well on our way.  Anyone who looks for a nice place to live is an expert on this subject!  It's common sense, not rocket science.  Sooooo... frustrating that we can't implement something sooooo.... simple.

I think with the Shipyards and JEA sites what needs to happen is that there needs to have some sort of temporary development there. What I mean is rather than let this prime property sit vacant and useless for ages why don't we create some sort of park space that is designed with future development in mind. Nothing terribly elaborate just a space that serves some sort of purpose until we can find someone to really develop the property.

http://www.downtowncolumbus.com/progress/columbus-commons

[Ocklawaha]

The canal to replace an alley?  Brilliant.  We could dig canals to connect to Hogan and/or McCoys Creek easily.  Jax could be the "Venice of the South".

I can see it now, ABC, FOX, NBC Sports, all standing by the canal to tape the new "National Sludge Muffin Counting Contest," in Jacksonville''s McCoys - Hogan Canal!

Your team will score 20 extra points if you find one still connected to a pair of shorts. 10 Points for toilet paper... YEP, JUST LIKE VENICE!

OCKLAWAHA

[Lunican]

6 ways to help bring downtown Jacksonville back to life

With elements like 'E-Town,' the new ArtWalk and The Jacksonville Landing, there's a base to work with. Here's what experts say remains to be done.

It’s Friday night in the future of downtown Jacksonville.

Take a 15-minute walk that starts on Laura Street, flanked by bustling sidewalk cafes and eye-catching shops. The Barnett Bank building and other long-vacant historic buildings are alive again, filled with residents, offices and stores.

Down the street, The Jacksonville Landing is rebuilt and restocked with stores and restaurants. On the river, pleasure boats are cruising and new marinas are aglow.

Explore the Riverwalk toward The Shipyards, now a fashionable shopping area with luxury-view condos. Where the old courthouse and annex once stood, there are apartment buildings, boutique hotels and a multi-screen theater â€" clustered around a downtown convention center.

Full Article:
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-12-17/story/6_ways_to_help_bring_downtown_jacksonville_back_to_life

[sandyshoes]

Unlike St. Augustine (which came to mind, first), Jacksonville does not have a welcome station that I've ever seen, with brochures advertising what's to do, etc.  We have plenty of material to fill a tourist brochure...there just needs to be a visible location to pick it up, along with maps, trolley tour info, museum info, historic tour info.  Start now;  arrange some trolley tours starting from RAM, going to RAP and Springfield;  have extra docents standing by at the museums (JMOCA and Cummer) on those springtime RAM Saturdays.  Do this for a couple of months to gauge interest, then go from there.  We've got a lot, the City just needs to market it better and let momentum take its course.  Very simple and it could be developed very quickly!