Panera on Main Street?

[Springfield Girl]

OMG a u turn, how awful and those horrible medians that force us to drive 1 extra block! It doesn't stop anyone anywhere else in town. Jeez, I wish it was as easy as a u turn or one extra block to get my breakfast sandwich at River City. There are certain things each of us will travel for and others we won't. I refuse to give up my Panera (only for the breakfast sandwich-I'm addicted) but I dumped the Fox when Uptown Market opened.
And I need to check to see if the sky is falling cause I actually agreed with Strider's last post.

[cindi]

And I need to check to see if the sky is falling cause I actually agreed with Strider's last post.

i think we just found out why there was a drastic drop in temp last week -

[Springfield Girl]

I agree to a point as well, but my train of thought is also heavily impacted by the reality of working and designing facilities for many of the places people dream about over the years.  They look for certain things and some of them demand them, unless you have an insane amount of foot traffic, which Main does not and won't anytime soon.  

Imo, its better to focus on attracting local mom&pop type establishments that serve the community's existing demographics over chains at this point.  Its easier to get them in, they add character and stimulate foot traffic that does not currently exist.  When the conditions are right, the chains will come on their own.

I'm fine with Mom and Pop's. If they offer what I need in a clean, attractive setting I would patronize them. I think Main is a great location for businesses if they offer what residents and Downtown workers need. There are thousands of people that travel to and from work via Main St. everyday. It would be easy to stop for some things on the way in and others on the way out. I plan my stops that way no matter what part of town I'm in. As far as lunch hour, people don't have much time so I assume most would only have one destination at that time anyway.

[thelakelander]

OMG a u turn, how awful and those horrible medians that force us to drive 1 extra block! It doesn't stop anyone anywhere else in town. Jeez, I wish it was as easy as a u turn or one extra block to get my breakfast sandwich at River City. There are certain things each of us will travel for and others we won't. I refuse to give up my Panera (only for the breakfast sandwich-I'm addicted) but I dumped the Fox when Uptown Market opened.
And I need to check to see if the sky is falling cause I actually agreed with Strider's last post.

Its not much but you will really be shocked at how certain companies choose and eliminate perspective sites.  I'm just trying to add a little perspective from the experience of actually working with developers and chains (many that continued to be mentioned here) to find and design sites that meet their basic selection criteria.  

For example, have you noticed that every single new Walgreens or CVS around here happens to be located near a stop light?  That's not by coincidence.  In addition, some chains have a tendency to locate to a certain spot, based off the presence of another being nearby.  Thus if you want one, you may have to recruit another that may be off your radar first.

Instead of ignoring the reality of how these establishments select locations, it will be to our best benefit to understand and formulate a plan/agenda that best facilitates those needs.

[Stenodave]

There has only been one location of a store that has ever been a deterrant for me when it came to shopping there.  That would be the Starbucks on the corner of Baymeadows Road and Southside in the strip mall next to Blockbuster.  That has to be one of he worst locations ever for a business, you have to make about 4 turns and wait at 2 LONG lights just to get out of there to head back to 9A/Baymeadows direction.  So I think having to make a single U-Turn is NOTHING.  I have lived in Chicago, San Fran, and Seattle so if a U-Turn is really that big of a deal, then some people on here really need get things in perspective.

I grew up here in Jacksonville and then shot out of here like a bolt of lightning when I turned 19 and joined the Navy.  I spent almost 13yrs traveling around the world and the one thing that I have noticed after moving back here, just to be around my daughter, (not because of the great music scene, the art, or the culture...I mean lack of any of those) is that while Jacksonville may be the largest city in the continental United States, it still has the smallest mentality. 

[thelakelander]

No doubt , Stenodave, no doubt.  Hopefully, sites like this will help change that mentality.

[Dan B]

I made a push for bike paths a couple of years ago after the kids over at Zombie bikes brought it up.

I was told that A) the design work was complete, so it was too late to ask for changes, and b) that bike lanes were given up so there could be more parking.

[jason_contentdg]

After all, isn't that what everyone says they want? A walk-able Main Street? And do not forget that there is an alley system.  The utilities were moved to the alleys and that makes Main look better.  But, it also insured that the alleys will be there and maintained.  Include the alleys in any plans, possibly to use for those bike lanes some have lamented about.

Bike Paths.

Brilliant Joe!

What an awesome asset for the neighborhood to have.

Initially, I was frustrated and to a point, still am about the absence of bike paths on Main Street.  However, I think we have a paths for the bikes on the east and west sides of main already....  Laura and Hubbard street, those two should be much safer than Main, path or not.

I'm not happy about the medians, but think we can make them work...

[ChriswUfGator]

A1A in Daytona Beach is the panultimate example of this nonsense.

Over the past 3 decades, each new streetscaping project has come along and made this mistake. Some of the medians were even really nice, with planters holding flowers and palm trees, etc. It was all very expensive. Then as soon as it's complete, they start realizing they have a problem. Less people visit the businesses because the medians create traffic jams and unsafe conditions, as they make people drive blocks past their destinations, and then do a U-turn and cut across two or three lanes of traffic, before turning in. Eventually, they wind up coming back not too long after and spending millions more to rip it all out again.

This is one of those things where the idea is hatched as a way to improve safety, but winds up having the direct opposite effect. The immense volume of U-turns and people trying to cut across multiple lanes creates a huge safety problem. Not only that, the businesses suffer because it becomes a hassle for their customers to get to the place.

[CS Foltz]

Those center medians are very pretty on Main Street but there are no left turn lanes anywhere that I saw! "U" turn is the only alternative but someone will get killed trying to make a turn or hurt badly! Traffic jams and unsafe conditions make that setup dangerous and FDOT should be held accountable! quoting Springfield Girl "OMG a U turn" ............yes mam it is.......better you than me! No place to put bike paths, no turn lanes........yup......FDOT at its very best!

[thelakelander]

I drive a truck, so to make a U-turn, I have to either:

A). Jump the curb
B). Go into a parallel parking spot to make the complete turn
C). Do a half turn, stop and then back up, to stay in the lanes.

Personally, I have no problem doing either three but they do have a negative impact on commercial infill.  They are there now so we'll have to do our best to overcome them.

[CS Foltz]

I understand lake............what you have now is better than what you had before.............but it is an accident looking for a place to happen! I would expect FDOT to take these situations into account rather than what you guys ended up with! It is going to be even worse when whats planted in the center median starts growing up!

[cline]

Baymeadows Road has this same U-turn problem except I think it is far more dangerous- probably because there is much more traffic.  There are certain areas that have cut-outs so larger vehicles don't have to drive up on the curb.

[PorchCats]

Those center medians are very pretty on Main Street but there are no left turn lanes anywhere that I saw!

Hmmm.... I'm pretty sure there are left turn lanes off of Main onto 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th. At least I THOUGHT I was in a turn lane...

[CS Foltz]

Not sure Porch Cats..............if you turn off of Eighth on to Main, Eighth has a turn lane but Main has two lanes north bound at that point. There is no specified turn lane, at least I did not see any markings on the street. Eighth is marked and light does have an arrow for left turn..............not sure about Main! Bay Meadows is supposed to be upgraded sometime in the next five years but nothing to this point.........still bumper to bumper at rush hour both ways!