What if Jacksonville suddenly woke up?

[hightowerlover]

The Allman Brothers are from Macon,GA and Oliver Hardy is from Milledgeville, GA

[Doctor_K]

The campaign would certainly be entertaining!

"Stephen Dares to take a bold new step for the Bold New City of the South!"

[Doctor_K]

If only I could see embedded videos at the office!  Makes me want to rush home on my lunch break!

[duvaldude08]

I actually think Jacksonville is waking up. That is why the 2011 mayoral race is very important. We cant make the same mistake and hender our progress for another 4-8 years. We need a mayor that cares about its citizens and our needs and the needs of this city (downtown in particular), and not their own personal agenda.

[SightseerLounge]

Who will be that "savior" to deliver us out of the darkness?

Tell the savior to give me some Amtrak tickets, and tell him/her to give me some Sharks tickets. Both of them will be free of charge. I would say the Jaguars, but they are going to LA! (Jaguars--speak of waking up!)

Forget transit. Tell the "savior" to fix the schools!

[BlueHorizon]

We would be the number one city in the country to start up a company, instead of number thirteen.
@gkicjax

[ricker]

DO eet!
before JAX does 'wake-up'!
Stephen Dare would be the ruphie that smacked the lifers in their sleepy arses_

[dougskiles]

I had the pleasure of seeing Jacksonville wake up this morning.  Went for my weekend long run and watched the sky turn from deep blue to purple to orange.  The river was calm and reflected the lights from the bridges and buildings.  I stopped to admire the Tillie Fowler Memorial - which is spectacular at dawn and dusk.  Then I stopped to read about the World War memorial at Riverside Park (dedicated in 1924).  I love the Northbank Riverwalk.  It is something that our city has done really well and provides enjoyment to all.  I run along it several times a week and can think of no more diverse place in our city.

Then I got home and read this letter in the Florida Times Union:

Recently, I went to Five Points to meet a group. It was buzzing on a warm Florida winter night while the rest of the United States was bunkering down for the snowstorm of the century.

I am a single Mom so I don't get out very much and was surprised by all the activity. It was alive!

Five Points is not downtown, dang it. I am a real estate agent who has invested in downtown and would like to see it thrive.

I also fly for Delta Airlines and listen to the flight attendants who talk about how much fun it is to be on a layover in Jacksonville. The usual talk is about running alongside the river, the restaurants, shopping in San Marco, the great parties when there is the Florida-Georgia game and out music along the banks of the St. Johns River.

The flight attendants have told me they feel safe.

As I have had the privilege of experiencing cities throughout the U.S. and the world, the thing I look for is eye candy, then finishing up with my thirst and my stomach. We have such a great climate.

I am blown away by the story of the slave woman from Kingsley Plantation who became the wife of a plantation owner, then owned her own place. Why hasn't this story been made into a movie with Halle Berry playing the main role?

For food, we need to specialize in what we have right here - shrimp! Can you believe it, I was in Honolulu and was told they don't have shrimp! They don't live there! I go to Europe and you need to take out a second mortgage for, as they call it, "scampi."

Our proximity to amazing oysters is a treasure. We have a king's ransom in delicacies right here in our seaports. Try buying oysters in Europe. Ouch! Not tasty, thin and expensive.

I am an educated geographer and have interned in urban affairs at the University in Minnesota. Jacksonville has more qualities than San Diego, yet it has this insecurity complex that is undeserved.

We live in an amazing part of the United States. Water everywhere! This beats anywhere in California, Oregon or Maine. I can sell waterfront properties from Lake George to Fernandina Beach!

CYNTHIA SYVERSON

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/opinion/letters-readers/2011-02-13/story/jacksonville-no-reason-low-self-esteem#ixzz1DqRm74sM

Bravo Ms. Syverson!  Thank you for sharing your optimism.  With so much time spent trying to fix the things that are wrong, we need to spend more time expressing gratitude for what we have.

[Noone]

+1

[cityimrov]

I had the pleasure of seeing Jacksonville wake up this morning.  Went for my weekend long run and watched the sky turn from deep blue to purple to orange.  The river was calm and reflected the lights from the bridges and buildings.  I stopped to admire the Tillie Fowler Memorial - which is spectacular at dawn and dusk.  Then I stopped to read about the World War memorial at Riverside Park (dedicated in 1924).  I love the Northbank Riverwalk.  It is something that our city has done really well and provides enjoyment to all.  I run along it several times a week and can think of no more diverse place in our city.

Then I got home and read this letter in the Florida Times Union:

Recently, I went to Five Points to meet a group. It was buzzing on a warm Florida winter night while the rest of the United States was bunkering down for the snowstorm of the century.

I am a single Mom so I don't get out very much and was surprised by all the activity. It was alive!

Five Points is not downtown, dang it. I am a real estate agent who has invested in downtown and would like to see it thrive.

I also fly for Delta Airlines and listen to the flight attendants who talk about how much fun it is to be on a layover in Jacksonville. The usual talk is about running alongside the river, the restaurants, shopping in San Marco, the great parties when there is the Florida-Georgia game and out music along the banks of the St. Johns River.

The flight attendants have told me they feel safe.

As I have had the privilege of experiencing cities throughout the U.S. and the world, the thing I look for is eye candy, then finishing up with my thirst and my stomach. We have such a great climate.

I am blown away by the story of the slave woman from Kingsley Plantation who became the wife of a plantation owner, then owned her own place. Why hasn't this story been made into a movie with Halle Berry playing the main role?

For food, we need to specialize in what we have right here - shrimp! Can you believe it, I was in Honolulu and was told they don't have shrimp! They don't live there! I go to Europe and you need to take out a second mortgage for, as they call it, "scampi."

Our proximity to amazing oysters is a treasure. We have a king's ransom in delicacies right here in our seaports. Try buying oysters in Europe. Ouch! Not tasty, thin and expensive.

I am an educated geographer and have interned in urban affairs at the University in Minnesota. Jacksonville has more qualities than San Diego, yet it has this insecurity complex that is undeserved.

We live in an amazing part of the United States. Water everywhere! This beats anywhere in California, Oregon or Maine. I can sell waterfront properties from Lake George to Fernandina Beach!

CYNTHIA SYVERSON

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/opinion/letters-readers/2011-02-13/story/jacksonville-no-reason-low-self-esteem#ixzz1DqRm74sM

Bravo Ms. Syverson!  Thank you for sharing your optimism.  With so much time spent trying to fix the things that are wrong, we need to spend more time expressing gratitude for what we have.

Maybe because we have all this stuff naturally is why we're taking things for granted and have become lazy.  We don't need to work to obtain natural beauty like that river.  It was given to us. 

Some of the greatest areas in the world are in terrible places climatically.  I'm thinking, as a city, we should act like we have nothing so we can use our strength to build something.  Look at cities in our northern neighbors - Canada.  They are in the middle of the frozen tundra during the winter yet they managed to unify and create their own unique culture.  They had to in order to survive.

[dougskiles]

^There is no reason we can't have both natural beauty and a vibrant city life.

[cityimrov]

^There is no reason we can't have both natural beauty and a vibrant city life.

San Francisco.  San Francisco is a city which took advantage of it's natural advantages as well as made it's own man-made advantages to create the powerhouse city it is today.  It even had it's own military facilities nearby supporting it!  We had 3 during our heyday.  Both our cities are consolidated too!

If Jacksonville's natural advantages went way, what would be this city's main draw?  No beaches, No St Johns River, No I-10/I-95 Intersection, etc.  

I'm not expecting Jax to be as large as SF but the growth rate of both cities should have been pretty similar.  Economically, SF is much more richer then Jax.  

Why did our city decline and became stagnant while theirs are thriving and still growing to this day?  Even their rail system is expanding way faster then ours. 

[dougskiles]

Why did our city decline and became stagnant while theirs are thriving and still growing to this day?  Even their rail system is expanding way faster then ours. 

The main difference I can think of between SF and Jax is the cultural diversity.  Perhaps that has something to do with it?

I'm not an expert on these matters, but I have read recently, that the accepting nature of a community that allows people to act how they choose instead of conforming to a societal norm also fosters creativity in other areas - like technological innovation.

[Garden guy]

The only reason that's kept this city backwards is it's leaders...conservative rightwing leadership. As a city on the ocean with a great river...we should be the happeningest place in the states...but these leaders....i think not...

[Jaxson]

Previous posters are right when they point out that our city is diverse with many backgrounds, interests and perspectives.  Our city's problem is that there is no unifying force that empowers the majority to stand up to the good old boys who continue to run our city into the ground.