Downtown Jacksonville Becoming Vacant

[Debbie Thompson]

Awesome!

[fieldafm]

Excellent post Debbie!  Hey downtown, these are your customers talking to you... you might want to listen  

BTW, Zodiac didn't close thank God... they just moved.

I am downtown on nights and weekends prolly about 3 times a week.  I either ride to the Landing for lunch on Saturdays on my bike, or park on the street for free after 6pm.  No problems/complaints whatsoever and I thoroughly enjoy my time DT.

I have been downtown 4 times in the last month during normal business hours.  Twice was while I was working so I couldnt dilly-dally around with waiting on the Skyway.  So, of those two I paid $6 to park at the garage on Forsyth where the Kinkos is.  I knew I was going to be dowtown for about an hour and 20 minutes so the parking meter wouldnt work for me.  The other time I ate lunch at City Hall Pub, parked at the garage next to them, and took the Bay Street Trolley into town.  Again, I would have been downtown for about an hour and a half so meters wouldnt work for me and I got mad that I had to pay $6 for not quite more than an hour of parking at the Forsyth garage.

The other two times, I wasn't working and I took the Riverside Trolley into town and also parked at the King Street Garage and took the skyway into town(only b/c the Riverside Trolley hours wouldnt have worked for me on the day I took the Skyway).  All in all, my four weekday trips have cost me about $12.  If I didnt WANT to be downtown, it would have been much more cost effective to go anywhere else in this city.  Or, if the meters would use my credit card or had maybe a two hour limit then it would have cost me about $3 and I would have no problem paying the $3.  But $3 versus $12 is a big difference.  THAT's a deterrent.

[thelakelander]

If you are worried about a ticket just park in one of the many hourly parking garages in downtown.  

what a novel idea

Or just save the three dollars and eat in the Southbank, Springfield, Five Points or San Marco.

[fieldafm]

However, it is costing my employer $70 for each employee that works downtown, plus higher downtown rents.

And there would be NO way my employer would do that.

[JeffreyS]

However, it is costing my employer $70 for each employee that works downtown, plus higher downtown rents.

And there would be NO way my employer would do that.

They do in lots of citys but you have to make being in downtown worth the extra cost that is why we are always harping on quality of life investments in the core.

If you are worried about a ticket just park in one of the many hourly parking garages in downtown. 

what a novel idea

Or just save the three dollars and eat in the Southbank, Springfield, Five Points or San Marco.

Downtown to Lake "not helping"

[thelakelander]

^True, but that's the problem the Northbank faces that people continue to ignore.  We offer an overrated CBD product that isn't worth the hassle of dealing with the non-end user friendly toxic policies blanketing it.  So it's very easy for people to avoid certain areas altogether and spend their money supporting businesses (even in the urban core) where those extra hassles don't exist.

[Wacca Pilatka]

I love visiting downtown, but I am an out-of-towner and occasional visitor.  I will either park at my hotel on the southbank and ride the Skyway or park at the Landing lot and walk everywhere rather than deal with any meter drama.  The only time I've parked on street is on a Saturday.

[tufsu1]

If you are worried about a ticket just park in one of the many hourly parking garages in downtown. 

what a novel idea

Or just save the three dollars and eat in the Southbank, Springfield, Five Points or San Marco.

agreed....downtown businesse in most cities rely on office workers for their weekday business....the issues in Jax. are making sure there are still enough dayime workers downtown and figuring out ways or businesses to succed at night and on the weekend (when parking is free!).

[Ocklawaha]

This solution is quite simple from the old railroad guys perch...

Parking enforcement DOES NOT make money, in fact it operates at a loss that is subsidized by the citizens. "BRAVO!"  Meanwhile it has the effect of killing downtown business and leaving our visitors with a nasty taste in their wallets about JAX.. We insist on "zoning" massive parking provision for every new office or door that is opened downtown which puts a double burden on the business community. Our transit system isn't even a service, rather it is barely an accommodation, not worthy of serious consideration to someone who MUST meet a schedule.

When I become Burgermeister of Jacksonville Transit, this is my solution:

1.  ALL METERS, smart, semi-smart, dumb or just plain stupid are removed from the urban core.

2.  Former meter "revenue" which is around $800,000 a year, is now going to be collected off of garage spaces with a zone price structure. Park in the immediate core and $200. a month is the new market price for city owned core garage spaces. Park out in the city owned edge lots, and save some real bucks.

But there is a much better way to save...

3. RIDE TRANSIT, even if it's just from an outlaying lot into the central city.  (This is another good argument for getting the Skyway across Main Street, into Riverside, San Marco, and with access to Baptist-Wolfson-Nemours).

How it works:

New Construction will NOT, yeah I said NOT! be required to provide parking, as long as they agree to a mass transit pass contract. For a yet-to-be-determined price, a premium package would give every employee a mass transit pass.

Both packages would offer parking in downtown garages at the new higher rates for key personnel if it was desired.

Smaller firms might consider a second package, which will balance via a formula, parking spaces and transit passes and any other special circumstances on a case by case basis.

Bottom line, MOVE TO DOWNTOWN JACKSONVILLE, and you DON'T have to build a 10 story parking garage... hell, you don't even need a 1 story garage.

Revenue surpluses from new parking schedule and from parking lot fees used to build / enhance mass transit.

How is it funded?

All city garages will experience an immediate reality check and price increase.

All private garages and lots will experience an immediate and substantial City license fee-per-space.

Parking fines represent added income, but NOT primary income to Parking Enforcement.

What about jobs? What about Parking Enforcement?

NOBODY... not ONE person loses his or her job, somebody still has to be around to stop the all day folks from sitting in a 15 minute loading zone and that's 75% of their "new" job.

The other 25% is a real shocker, Parking "Nazi's" (as some have called them) become ambassadors to downtown with ticketing authority.  Cars from any location beyond the Jacksonville MSA who park illegally (not blatantly illegally BTW) get a visitors warning card that gives them our rules, signs, small map, and a welcome message from our mayor and visitors bureau. Perhaps a coupon for a free fry's or cold drink.  Otherwise, EVERYONE in downtown enforcement (yes Sheriff) EVERYONE gets charm school and a Jax History course.

What happens?

PARKING downtown is 100% free at the curb.
A huge new chunk of change goes directly to Transit, and Transit Improvements.
Nazi's are gone.
No current employees or bosses are jobless.
Downtown image enhanced
Skyway, Rail, Buses all get major overhaul-installation-improvement


OCKLAWAHA

[stjr]

For suburbanites, nothing beats parking in the suburbs for next to nothing and taking a commuter train into downtown.  No hassle driving in downtown traffic, looking for a hard-to-find parking and/or affordable parking space, etc.  Then, once downtown, being able to use a transportation mode that CONVENIENTLY, FREQUENTLY, RELIABLY, CHEAPLY, and ACCESSIBLY loops through every corner/quadrant/segment of the grid.  That would most likely be walking, buses or streetcars.

So, what part of the above, does Jax have?  Next to none.

Instead of arguing about downtown parking, the focus of the conversation needs to move to mass transit.  Then, parking is a moot issue.  A major distinction of a downtown from suburbia is not needing a car at all.  Continuing to focus on parking just dilutes the likelihood that mass transit will come sooner than later.

Free, electronic, or any other kind of parking meters is not going to change the destiny of downtown much at this point given the new lows it is hitting.  If every one of the 1,600 meters was used and rotated every hour during a business day, it would not likely be enough to move the needle noticeably.  Just divide the number of meters by the number of businesses with customers.  Just bars, restaurants, and retail total 205 establishments.  That is 8 meters per that type of business.  Add visitors to hotels, professional firms, government agencies, cultural and educational institutions, banks, and corporations, and the number of meters available per business becomes a mere pittance.  If businesses are to be dependent on metered parking for survival, they are doomed to fail before they get started.

Downtown businesses need to make a sustainable living from downtown residents and employees, visitors staying at downtown hotels, or visitors/local residents/commuters coming in on suburban serving mass transit.  Anything done for downtown that does not directly feed one of these "beasts" is a waste of time and money.

[Ocklawaha]

The system I outlined above dumps the downtown curbside meters, opens up free parking for businesses throughout the core and pours new money into mass transit.

Now if only somebody would listen?  GLORIOUS?  HELLO!


OCKLAWAHA

[tufsu1]

The system I outlined above dumps the downtown curbside meters, opens up free parking for businesses throughout the core and pours new money into mass transit.

Now if only somebody would listen?  GLORIOUS?  HELLO!

OCKLAWAHA

so who pays for it?

[futurejax]

The system I outlined above dumps the downtown curbside meters, opens up free parking for businesses throughout the core and pours new money into mass transit.

Now if only somebody would listen?  GLORIOUS?  HELLO!

OCKLAWAHA

so who pays for it?

Didn't he go explain that?

[DeadGirlsDontDance]

I realize this is somewhat off-topic, but PLEASE, good people, don't type entire posts in bold! IT'S ALMOST AS IRRITATING AS ALL CAPS. Having your entire post bolded makes it difficult to read. If you are trying create emphasis, only use bold type for key phrases. Otherwise, it will lose the impact you are trying to create with it, and become an eyesore instead.

When I see anything more than two sentences long in all caps or all bold, I skip it, because nothing you have to say is worth me getting a headache from reading it. So if you're trying to get my attention, it's actually having the opposite effect.

Thank you.

[JeffreyS]

I end up skipping much of the bold stuff myself. Ock or stjr have a much better chance of me reading their entire post if I am on the blackberry not the PC because of the plain text.