Lost Jacksonville. Downtown Hotels: The Grande Dames

[Jaxson]

I know many companies that have relocated to the suburbs of Jax without caring about the downtown situation.  With today’s e-business/remote log on consciousness, having a thriving downtown location isn’t as important anymore.  Comfort of life seems to over rule these days.

I can understand how technology is decentralizing things for local economies, but do we see other cities with half-empty downtowns?  Just asking...

[Timkin]

None that I ever visited have the emptiness of Jacksonville.. no large cities that I have seen have the amount of void (surface parking and parking garages) that our downtown has. Where is the attraction in that. 

I guess if any city makes me feel more sad than Jacksonville's downtown , it would be all of the pictures I have seen on here of Detroit..and their incredible Historic Buildings, most of them in total rack and ruin.. For many of the masterpieces here it is way too late, in the minds of many.. for the few that remain unused, the mindset is ...Don't even THINK of saving them...tear them down.. you cannot save every old building ...and people we have not... we have not even saved 15% of the buildings... so you got your wish there..

No appreciable residential downtown + No appreciable destinations downtown + very little Historic Fabric left in our Urban core (or any place else ,for that matter) = dying Downtown.

[fieldafm]

I know many companies that have relocated to the suburbs of Jax without caring about the downtown situation.  With today’s e-business/remote log on consciousness, having a thriving downtown location isn’t as important anymore.  Comfort of life seems to over rule these days.

Others couldn’t be persuaded. Delaney recalled when American General bought Gulf Life, pulling an icon out of what is now the Riverplace Tower on the Southbank.

“I was sitting there with that CEO begging him. He said, 'John, I can move anywhere there’s a phone jack and an electrical outlet.’ I knew it was over then,” Delaney said.

... via Times Union

[spuwho]

From after the Civil War until just following WWII, Jacksonville was at first a winter destination, a travel hub (ships at first, then rail) and then came the businesses.

Due to the influx of eastern money, this caused the rise of banks here and with that came the Federal Reserve and insurance companies.

However, winter travel moved south, rail, which at first replaced the ships, was now replaced by cars. The businesses of the early era, the banks, were the last to go through recent mergers. Insurance is still here (barely). The other industries, like mining and lumber have come and gone. All that is left is military, the ports and a few corporate HQ's.

Jacksonville is static because it doesn't lead in anything anymore.

In it's "glory years" spoken of in the article, they were full of glory because it was leading in something and that attracted people. Today, nada.

It is stuck in the middle between Atlanta and Orlando. You knew it was over for banks when the Federal Reserve moved it ops to Atlanta. Tourism goes to Orlando and Tampa.

When you ask people in the US what they know about Jacksonville, the answer is usually 'nothing'.

[stjr]

Jacksonville is static because it doesn't lead in anything anymore.

We could "lead" in quality of life but that would require investments in culture, education, and environment. We prefer to try and lead in low taxes and cheap housing.  You get what you pay for.

[Timkin]

We (Jacksonville) LEAD the world in the mindless razing of buildings ,just because.  I wonder how much in tax dollars has been spent in the last 4 decades, tearing down buildings , waiting for developments that never come to pass .....IE  Brooklyn Park .  We lead in mindless Government. Is  this what we pay for?

[thelakelander]

Jacksonville is static because it doesn't lead in anything anymore.

We could "lead" in quality of life but that would require investments in culture, education, and environment. We prefer to try and lead in low taxes and cheap housing.  You get what you pay for.

Great points!

[urbanlibertarian]

IMO, low taxes and cheap housing add to the quality of life and commerce contributes far more to our quality of life than government "investments" of our tax dollars.

[Jaxson]

IMO, low taxes and cheap housing add to the quality of life and commerce contributes far more to our quality of life than government "investments" of our tax dollars.

What other factors come into play when considering where to locate a business?  We don't have a state income tax, but we still lose out to other states (Alabama, South Carolina) when it comes to luring businesses.  And, what makes it so much more favorable for corporations to still have their headquarters in New York and other high-tax burden states and not move to places like Florida?  If being 'business-friendly' is such a good thing, why aren't more businesses friendly to us?

[Wacca Pilatka]

What troubles me most is how many folks in Jacksonville seem to believe that we can function without a healthy downtown.  

What troubles me is that in the 90s, according to one of Jim Crooks' books, Herb Peyton said this expressly.

[urbanlibertarian]

Jaxson wrote "What other factors come into play when considering where to locate a business?"

Regulations and other red tape ie. zoning, sign restrictions, licensing, insurance, etc.  Actually larger corporations are better equipped to handle this stuff than small businesses.  I'm sure stephendare, Rockstar and Jerry Moran could share some stories about dealing with COJ and the state while starting and running a business.

[JaxNative68]

I know many companies that have relocated to the suburbs of Jax without caring about the downtown situation.  With today’s e-business/remote log on consciousness, having a thriving downtown location isn’t as important anymore.  Comfort of life seems to over rule these days.

I can understand how technology is decentralizing things for local economies, but do we see other cities with half-empty downtowns?  Just asking...

many throughout the midwest.  technology isn't Jax's issue, mindset is.

[Timkin]

Agree JN.  mindset is a major issue.

[stjr]

When I talk with many out-of-town business personnel, they are amazed, overall, at how easy it is to do business here versus where they are moving from, especially if it is the Northeast, Midwest, or California.  While we may think it onerous, in a perverted way, our relative lack of regulatory discipline may actually be undermining our maintenance of higher standards associated with what many on MJ want to see for Jax such as historic preservation, frustration of urban sprawl, transit-oriented development, better zoning, more respect for the environment, etc.  As one man's trash may be another treasure, so what may be "good" regulation may be in the eye of the beholder.

What other factors come into play when considering where to locate a business?  

If it's a business with high paying execs and professionals involved, #1 almost always is QUALITY of EDUCATION, k through graduate school, not the tax burden or cost of housing (both of which we have forever been below the national average based on any articles I have seen).  By the way, people should consider the tuition they pay to private schools as an additional "tax" since they are substituting the private school for the already tax paid public school they are unhappy with. Then, maybe they would consider that paying something more in real taxes, but far less that private school tuition, to sustain superior public education would be much better value proposition, not to mention better for the entire community.

[Jaxson]

I guess that being a union-busting, right-to-work state isn't as much an incentive to business as our local leaders and community once thought!