Shoppes of Avondale Photo Tour

[Metro Jacksonville]

Shoppes of Avondale Photo Tour



The Shoppes of Avondale is the commercial district along St. Johns Avenue, from Talbot Avenue to Dancy Street. Comprised of various shops and restaurants, this district serves as a primary shopping and entertainment center for Avondale and the city at large.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-dec-shoppes-of-avondale-photo-tour

[ubben]

The new sidewalks are nice. It's a shame FIVE mature live oak trees were cut down during this redevelopment phase. Look how nice the remaining large oaks are on the west side of St. Johns Ave. Bluefish Restaurant cut down two and replaced them with cheesy small palm trees--one reason I won't eat there. The city cut down the other three live oaks (no, they were not water oaks) and replaced them with generic sidewalk elm trees like you'd find in a Costco parking lot. So much for maintaining original character and beauty of the neighborhood's canopy.

[TheProfessor]

The nice thing about the live oaks is that they are green year round.

[JeffreyS]

I know it is not the most photogenic of the Avondale shoppes but the land mark of the group is West end cantina (aka Montes). You may want to add a shot of it.

[iluvolives]

All 4 of the garbage cans are gone too...

[ChriswUfGator]

The new sidewalks are nice. It's a shame FIVE mature live oak trees were cut down during this redevelopment phase. Look how nice the remaining large oaks are on the west side of St. Johns Ave. Bluefish Restaurant cut down two and replaced them with cheesy small palm trees--one reason I won't eat there. The city cut down the other three live oaks (no, they were not water oaks) and replaced them with generic sidewalk elm trees like you'd find in a Costco parking lot. So much for maintaining original character and beauty of the neighborhood's canopy.

+1

JEA & COJ have done so much irreparable damage to the tree canopy in Riverside that it's truly shocking. It will take decades to get back what was lost in order to save JEA the potential hassle of repairing a power line that in this day and age, and considering the obnoxious prices we pay for power, should be buried in the first place. And I too am sick of that fallback "but they're all water oaks" B.S. They're not all water oaks, a lot of them are live oaks, and anyone born in Florida knows the difference.

People need to actually look at the trees involved rather than just accepting the excuse. The water oaks excuse got launched a couple years ago when there was an uproar over the beginning phases of canopy destruction that got started after that tropical storm we had in 2007 or 2008. During the storm JEA had to come out a couple times to repair lines that had been impacted by trees, so they revised their guidelines on how close they could be to powerlines, and the next thing you know Riverside woke up to JEA trucks all over the neighborhood chopping trees down. And it has continued relatively unabated since, to the point where we have very few canopied streets left.

I have seen live oaks tagged with orange X's and destroyed around here, because JEA deems them too close to power lines. The lines should be buried anyway, rather than destroying hundred year old tree growth that you can't get back. There were some water oaks, sure, but there are many other varieties being disposed of because of this power line thing. I have seen on my own street a live oak that JEA came by and trimmed all the major branches off of 3 years ago. Of course, JEA isn't hiring a tree company to do this, it's just JEA Joe Schmos with a bucket truck and chainsaws, they don't know how to trim a tree. So naturally, it died. Then they came back this year and chopped the rest of it down because it died, leaving the giant stump and telling the private property owner it was his responsibility to remove the stump after JEA killed his tree. The giant stump is still in the yard. JEA claims they only have to cut the stump down to 3' and aren't responsible for anything more.

This process is constantly repeating itself. We have lost half the canopy already, I hope someone stands up soon before the other half is gone. It won't be long at this rate. And the ones in front of Bluefish were especially egregious to eliminate, because no sooner had they come down than they buried the power lines. There was no legitimate reason to remove those trees, I wonder what the excuse was? Weren't they on COJ property (in the sidewalk, with all the other oaks on that row)?

[JeffreyS]

The side walk planters are too wide and not tall enough to sit on.  Looks great but some details could have been improved.

[Kay]

The ones Blue Fish took down were on their property, not City property, so nothing the City could really do about that.

I wonder if people who live in the district would vote for a tax increment district to raise money to bury the power lines?  Residents would vote for a millage increase that would go into a fund for this purpose.  JEA has no interest in burying the lines so I think the only way that will happen is if we figure out how to do it ourselves.

[Captain Zissou]

The side walk planters are too wide and not tall enough to sit on.  Looks great but some details could have been improved.

I was thinking the same thing. They could still probably put benches around the trees.  As they're currently arranged, those big planters are a waste of space.  

Have they put in the two 'iconic monuments'  that are supposed to greet people on either end of the strip??  Like San Marco square has on the North side.  I expected more decoration and adornment beyond just planters and shrubs.  That horse statue is ok, but we can do better.

[finehoe]

Wow, an MJ photo essay that actually shows people on the streets.  Most seem like they are taken at 6:00 on a Sunday morning.

[ChriswUfGator]

Wow, an MJ photo essay that actually shows people on the streets.  Most seem like they are taken at 6:00 on a Sunday morning.

Well many of them are photographs of downtown, not much to work with, in all fairness, lol...

[thelakelander]

True. Most local shots tend to show what's there, which happens to be nothing. The commercial districts in Riverside/Avondale, San Marco and the beaches tend to be the exceptions.

[Tonyinchicago]

I spoke with frank this morning about these comments and the same few people who keep making them.  As to the trees that we removed, here are the facts.  Yes, they were on our property but a permit is required to cut them down and the city granted us permission to do so.  They were laurel oaks.  We consulted with several tree experts who determined they contained rot on their interior trunks and were dying at the tops. This, along with the fact they were past maturity and less than 4' from the building itself and poised a significant threat, were the only reason they were approved for removal.  Additionally, the building has extensive infrastructure underground in front along St Johns Avenue.  This includes multiple water supply lines, multiple sewer lines and a grease trap, and the tree's root systems were damaging these lines and required constant repairs throughout the years we operated Sterlings.  The trees in front of the parking lot were magnolia, not oaks, and were nearly dead and were an eyesore.  Additionally, the city requested we bury the electrical lines to remove the concrete power line.  This was done at OUR expense and was substantial, $17,000.00.  Then there were  the requests from the city, property and shop owners concerning the continuity of the sidewalk and allowing an uninterrupted flow of foot traffic along the north side.

[JeffreyS]

Thanks for the response Tony. You are probably catching more than your share of heat due to the JEA's over doing it with the trees through out Riverside.

[finehoe]

True. Most local shots tend to show what's there, which happens to be nothing. The commercial districts in Riverside/Avondale, San Marco and the beaches tend to be the exceptions.

I wasn't really thinking of the Jacksonville-specific ones.  Most of the Elements of Urbanism series always seems to have photos devoid of people.  I don't know if this is a deliberate choice to highlight the built environment or what, but that is my perception.