Downtown Revitalization: A Broken Record

[dougskiles]

What kept it from going forward?

[thelakelander]

In short....politics.

[tufsu1]

What kept it from going forward?

politics, yes....but I'm not so sure Sleiman could have pulled off that plan anyway....face it, the guy builds strip shopping centers!

He finally won the parking argument with the City last summer...and yet there have been no positive changes to the Landing (not even a paint job)....instead, Sleiman let a decent entertainment spot (Twisted Martini) close because he wouldn't come off his rent increase.

and now he's chosen to throw his support behind folks like Rick Scott and Mike Hogan....I'm sure those guys have a real keen interest in seeing the Landing thrive 

[thelakelander]

A low rise strip mall really isn't that much different from an urban one.  Riverside Square is essentially the same thing thats littered across Jacksonville.  The major difference is the site layout (specifically parking).

Fieldfm, where does the parking deal stand?

[thelakelander]

Doug, this link will take you back to the old MetJax discussion board thread regarding the Landing expansion.

http://www.metjax.com/forums/showthread.php?t=904&highlight=jacksonville+landing

[Captain Zissou]

Doug, this link will take you back to the old MetJax discussion board thread regarding the Landing expansion.

http://www.metjax.com/forums/showthread.php?t=904&highlight=jacksonville+landing

Thanks for posting that.  It's hilarious to see that the same old characters (except Bos and RiversideGator) are still posting 5 years later.  I was surprised to see that even I was on the thread way back when. 

[Ocklawaha]

I'm sure it's been discussed before in this forum, but I'll ask again anyway.

What do you think of Sleiman's plan to cut the Landing in half and open the view from Laura Street to the river?  I can't remember the details of the plan, but that seems like it would be a good thing.

It was a great idea then and its a great idea now, if a certain young star over at JTA would contact Sleiman, we might see a matching streetcar station at the base of Laura.

As it is today, it's in poor repair, the SE access to the Riverwalk is a horrible-squeeze, and the whole place smells like piss... Come to think of it so do the Skyway's elevators, but the ones at the landing are stronger then a double shot of JD. 

OCKLAWAHA

[heights unknown]

We might as well face it (and no we're not addicted to love). Jax has always been either behind the 8 ball, or not even on the pool table for that matter when it comes to developing or redeveloping downtown. All other major Florida cities are head of the game, and even some of the smaller Florida cities have more vibrant downtowns. By the time downtown does start exploding as they have said in the past, we'll all be speaking Chinese, and most in this forum will either be old farts or dead. I hope I'm wrong, but it seems that even the new candidates are giving up on downtown and putting it on the shelf; there is very little mention of downtown development or even redevelopment.

HU

[Garden guy]

Our downtown probably would grow if we stop our leaders from screwing with it. They all want their dollar and a parking space...i'd also like to see a city fee for any large corporation that locates in jacksonville but does'nt us downtown...think of it as a non use fee...our downtown needs and income and if these huge corporations around town want to just build a new building on an empty lot somewhere in the southside..then they should put up some money to support our business center..which should be downtown...I'm sick of the Skinner family sucking the money out of our downtown...think of all of that development on JTB being in the downtown area...we would having this conversation.

[Jaxson]

The biggest complaint that I hear from the suburbanites is that they "don't feel safe" when they are downtown.  It does not seem to matter that their perception of downtown belies the fact that crime at the Beaches or in Baymeadows does not force them to avoid those areas.  It doesn't seem to matter to them that beggars near Argyle or around Arlington are just as annoying as the ones on Adams Street.  Our fear is what is allowing us to cede our much of our central business district to the vagrants and the rats.  It is frustrating, and I agree with Heights Unknown that we seem to be destined to be forever kicking this can down the road for future generations to deal with... 

[Bativac]

The biggest complaint that I hear from the suburbanites is that they "don't feel safe" when they are downtown.  It does not seem to matter that their perception of downtown belies the fact that crime at the Beaches or in Baymeadows does not force them to avoid those areas.  It doesn't seem to matter to them that beggars near Argyle or around Arlington are just as annoying as the ones on Adams Street.  Our fear is what is allowing us to cede our much of our central business district to the vagrants and the rats.  It is frustrating, and I agree with Heights Unknown that we seem to be destined to be forever kicking this can down the road for future generations to deal with... 

Actually - I hear from many people who avoid Arlington because they don't feel safe. In fact, I don't think any of my extended family sets foot in the Regency Square mall out of fear for their safety. And I'd say that Baymeadows has seen better days. There are times when it looks practically abandoned, except for the newer area around Baymeadows and 9A.

I think a big part of the problem with Downtown is the local mindset. A majority of people in Jacksonville have always just kind of cast things aside as they've gotten older, and continually moved (or "sprawled") outward. Jacksonville government is big on studying things, making a big show out of building things, doing a halfassed job of it, and then leaving it to rot (figuratively, the Skyway; literally, the southbank Riverwalk). The people here by and large don't care about anything they perceive as "old" be it buildings, shopping centers, homes, etc...

[peestandingup]

We might as well face it (and no we're not addicted to love). Jax has always been either behind the 8 ball, or not even on the pool table for that matter when it comes to developing or redeveloping downtown. All other major Florida cities are head of the game, and even some of the smaller Florida cities have more vibrant downtowns. By the time downtown does start exploding as they have said in the past, we'll all be speaking Chinese, and most in this forum will either be old farts or dead. I hope I'm wrong, but it seems that even the new candidates are giving up on downtown and putting it on the shelf; there is very little mention of downtown development or even redevelopment.

HU

I don't think you're wrong. I have had the same gut feeling since we moved here a few years ago, but especially now that I know much more about the history of Jax & the politics involved (all thanks mostly to this site. you guys do excellent work).

I think the planners & politicians give the vast majority of the people what they want. And those people couldn't care less about putting any money into downtown, transportation, etc whatsoever. To them, it isn't & will never be worth their time or money. So therefor (sadly) this place isn't worth me & my family's time & money if that's the way it's going to be. I think I've fed as much as I'm going to feed this place without getting the things I want back in return.

Like you said, I don't want to be an old fart (or dead) when this place finally pulls its head from its ass. And as far behind as we are & with our current outlook coming down the pike, that's probably as soon as it could even happen.

[jcjohnpaint]

I think they are still trying to find the pool hall.

[ronchamblin]

This was submitted as feedback to the below link by Shagpoke on 02/25/11 - 05:03 am.  Interesting perspective.   

I am surprised the JSO did not arrest the heroes King and Talley for assault, battery, and false imprisonment on the poor homeless man they apparently attacked and detained.  JSO has done it before.  We call it selective enforcement.  This time, the incident served the Sheriff's political agenda. The Sheriff should be ashamed, and doubly ashamed for what he has permitted to happen in Downtown Jacksonville.
And, transient my a**!.   Renard Douglas, the perp, has an arrest history in Jacksonville going back to 1993!  The City permits so-called homeless shelters and wacko outreach groups operating under the pretense of first amendment religious freedom to keep these SOBs well fed, and in natty attire. This enables the bums to have the time to break into cars, steal books from the library, destroy air conditioning units for a few dollars of copper, terrorize decent citizens with hyper aggressive panhandling, and yes, attack women in parking garages, etc. etc. etc. The bums use their ill-gotten gains to buy alcohol and drugs, and consume them while loitering all day in Hemming Park and the Main Library. This goes on seven days a week, and all within sight of Mayor Peyton's office window.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-02-24/story/crime-stopping-marine-honored-saving-woman-jacksonville-hotel#ixzz1Ez95duye

[JaxNative23]

If you want to revitalize Jacksonville Downtown, then the very first step that you have to make is GET RID OF THE CHURCH IN IT. Any city that let a Church nearly runs and controls who can and can't open a business downtown, gets what it deserves. Remember when the Super Bowl was here, it was fun to go downtown. Now, that the superbowl is gone and the church has ran off some of the businesses that it did not like, you see it become what it will always be until get rid of one of the root causes.