Redefining "Downtown"

[geauxtigers31]

I have been reading these blogs for the three years that I have been living in Jacksonville, and plan to start trying to get more involved in the conversations. But I wanted to sit back and learn for a bit first. Here I go.

A Central Business District??

One thing that I'd like to hear some feedback on, I think that for the most part people have an interesting view of what constitutes “Downtown” Jacksonville. I am from Louisiana, so New Orleans is my big city frame of reference, but I have also visited many other similar sized cities. One thing I think is missing from the conversation in Jacksonville is the idea of a Central Business District (CBD). I've never heard of this part of Jacksonville (where all the tall buildings are) referred to as the CBD, or the 9 to 5 place that people work. People seem to insist that this relatively small area is our “Downtown”

Thriving Adjacent Communities

People in Jacksonville seem like the only way Downtown will succeed is if tons of residential complexes sprout up next to the Modis Building and a movie theatre moves in next to the BOA Building. Or if thousands of people are walking the streets of the very center of Downtown 24/7. But that is not what a CBD is!  I think many Jacksonvillians focus to transform this PART of downtown is wrongheaded and leads to a depressed view of what downtown currently has to offer.
New Orleans is hardly a city known for a weak downtown, but the CBD at night is as dead as “downtown” (really our CBD) Jax. Its where people work, of course it slows down at night! It is the adjacent communities, most notably the French Quarter in New Orleans, that provide the 24/7 activity. Jacksonville is closer to this than we may feel, simply because we have confused our CBD with our Downtown.

A Need for ConnectivityT
The problem with Downtown, as I see it, is one of definition and connectivity.
First, people define downtown as what I would define as the Central Business District. If when we mentioned “Downtown” it included Brooklyn, Five Points, Springfield, San Marco and the areas directly connected to the CBD then our view of Jacksonville’s “downtown” would be different.
Now I understand that the reason we tend to not think this way is because Brooklyn and Five Points are separated from the CBD by an urban forest and grasslands, Springfield is disconnected by a fortress style Community College, and San Marco is on the other side of the River. But that doesn’t mean they cannot be considered part of “Downtown.” We get to choose how we define these regions.

First we need to make Downtown a reference to ALL of downtown (From 5 points to the stadium, from Springfield to San Marco) and start naming what we currently consider to be Downtown the Central Business District. If nothing else this will help us feel psychologically better about “Downtown.”
Then our focus should not be on building up the CBD and hoping it spreads outward, but the focus should be on building the surrounding communities, promoting connectivity, and meeting in the center.

[Jimmy]

There's a lot of wisdom in that post.

[geauxtigers31]

One quick thing I would add to reinforce my New Orleans comparison, when me and my buddies would go out to the French Quarter at night (which we would interchangably say "We're heading Downtown") a local trick is to park in the CBD and walk next door to the Quarter because there is tons of free parking on the curbs, just like Jax at night, you wouldn't know the difference. The one thing you have to worry about (for folks planing to try and avoid the 10 dollar parking fees in the Quarter) is your car getting broken in to, but usually people traveling to Bourbon Street are willing to take on some risk...

[Jimmy]

Hard to imagine parking on Forsyth Street and walking to the clubs in Riverside.  But I get your point.

Though I've done the very same thing when going out in the Quarter...

[geauxtigers31]

Yeah, thats that connectivity problem that I think has led to the false view of what constitutes "Downtown" Jax. I am encouraged by the new development in Brooklyn though. To me, that is one of the major areas to build up for success. Once Five Points is truly connected to the CBD, synergy happens. These neighborhoods need to stop living in isolation.

[dougskiles]

I love the post and ideas.  Please keep them coming.  I agree that the problem is one of connectivity.  Not only does the CBD need to be linked to the urban neighborhoods (or should we start saying "downtown neighborhoods"?), those neighborhoods need to be linked to each other.  But it is important that these connections be done in a way that promotes pedestrian movement.

Imagine how much more density we can get downtown without the parking lots?  Imagine how much healthier we would be if we walked a few more blocks each day?  Imagine how much nicer we would be to each other if we weren't separated by glass and steel all the time?

[tufsu1]

some folks have been promoting the idea that downtown and its surrounding neighborhoods will thrive (or die) together....as such, we need to start thinking about the whole intown area as one...while at the same time focusing downtown improvements on the northbank core.

[geauxtigers31]

Yeah, I don't think my suggestions are necessarily revolutionary and certainly parts of it are common topics on this site. However, I do disagree with the need to focus on "the core" (or what I would call the CBD). I think the focus should be simply on building up the surrounding neighborhoods and finding ways to connect them with the CBD, and then they will naturally all connect to eachother.

I really think this is the key, divert focus and energy away from adding residents or late night things to do in the CBD and focus on multiplying those things in the surrounding communities.

I woulod be interested, and there very well could be some, to see if there are many examples of cities that revitalized their downtown by starting first with building up the CBD and then it spilling into the surrounding communities and not vice versa.

[thelakelander]

The things mentioned in this thread are what sold me on the concept of using the streetcar to strengthen connectivity between our urban core neighborhoods.  Not only will it provide the long lost connectivity, it's also a proven economic engine with the power to stimulate walkable infill development in long demolished neighborhoods such as Brooklyn, LaVilla, Sugar Hill and the Cathedral District (these are places where market rate housing makes most sense). As has been mentioned here, the area most consider as downtown will only be as successful as the urban neighborhoods that surround it.

[thelakelander]

As far as the CBD, i'd cool it on the big ticket gimmicks and focus on modifying public policy and regulations to make it more attractive to the private sector.  To this day, I believe we make this DT development stuff much more complicated and expensive than it has to be. In most cases, simple is best.

[Jimmy]

My eyes normally glaze over when you guys start talking about streetcars and trains.  I just don't see it in our future; not in the mid-term.

Is the trolley workable to provide this connectivity?  It seems to be a boon between the CBD and Riverside/Five Points.  More trolleys; better "stations" for TOD; spread throughout and between the downtown neighborhoods.  And expanded service hours.  That one is important.

(Yes, I know it's a glorified bus.  But it's working now.)

[fsujax]

Jimmy, believe me a fixed transit system such as streetcar would do wonders for not only Dowtown, but all the neighborhoods connecting it to Downtown.

[jcjohnpaint]

yeah and I totally agree, but we have so much dead areas between the cen buis dist and the outer intown neighborhoods.  This is where transit is vital.  I also think it is vital to populate La Villa and Brooklyn, which are not part of the cbd, but old neighborhoods that have been razed. 

[Timkin]

+1 JCJ...  Exactly what I would have posted... Brooklyn and LaVilla were vital "downtown" elements, that , had developers with grand ideas that never materialized, not demolished almost entirely, there would still be points of interests ,at least remaining in both areas.

[thelakelander]

That's where a streetcar would provide the best benefit. Fixed transit spurs walkable development in the same way highways spur autocentric sprawl. Faux trolleys don't spur infill development (just look at how much TOD has developed since the Riverside Trolley started up....zero). A streetcar connecting Riverside to downtown would provide the same economic boost to Brooklyn and LaVilla that Portland's streetcar did for the Pearl District. It's also a lot cheaper than building a courthouse, arena, main library or convention center while still providing a much higher ROI.