Musings after a trip to DC

[Captain Zissou]

I just got back from a 4 day trip to DC and it really opened my eyes to the potential of downtown Jax and the city at large.  There are a number of strikingly similar areas between DC and Jax.  We can learn from DC to better utilize the positive assets that we already have in place.  DC is a dense and vibrant city with tons of pedestrian friendly and human scale developments.  Granted, DC pulls in millions of tourists a year that help support these establishments, but it doesn't mean that the same principals don't apply to Jax.

First off, the DC Metro is amazing.  During the week, it seemed like the headways between trains were about 3 min on average.  Once you get the routes down (takes about 5 minutes) you can get to anywhere in the city with ease.  Everywhere we went (Dupont Circle, Friendship Heights, Chinatown, the Smithsonian, Arlington VA..etc) corresponded to a Metro stop.  With the exception of the Smithsonian and maybe Chinatown, I would say the Metro preceded all development at these areas.  Arlington and Friendship Heights especially; it seemed like all of their development had occurred within the last 10 years.  If you could get up about 15 stories, you could see for miles and you'd see nodes of high density development all lined up along the transit lines with park space and medium to low density infill between them.  Imagine if areas like Philips & Emerson, JTB, Baymeadows, and the Avenues all had dozens of 10 story buildings that were all centered around a commuter rail line linking them to DT!

The DC core and surrounding areas are exploding with development.  What would normally make front page news with great fanfare seems more like a daily event in DC. Projects aren't wrapped in marketing banners and there are no gimmicky sales offices with giant flags or those inflatable tube men.  I imagine this is because most of these buildings have sold out before construction, so they don't need the marketing.  Development and growth there is headed to the moon, and Jax is still squabbling about sandwich boards and parking meters (btw, in most places in DC they didn't have parking meters).

To see the potential for the Shipyards property, you have to look no farther than the Georgetown Waterfront Park and Washington Harbor.  This area is almost identical to a combination of the Shipyards site and the Jacksonville Landing.Georgetown Waterfront and WH are cut off from the rest of Georgetown by the elevated Whitehurst Freeway. One way they overcome this obstacle is continuing the streets underneath the Freeway to improve access.  The park has both active an passive uses and it ties into a much longer walking and jogging trail (sound familiar?).  Washington Harbor is a 5 story mixed use development that is opened up to the river with an outdoor dining courtyard facing the Potomac.  These two areas were packed with people yesterday and full of life.  With a little investment in the Shipyards, we could make a portion of it a great waterfront park that would have regional appeal.  Also, we don't need to finance huge mega-projects for the site.  Washington Harbor would only take up about a fifth of the property space.  If we had 2 or 3 of those on the property that would provide the necessary link between the stadium and the CBD.

Finally, another big thing I noticed was the people.  Incredibly diverse, very informed, and very in touch with their city and the nation at large.  There was an energy there that I rarely ever see in Jax. There was a true class of young professionals,  not the Jax 'young professionals' (32 years old, married, and 2 children) 24-28 single and working 8am-7pm or longer.  In Dupont Circle there were thousands of them catching a late dinner and drinks at around 10 pm before heading home to read about the market and the latest news before heading to bed. It was a level of sophistication and professionalism that you only hear whispers of in Jax.  While we employ thousands at the various financial institutions in town, we still don't attract that kind of person.

Some people will say this isn't a fair comparison, and you're right.  Jax is much smaller and doesn't have the government offices, tourism, international diversity, progressive government, or intelligence of DC.  However, we can learn from the successful things that DC has done to make our city better.  We can start planning now for how we should best implement mass transit.  We can better utilize our riverfront parks by incorporating more active uses.  We can get the most out of the shipyards by continuing the street grid onto the property and develop it one block at a time.  We can follow the complete street principals in Arlington,VA, an area fairly similar to our Southside.  We can work to attract and retain young professionals that have transformed and brought 24 hour activity to many parts of the city.  There's so much to learn, we just need to be willing to do it.

[Jimmy]

Glad you had a good time.  Were the cherry blossoms still in bloom??

I love Washington, DC.  For all the reasons you mentioned.  And people don't realize (normally) what a very Southern city it is.  It's a very Southern city.  Obviously Jacksonville will never rival the nation's capital, but there are many lessons there to learn.  Especially around transit and density.

[copperfiend]

There was a true class of young professionals,  not the Jax 'young professionals' (32 years old, married, and 2 children) 24-28 single and working 8am-7pm or longer.

A "true" young professional doesn't have kids?

[Captain Zissou]

Jimmy,  The cherry blossoms had almost all fallen. There were other flowering trees that were in bloom and they were beautiful.

Copperfiend,  In my opinion, there is a difference between being young and having a job, and being a young professional. If someone has kids, but works 8-7 and then is out most nights until about 11, they would fit my description of a young professional, but I'd feel bad for their kids. 

I am not a parent, so I can't say for sure, but I imagine there are certain things (social life, freedom to do things on a whim, independence) that have to take a back seat once you have kids.

[danem]

There was a true class of young professionals,  not the Jax 'young professionals' (32 years old, married, and 2 children) 24-28 single and working 8am-7pm or longer.

A "true" young professional doesn't have kids?

Sweeping generalizations are sweeping!  

DC is certainly unique, but I was never sure if it was for me. I'm sure If I lived there I would find a way to love it. But I say love where you live or find a place to live that you love.

Jacksonville seems to hate itself too much. 

[PeeJayEss]

There was a true class of young professionals,  not the Jax 'young professionals' (32 years old, married, and 2 children) 24-28 single and working 8am-7pm or longer.

A "true" young professional doesn't have kids?

kids=adult=boring. Totally ageist, but also totally true. You have more important stuff to do than drink and be awesome when you have kids. Namely, take care of kids. This is not a bad thing. I think the stereotypical picture of a young professional is a single wheeler-dealer with more money than bills and little commitment of responsibility (not irresponsible, just lacking in "dependencies" - children, mortgage, etc). Patrick Bateman if you will (less all the homicide). Of course, there are no rules in life.

[tufsu1]

well DC is also filled with lots of young families...as someone who grew up in the area, I can tell you fitrst hand the overall quality of life is pretty heard to beat....just imagine being able to go to the Smithsonian museums and National Zoo all the time.

[Traveller]

It's funny you mention Washington Harbour:  http://dcist.com/2011/04/washington_harbour_flooding.php#photo-1

I lived in Arlington and in the District for several years when I was a cool single professional.  Now that I'm a boring married professional with a kid, Jacksonville suits me fine.

[geauxtigers31]

I have had several opportunities to take jobs in DC and have turned them down so I can stay in Jacksonville. I have visited DC many times and enjoy visiting for a few days at a time, but would never want to live there.

That being said, I do agree that there are some things we can learn from DC, but I would be devestated if Jacksonville ever became like DC.

[Captain Zissou]

I have had several opportunities to take jobs in DC and have turned them down so I can stay in Jacksonville. I have visited DC many times and enjoy visiting for a few days at a time, but would never want to live there.

Why not?

[danem]

well DC is also filled with lots of young families...as someone who grew up in the area, I can tell you fitrst hand the overall quality of life is pretty heard to beat....just imagine being able to go to the Smithsonian museums and National Zoo all the time.

Also, Jacksonville at least seems to ME to also have a lot of single young professionals. Certainly more than other Florida cities I've lived in. Now those were the places that were full of the "boring" married people.

[geauxtigers31]

First, way too dense. As much as people complain about Jacksonville's sprawl, and I'll be the first to admit that we need to create urban infill, its kind of nice to have a backyard that is bigger than a love seat (or no backyeard at all). Not having concrete everywhere and people living on top of eachother is appealing to a lot of us.

Second, traffic. I think people in Jacksonville forget how annoying real traffic is and take for granted the fact that for the most part our freeways run smoothly. My uncle commutes from less than 30 miles outside of DC and averages 3 hours a day (roundtrip) sitting in traffic.

Last, the heralded "young professionals". I have been out and about a pretty good bit in DC, and it seems to be a magnet for all of the kids I didn't like in college. They take themselves way too seriously, think they are the smartest people in the room, and tend to be brown nosers. I'd rather have a beer with a laid back, humble and curious to learn, principled surfer dude from Jax Beach anyday.

I think the biggest things we could steal from DC is transit and more emphasis on celebrating what makes us unique (ie unique museums about our role in history, festivals that celebrate our contributions to music, etc.)

[finehoe]

(btw, in most places in DC they didn't have parking meters).

This is simply not true, unless you are referring to the residential areas.  On virtually every commercial street in the city one must pay to park.

[Captain Zissou]

(btw, in most places in DC they didn't have parking meters).

This is simply not true, unless you are referring to the residential areas.  On virtually every commercial street in the city one must pay to park.

I must have some crazy luck, because for the most part I didn't see meters.  I'd say about 70% of the streets I was on had no 2 hour parking, no meters.  Chinatown was not that way.

[finehoe]

On-street Parking: There are 2-hour meters that run until 10:30 pm. Some streets now have multispace parking meters. So, instead of a having a meter at each space, there is one meter for several spaces. These green meters have a "P" on the side. The driver can pay with cash or credit card, then print a small receipt to place on the dashboard indicating how long they are allowed to park there.

http://living-in-washingtondc.com/livinginchinatown-washingtondc.php