How To Design A Transportation Center

[Dog Walker]

Absobloominglutely!  Get Amtrack downtown and everything else about our transit system will begin to fall in place.  The advantages of using Jacksonville Terminal as the node of transportation will just be too obvious to continue to be ignored.

[thelakelander]

You realize Veterans' Arena was built specifically as convention/flex space, right? The Hyatt also has nearly as much convention space as the current convention center does.

Veterans as flex space gives you roughly 27,000 sf of continuous floor area to play with (page 20 of link PDF):

http://www.jaxevents.com/documents/production_guide_2010.pdf

That's about 51,000 sf smaller than the Prime Osborn's exhibition hall today.

[iMarvin]

The Skyway went somewhere for me last night.

Drove downtown last night 1 1/2 hours before the fireworks. What a mistake. I know all about the one way streets. What a mistake. Drove past parking lots which were filling up with people with a ten spot burning a hole in their pocket. What a mistake. Went around and a round, further and further from the center of action. What a mistake. Not a parking slot on the street was available, yet people were walking from as far away as State St. By the way - What's with all those reserved spots for city vehicles?

Decided to drive back to the King St. Parking Garage. Bulls eye! Got a parking space first try. NOT for $10 bucks either - yuck, yuck.

Walked over to the Skyway station. Got out my dimes and guess what? The machine was broken and you could walk right in. Up the escalator, 6 minute wait for the car, two stops later took the escalator to the street and walked the 2 blocks to Friendship Fountain. Enjoyed the fountain and the lights - the music was a little too much like the sound of a whole car boombox. Set up our chairs on the grass with a jillion other people and sat back and enjoyed the fireworks show. It wasn't long enough and I was disappointed there was no waterfall fireworks but that's what happens when your city runs out of money. Still, it was a good show.

A 2 block walk back to the Skyway station, 50 cents in the farebox (I don't have my 10 cent senior card yet) another 6 minute wait for the car and back to the King St. station.

Looking down on all those people trying to get out of town in their cars was a hoot. Horns continuously blaring, stop and go - mostly stop. Throngs of people walking in the street kept all those with close-in parking from getting out. Reminded me of the evacuation fiasco a few years back.

My wife and I got to participate at minimal cost because we have the skyway and I could find the parking lot. A word to the wise - we have a good thing that could only be made better with the completion of the system

You're definitely right. So many more people would use that thing if it went to the surrounding neighborhoods. Oh, and about the fireworks, I went to the beach and they were really good. They lasted about 20 minutes (I think) and was very exciting. No spectacular finish though. And the traffic was just as bad. 3rd street was backed up for an hour and a half! And bikes were just everywhere! Seeing so many people on the actual beach made me happy though.