Exploring The Beaches Town Center

Metro Jacksonville · July 13, 2011, 12:34:04 AM

Exploring The Beaches Town Center

Metro Jacksonville explores Jacksonville Beach's sister towns - compact neighbors with an array of mixed-use plazas that together make the walkable, "life of the beaches" Beaches Town Center.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2011-jul-exploring-the-beaches-town-center

Tacachale · July 13, 2011, 07:57:51 AM

Fabulous article. Like "Downtown" Jacksonville Beach, this is one of our great success stories in neighborhood revitalization.

One thing though: it's not the "Atlantic Beach Town Center", it's the "Beaches Town Center". Give us Neptuners some credit.

thelakelander · July 13, 2011, 08:09:45 AM

When did they change the name to Beaches Town Center?

Tacachale · July 13, 2011, 08:55:20 AM

2003, IIRC. From the time the renovations started in 1999 they called it unwieldy things like "Atlantic Beach-Neptune Beach Town Center", usually just shortened to "The Town Center". They started calling it the "Beaches Town Center" to distinguish it from the later Town Center projects, and eventually the St. Johns Town Center.

JeffreyS · July 13, 2011, 10:08:29 AM

Good article I think it misses how compact the area is though to someone who is not familiar with it.

Tacachale · July 13, 2011, 10:47:19 AM

^True. And that's why it has worked so well; there's a lot of retail and entertainment within the space of a couple of blocks. This is a case in point of how this kind of intentional planning can work wonders when there's demand for it (ie, nearby residents to patronize it).

JaxNative68 · July 13, 2011, 10:50:40 AM

The fact that it was naturally formed over the decades gives it its character and charm; unlike the developer driven faux town centers.

Tacachale · July 13, 2011, 11:09:13 AM

^I don't know about that. Development and intentional planning were just as big a factor in the Beaches Town Center as it has been in any of the projects in the Town Center Program. It didn't come into its current state spontaneously.

cline · July 13, 2011, 11:18:18 AM

Quote from: Tacachale on July 13, 2011, 11:09:13 AM
^I don't know about that. Development and intentional planning were just as big a factor in the Beaches Town Center as it has been in any of the projects in the Town Center Program. It didn't come into its current state spontaneously.

All of the areas that were part of the Town Center Program existed as organic retail and entertainment areas long before the actual program came along. The TC program helped to beautify and add various amenities to these areas to enhance them. Development and intentional planning didn't bring the stores and establishments to those areas, they were always there.

JaxNative68 · July 13, 2011, 11:38:24 AM

My point being, you can zone and master plan an area correctly to become something. Having it grow and materialize over time will give it true character and charm. Building it all at once, as in St John's Town Center and other faux town centers, brings about a boring and bland atmosphere to the end result.

If a section of downtown could have been renovated and small infill projects been built to incorporate SJTC into the downtown fabric. The end result would be much less shopping mall and much more aestheticall pleasing. Not to mention the work, live, play environment could have been much more applicable than trying to force it into a suburban setting.

hightowerlover · July 13, 2011, 11:38:47 AM

metrojacksonville must be on vacation for the summer, the beaches updates are a nice change of pace though.

SarahTay · July 13, 2011, 12:14:02 PM

^^^ their intern just happens to live at the beach

Tacachale · July 13, 2011, 12:52:16 PM

JaxNative, sorry, I thought you were talking about the city's Town Center projects. You're quite right about the "faux town centers" like the SJTC, which in spite of the name, isn't a town center but a mall.

As Cline points out I misspoke about the Town Center program; there wasn't new planning or development involved (directly) in those, but there certainly was with the Beaches Town Center. Just goes to show you that we can get it right when the ingredients are there.

And here, as in nearly every successful commercial/entertainment sector in the city, one of the key ingredients is residents.

SarahTay · July 13, 2011, 01:25:24 PM

It is very compact. Here's a video, if the "moving image" helps to show it more. I'll try to go over an get a wide shot from across the street to show the compact nature of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbVNLdw5ogI

Jack · July 18, 2011, 03:32:27 PM

Does anyone know what (if anything) is going on with the space formerly occupied by The Bookmark, next to Ragtime?