Commercial Districts: The Avenue

[Metro Jacksonville]

Commercial Districts: The Avenue



Metro Jacksonville takes a tour of an Eastside commercial district formerly known as "The Avenue": A. Philip Randolph Boulevard.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2011-aug-commercial-districts-the-avenue

[Bativac]

Something about weeds creeping up in the middle of curbs and sidewalks makes an area look that much more desolate. I was going to say it looks like Life After People in some of these places, but that's exactly what it is - a once thriving area that is being reclaimed by nature. Which would be great if it were some housing development off Kernan but not a street in the urban core.

Is there any hope for The Avenue?

[dougskiles]

Perhaps the aquatic center at Cecil should have been built here.

[thelakelander]

I think the future of inner city neighborhood commercial districts like The Avenue will hinge on how successful the land use component of the mobility plan ends up being.  Quite frankly, these strips were built to support neighborhood populations that, in many cases, were more than three times as dense as they are today.  If we can achieve some level of success with rebuilding density in the core, we'll see many of these neighborhood commercial strips come back to life.

[thelakelander]

Btw, I think the JEDC's plan to relocate the fairgrounds to Cecil will further damage the future potential of The Avenue.

[cline]

Perhaps the aquatic center at Cecil should have been built here.

The Kennedy Center is a couple blocks away on Ionia and has a pool.

[Ocklawaha]

The Avenue is just one more example of a streetcar suburb with organic businesses along its route. The tracks came up in 1936, approximately 30 years before the riots. Just one more example of bad ideas on top of the bad ideas that have sent our urban center beyond decline and into the era of rot.

So what's the latest? Let's abandon the Skyway and close the equestrian center so we can close the fair and move it out of town. With the fair out of the way, just imagine the flex space we'll have when we can add that real estate to the recently dismantled Kids Campus. Just imagine how much more space we could gain if we could move the BOA and former Modis towers to Brunswick!

OCKLAWAHA

[peestandingup]

Something about weeds creeping up in the middle of curbs and sidewalks makes an area look that much more desolate. I was going to say it looks like Life After People in some of these places, but that's exactly what it is - a once thriving area that is being reclaimed by nature. Which would be great if it were some housing development off Kernan but not a street in the urban core.

Is there any hope for The Avenue?

Yeah, driving through I always get the same eerie feeling. There's a few people on the streets here & there, but its pretty desolate. But its got such a cool vibe at the same time. You can really feel the history & that it was once such a thriving area.

There's always hope, but I don't see it coming around until downtown & Jacksonville in general gets to be a serious urban metropolis with much more population in these areas. Its a shame, because it really deserves more. And if it were in a lot of other cities, it would be thriving. But its here.

[lowlyplanner]

Moving the fair does seem like the worst plan ever... for East Jacksonville, for downtown and for the fair itself.

[duvaldude08]

Are there any old pics of A.Phillip Randolph. I would love to see the before and after.

[duvaldude08]

Btw, I think the JEDC's plan to relocate the fairgrounds to Cecil will further damage the future potential of The Avenue.

Hopefully with the JEDC being dismantled and a new Mayor in office, this subject will be taking off the table.

[urbaknight]

Maybe a corner of the fairgrounds can be used as a skyway station. Then from there, transfer to a streetcar to head up APR.

It could easily become like St Jon's ave, San Marco blvd and Five Points. All of the buildings can be reused. But unlike the other places, there are lots of vacant lots. We can build shops, bars, restaurants, as well as small supermarkets and other everyday services. with a few floors above for apartments.

That would bring vibrancy, urban density and would justify the need for streetcar to run up and down APR and possibly connect to DT via the skyway, while also serving the sports complex as an added bonus to same cause!

[thelakelander]

Vintage Jacksonville has a pretty cool shot of Setzers on Philip Randolph Blvd. when it was known as the Avenue:



http://vintagejacksonville.net/2014/03/12/setzers-on-florida-avenue-and-a-henry-j/

[pierre]

Pat Lockett Felder Obelisk is so bizarre. I was not here when that thing was erected but I don't understand how that was allowed.