Beach & Hodges: A Disaster of Jacksonville's Making

[mbstout]

Just had the pleasure of seeing Gary Hustwit's documentary "Urbanized" up here in NYC.
It profiles people making DIRECT changes within in their communities with sometime simple to execute ideas and actions. HIGHLY recommend seeing it if anyone is near a market where it's playing.  This film SHOULD be screened in Jacksonville!
http://urbanizedfilm.com/trailer/

[Dashing Dan]

Unfortunately Beach & Hodges is beyond the reach of the context sensitive street design guidelines - too bad.

Everything is beyond reach. With the change at city hall, its just a colorful document with no teeth.

With or without the change at city hall, the context sensitive street guidelines are limited to an area that does not include Beach & Hodges.

The mobility plan isn't the answer either.  Along with a new zoning code (hopefully form based), the city needs a complete streets policy, asap.

[Lunican]

http://www.youtube.com/v/Q1ZeXnmDZMQ?version=3&hl=en_US

[simms3]

^^^Just saw Urbanized here, too, and Gary Hustwit was present for a Q&A.  Ellen Dunham Jones, a professor at my alma mater who wrote the book Retrofitting Suburbia had a large presence in the documentary.

Zoning codes and proper land use planning are a huge part of forcing good developments, but good developers are keen on building good developments that are beneficial to the community and that make a lasting presence.  Right now the good developers are focused almost entirely on infill, solid demographics, growth, and high barriers to entry.  To attract the kind of development that larger cities and Austin/Charlotte/Nashville/SLC also benefit from, Jacksonville will have to create higher barriers to entry by restricting land available for development, create huge job growth by incentivizing the right economic development appropriate for the city, and hope that Jacksonville's economic development ends up being a push for higher paying jobs to improve demographics.

Of course the biggest driver of non-manufacturing jobs is having a prominent university within the city, and unfortunately Jacksonville does not quite check that box.

[simms3]

Unfortunately Beach & Hodges is beyond the reach of the context sensitive street design guidelines - too bad.

Everything is beyond reach. With the change at city hall, its just a colorful document with no teeth.

With or without the change at city hall, the context sensitive street guidelines are limited to an area that does not include Beach & Hodges.

The mobility plan isn't the answer either.  Along with a new zoning code (hopefully form based), the city needs a complete streets policy, asap.

Agree about the complete streets.  Often that happens when individual areas charter community improvement districts and create master plans for their boundaries.  That needs to be the first step.  Having "complete streets" on every street is not feasible or necessary, but making sure certain areas look after themselves and set up corridors is very practical.

[thelakelander]

I agree. There is no single answer. Zoning modification, complete streets, context sensitive streets, mobility plan, housing downtown, port expansion , etc. all are insignificant on their own. However, this has been recognized from day one and all are planned to piggyback one another. I look forward to Mr. Burney working with the community to move several of these items forward.

[thelakelander]

Btw, to fully make c :(omplete streets policy effective in Jax, another fight needs to happen at FDOT. Passing a policy at a local level would have little to no impact on state maintained roadways like Beach, Philips, Blanding, etc. In South Florida, Miami is having a devil of a time trying to get Ped/bike improvements on Brickell and it goes right through their downtown.

[Dashing Dan]

With bicycles, FDOT is being very helpful these days.

[simms3]

Quotes from today's local business paper about the redevelopment of an old East Atlanta/Decatur shopping center that will include the Inside-the-Perimeter area's 4th Walmart.

Atlanta-based Selig Enterprises filed a parking variance request...with Dekalb County...If approved, the variance will trigger a $60 million redevelopment of Suburban Plaza, with Walmart as the main tenant...

Selig had plans to redevelop the deteriorating center six years ago...but those plans faltered when the economy sank.  About 18 months ago, Walmart approached Selig about its Suburban Plaza.

The new Walmart will sell general merchandise and groceries, but will not have a tire center nor a garden center...'We just don't have the room to do it.'

the new store will be very similar to its Chamblee location, where the parking is underneath the store

The developer is requesting the county allow the center 1,269 spaces, or 3.9 spaces per 1,000 square feet, rather than the required...5.5 spaces per 1,000 square feet.

The redevelopment includes demolition of about 87,000 square feet...new construction for Walmart, but then renovation of the remaining 180,000 square feet of the center

'Now that we have Walmart, other retailers are interested...They include sporting goods, home goods, office supply, and electronics retailers and a health club...'

The Suburban Plaza redevelopment comes at a time when the retailers are growing more hungry for new locations, but those new locations are few...'This is an intown market, affluent and dense...This is what retailers want right now.  They are not going out to greenfield.'

Two of the three other "in the beltway" Walmarts were built within the last few years, one by Selig at the District at Howell Mill:

http://www.seligenterprises.com/dbimages/district.html

I think these quotes address very much what others and myself have said in more or less different ways in this conversation.  Land needs to be limited.  Developers are either good or "bad" in our sense of the term and aren't affected much by what codes are or aren't in place.  Demographics and density have to be there to spur "infill" type development.

This development, along with most of the other shopping centers in Atlanta, are not on necessarily pedestrian friendly or bike friendly corridors, but there are sidewalks, covered bus stations, often nearby MARTA stations, and a much higher density.  Each jurisdiction has strict codes with how the developer must redo the streetfront and allow for wider sidewalks, specific plantings, lamps, burying utilities, and either abutting the street/concealing parking or allowing for a certain "median" of landscaped land between the sidewalk and the shopping center and the street.  The City of Chamblee where the 3rd Atlanta Walmart just went in has a defined master plan that requires each new development/redevelopment to register with the USGBC in LEED certification, and it is going for a specific "brick" look.  It wants a uniform look that comes to define the city so that it is no longer considered a "tweener" location between the suburbs and the city.

Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, Nashville, and Orlando are doing the same thing.

[thelakelander]

Demographics may draw a use but the zoning code will still determine how well that use will intergrate into the surrounding context, regardless of density and site constraints. Jax may not be able to control its demographics but through zoning it can definitely control how whatever comes in, fits into its surroundings and Jax's adopted visioning plans.

[north miami]

Forgot to mention that the same developer that did Oakleaf Town Center, which is a crappy little thing,

Brannan Chaffee Sector Plan participants were .........'convinced'..............that the Vision,Vesting granted was a bold positive growth management,planning stride.

[north miami]

Anyone know Mr. Burney's position on form-based code?  He has a great opportunity in front of him.  I hope he makes the most if it.

I don't think he's against them.  He was one of the few on the transportation transition team who mentioned transportation and land use policies should be better integrated, especially in the downtown and urban core areas.

Mr.Burney was a mess with MPO/Brannan Chaffee Beltway,willing participant in key erroneous network traffic alleviation images.
Talk about getting run over......,

[tufsu1]

nm...what data do you have showing that the Outer Beltway wouldn't alleviate traffic on parts of the regional network?

[Timkin]

Great Article and on point.

[thelakelander]

nm...what data do you have showing that the Outer Beltway wouldn't alleviate traffic on parts of the regional network?

I must say, I hate the way we use fuzzy math to justify bad public infrastructure investments in this community. Quite frankly, nearly any improvement will provide some form of mobility benefit. The true questions are if the suggested project is the best option available and if theROI is greater than the investment in said project itself. Now that's some data I'd love to see.