Jacksonville’s Official Slogan?

[Ocklawaha]

River City by the Sea ain't bad. River City by itself...boring. There's just one river, and its not particularly impressive recreationally or commercially (downtown). Maybe someday, but not today.

Just one river? WTF? Hells bells, we have 'creeks' the size of the rivers in most cities, not to mention 7+ rivers of our own. Not recreationally impressive? Some of the nations largest kayak, canoe, sailing, boating or yachting clubs. We also lay claim to one of the worlds oldest premium yacht builders.

Actually I was thinking, "Jacksonville TRANSIT FREI Logistik zentrum."

OCKLAWAHA

[PeeJayEss]

Just one river? WTF? Hells bells, we have 'creeks' the size of the rivers in most cities, not to mention 7+ rivers of our own. Not recreationally impressive? Some of the nations largest kayak, canoe, sailing, boating or yachting clubs. We also lay claim to one of the worlds oldest premium yacht builders.

Actually I was thinking, "Jacksonville TRANSIT FREI Logistik zentrum."

OCKLAWAHA

"Creek City" then. You don't see a whole lot of kayaking OR sailing downtown. A true "River City" would have a place where I can put my kayak in the water among its tallest buildings. Sure, some people use it, but compare it to other cities with water. Jacksonvillains are not on average an aquatic people.

[Tacachale]

^I think two of our major economic drivers, the port and the Navy, get pretty good use out of the St. Johns.

[I-10east]

Jacksonvillains are not on average an aquatic people.

I don't think that any major metro has a very high ratio of 'aquatic people'. Not every Joe Blow owns a boat or kayak. IMO Jax has a pretty decent number of boat owners; Heckscher Drive, and the Intercoastal are some places that comes to mind.

I guess that you are not a fan of the Dames Point Bridge; IMO it's a stretch to say 'most' river cities has 'far more impressive' bridges than it, I would agree with you if you said 'some river cities'.

On a side note, IMO cable stayed bridges with just one row of support towers in the center of the span are ugly, like that thing in Boston built not that long ago; IMO two rows of cables on each side like the DPB looks more classic like a traditional suspension bridge.

[urbaknight]

JACKSONVILLE:  America's largest suburb.

JACKSONVILLE: Not for pedestrians.

JACKSONVILLE: Pedestrians NOT welcome!

JACKSONVILLE: You have the right to remain silent!

JACKSONVILLE: If we can't fix it, then it must not really be broken.

[north miami]

First step is to drop "Jacksonville".......change it.

This is not me talking here........this is something my wife has complained of.The name is "ugly".
My wife is a Jacksonville native with deep love for the town,area-her Daddy was centrally involved in Duval government,key Consolidation matters so no need to marginalize.......her insightful lament has long been,simply.........the name of our town is "ugly".

What do you think??

[I-10east]

^^^ I vote nay. The name Jacksonville is here to stay.

[acme54321]

What do you think??

I think you're ugly!!

Seriously though... aweful idea.

[danem]

First step is to drop "Jacksonville".......change it.

This is not me talking here........this is something my wife has complained of.The name is "ugly".
My wife is a Jacksonville native with deep love for the town,area-her Daddy was centrally involved in Duval government,key Consolidation matters so no need to marginalize.......her insightful lament has long been,simply.........the name of our town is "ugly".

What do you think??

I think if we tried that, Andrew Jackson would come back from the dead and shoot us all.

[Demosthenes]

I dont think Andrew Jackson would give a rats ass. He wasnt even from Florida, and never visited the area, even when he was the military Governor of Florida.

[Ocklawaha]

Jacksonvillains are not on average an aquatic people.

I don't think that any major metro has a very high ratio of 'aquatic people'. Not every Joe Blow owns a boat or kayak. IMO Jax has a pretty decent number of boat owners; Heckscher Drive, and the Intercoastal are some places that comes to mind.

I agree, we can dissect PeeJayEss's statements and it is perfectly logical why downtown is void of kayaks, canoes, and sail boats.

SAILBOATS - REALLY? If you've ever sailed you would understand that by nature of 3 bridges in a very restriced space, tacking INTO an east wind and coming about, maybe toss in some swift currents... You wouldn't want to try that downtown as you'll need some big water as you zigzag down the river. As a result, cross the Buckman or Shand's Bridge and you'll see sailboats everywhere. Several other local rivers are not sailboat friendly due to the deeper draft of sailing vessels.

CANOES - These are simply not 'open water boats.' While some are specifically made for large lakes (Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness) unless you own a pretty specialized (tripper)boat you don't want to tangle with a 3 mile wide river with white caps, and thus your not likely to pass through downtown.

KAYAKS - Paddled, sailed, or powered, many of these boats ARE made for large open spaces, sea kayaks, and touring boats with their knife entries and 'V' hull,  give them great secondary stability (tipping). Slight keel shapes help them easily track in a straight line, longer boats for open water, and very short squat boats for play in the rough stuff but the small boats surrender speed for maneuvering. Hogans Creek is becoming a popular put in for the Kayak crowd.

None of these craft belong in a shipping channel such as that which exists downstream from the Main Street Bridge to Mayport.  A quick crossing, or a paddle near one or the other shores is safer. Playing in a shipping channel can be deadly, I have a good friend that had such a near death experience in a heavy fog just off Duluth Harbor. He said early morning fishing out at a channel marker was excellent, so he paddled out and tied off, drifting into the channel and fishing in low visibility. Anyone who has ever been on the water knows how it plays tricks on sounds. Well it seems Denny was almost lulled to sleep by a distant muffled thump, thump, thump... All at once he looked up at the bow wave coming off of a 600' long Great Lakes Ore Boat. To this day  he'll take an oath that he paddled so fast he breezed by every power boat in the harbor.

Charlotte and Atlanta can only wish they had our water sports scene.

OCKLAWAHA

 

[Ocklawaha]

I dont think Andrew Jackson would give a rats ass. He wasnt even from Florida, and never visited the area, even when he was the military Governor of Florida.

We really don't know that he was never here, this was a major crossing and ferry point in the early day's of the river. His march took him roughly from Tallahassee to St. Augustine so we know he crossed at least twice. Never in Florida? I dunno, in 1821 Baton Rouge was in FLORIDA. Andy led the boys to New Orleans for the famous showdown in 1814, shocking the world by completely routing the British Army. He either floated down the Big Muddy or he was indeed in Florida. He WAS in St. Augustine and well, since that name is taken, maybe Perre Gustave Toutant Beauregard could lend us his name... 'Beauregard, Florida,' has a ring to it! Oh and YES he was here.

OCKLAWAHA

[JeffreyS]

Port Caroline is the best name the area has ever had.

[PeeJayEss]

^I think two of our major economic drivers, the port and the Navy, get pretty good use out of the St. Johns.

And neither is located downtown, or a focal point for visitors to the city. I didn't say there was no activity on the St. Johns river, just little (relative to other cities) in Downtown Jacksonville, which should be the subject of any re-branding efforts.

I guess that you are not a fan of the Dames Point Bridge; IMO it's a stretch to say 'most' river cities has 'far more impressive' bridges than it, I would agree with you if you said 'some river cities'.

On a side note, IMO cable stayed bridges with just one row of support towers in the center of the span are ugly, like that thing in Boston built not that long ago; IMO two rows of cables on each side like the DPB looks more classic like a traditional suspension bridge.

I think the Dames Point is a beautiful and impressive bridge. I don't think it is near downtown. I think, relative to other cities located on rivers, the bridges of Jacksonville are not particularly impressive in either quantity or quality. 6 bridges in the vicinity of downtown, 4 with incredibly short spans, 2 with no architectural value, 1 that is basically a pier (rail). And 8 or 9 in the entire county is not a lot. There are other bridges in Duval, no doubt, but they aren't major (crossing inlets/creeks/intracoastal/other roads/etc).

The Zakim Bridge (Boston) is much more impressive in engineering terms, and suspension and cable-stayed bridges are made to serve different purposes, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Both were designed by the same company, and the Zakim has won some awards, but both are pretty incredible (and The Dames Point was built pretty early in the history of cable-stayed).

I agree, we can dissect PeeJayEss's statements and it is perfectly logical why downtown is void of kayaks, canoes, and sail boats.

Charlotte and Atlanta can only wish they had our water sports scene.

OCKLAWAHA

Your words in bold above make the exact point I was trying to. I understand the reasons for those activities not occurring downtown. I was simply stating, as you seem to agree, that they do not occur downtown in high volume. So I don't think "River City" is good enough.

I'm not saying anything bad about Jacksonville here, just that some of these slogan options are ill-fitting. I think if you can think of a single city that is more fitting of the name you are trying to assign, then the name is not good enough. River City and Bridge City are just too easy to come up with more appropriate cities for. Being better than 2 cities at something (Charlotte and Atlanta in the example above) is not sufficient, in my mind, to use it as your claim to fame.

[danem]

I dont think Andrew Jackson would give a rats ass. He wasnt even from Florida, and never visited the area, even when he was the military Governor of Florida.

We really don't know that he was never here, this was a major crossing and ferry point in the early day's of the river. His march took him roughly from Tallahassee to St. Augustine so we know he crossed at least twice. Never in Florida? I dunno, in 1821 Baton Rouge was in FLORIDA. Andy led the boys to New Orleans for the famous showdown in 1814, shocking the world by completely routing the British Army. He either floated down the Big Muddy or he was indeed in Florida. He WAS in St. Augustine and well, since that name is taken, maybe Perre Gustave Toutant Beauregard could lend us his name... 'Beauregard, Florida,' has a ring to it! Oh and YES he was here.

OCKLAWAHA

I'm amused someone responded to my joke. I mostly said it because at the same time someone suggested changing the name, I was reading this: http://www.cracked.com/article_15895_the-5-most-badass-presidents-all-time.html Imagine, a city named after the president who beat an would-be assassin with his cane!