A Marketing Plan for Downtown Revitalization

[tufsu1]

Starke's downtown would be helped by a 301 bypass...are you kidding Zissou?  All that would happen is the commerce on nearby 301 would move out...and fewer people would come downtown at all.....Thomasville, GA is a good example.

and yes, I've been to Starke's awesome downtown...I often arrive in Starke from the east on SR 230 (or the slight jog onto SR 100)...the heart of their downtown on Call Street is all of 3 blocks long (about 750')

as for Alachua, we went through there the other day...the core of their downtown on Main Street is about the same length...but there's another 2 blocks on each side of the core blocks that also have life....and what's there is far cooler than anything Starke has.

[jcjohnpaint]

As for promotion... what will we promote (The great and wonderful diversity of bums?).  I can understand a city like Vegas or NY promoting because they have something to promote, but is this the best use of money and resources.  Don't get me wrong.  We might get a group that could shoot a post apocalyptic movie down there.  This city is conservative because officials spend lots of money to do something with good intention, but done wrong.  Maybe the city should find out why companies choose to locate outside of the core.  Tackle that problem/ fix that problem/ and people will be down there- at least first to work.  Shops will locate down there- just like in the southside.  Then people will move down there to be closer to work and amenities.  What regulations, prices, what ever keeps companies away? 

[JeffreyS]

We can market what is developing in downtown.  There is an emerging restaurant nightclub scene, highrise apartments, Jaguars, artwalk, festivals, ect and it is in the center of town convenient to the core neighborhoods with quick access to the interstate.

[thelakelander]

^If packaged with the urban core, there's a ton of existing assets that can be promoted.  For example, how many people know that our historic farmer's market is the only one in Florida open seven days of week year round?  How many people know that the Karpeles Manuscript Library is the World's largest private collection of important original manuscripts and documents?  Do people really know that Five Points and San Marco are closer to the Landing than Tinseltown to SJTC?

Jax's urban core is a pretty interesting place with a load of amenities that are simply ignored or unknown to most.  However, marketing (in general) should be a secondary or complementary effort to actually doing something to improve the conditions of the existing environment. 

[Spar Council 1869]

The urban core neighborhoods and Downtown participate in a form of this, promoting their local small businesses via the GoLo movement: www.golojax.com. A more holistic approach would be interesting.

[north miami]

[quote author=Captain Zissou

If they can't understand why downtown is important after it is clearly presented to them, then I suggest they move to Starke.  Ironically, Starke's downtown is AWESOME and very well done for its size.
[/quote]


Careful about those comments,assumptions.

That is exactly what so many have done,moved out or never did move in.......

[Captain Zissou]

and yes, I've been to Starke's awesome downtown...I often arrive in Starke from the east on SR 230 (or the slight jog onto SR 100)...the heart of their downtown on Call Street is all of 3 blocks long (about 750')

Hooray!!! Another Tufsu posting inconsistency!!  So you assert that Starke's downtown is only the 3 block strip of businesses and movie theater but not the historic homes, businesses, and brick streets in the immediate 5 block vicinity, but Jacksonville's downtown (to generate your employment number of 50,000+) is the Northbank, Southbank, stadium area, Brooklyn, and fringe areas of Riverside and Springfield?  Hilarious.

[tufsu1]

Wow Zissou...you're beginning to parse words like somebody else

Note that I said "the heart of their downtown" is 3 blocks long.....in Jax parlance, that would be equivalent to talking about the northbank core....and while all of downtown (including Brooklyn, La Villa, stadium/courthouse area, and Southbank) may have had 50,000 employees a few years ago, the core was around 18,000.

[comncense]

[xplanner]

Hi all. Been awhile since I've posted anything here, and perhaps this isn't the right thread. And maybe this topic has already been discussed. But I was riding (a bike...dangerous as that is) around Downtown and Southbank the other day and finally took notice that the Trailblazer signage that was installed, at about the same time the Gator Bowl became Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, is so weather-beaten as to be a.) unreadable, and b.) embarrassing to our City. These signs were intended to help visitors find their way around, and to provide a tiny bit of design continuity to the Downtown streetscape. The message they send today is that we don't have our eye on the ball when it comes to the details of periodic maintenance of our infrastructure, and that as much as we like to talk about image, we really don't care much about how that image is articulated. That's how I read it anyway. Is someone on this issue?

[TheCat]

Stephen Dare speaking with Rich Jones on WOKV's morning show about Downtown

http://www.wokv.com/Player/101229811/

[JFman00]

Marketing effort aims to bring people to Downtown Jacksonville

"Private money has been raised to launch a marketing effort to bring more people downtown to enjoy the activities and restaurants.

Several groups with a vested interest in downtown like Downtown Vision, the Chamber of Commerce, Visit Jacksonville, JTA, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Civic Council are among a group that have formed a downtown marketing council. They have raised $135,000 to market downtown and bring more people downtown. The Urban Land Institute and NAIOP, a commercial real estate association are also contributors."

"Downtown Vision is hoping to raise $170,000 in private money to add to the marketing effort. One of the first things the council did was start a website called digdowntownjax.com to bring attention to the events and restaurants downtown."

[mtraininjax]

I would like to see a "Public/Private" partnership.