The Avenues Mall

[danem]

You can cross at either the intersection of Big Island/Town Center Pkwy or further up Big Island near Blackfinn/Whiskey River. 

No, you cannot.
The sidewalk at that crosswalk leads you to a grass area on the opposite side.  There is a side walk on the opposite side (again, with no crosswalk in b/w) that then abruptly ends as the massive sprawling parking lot begins. 

I won't leave work until it gets dark out... but I'll take pictures over the weekend.

I think I experienced this! I took a couple friends who were new to town on a walking tour of town center. It was...quite an adventure. Definitely no logic to it whatsoever. I was also amazed at how the sidewalk didn't continue on the same side of the street, as well.

[coredumped]

Transit service is typical, and frankly the mall should have installed something like a PCT or REAL TROLLEY. BTW, where on earth are the UNF buses? Why not co-op with JTA and serve the Gate Parkway apartment complexes and tie the TC into the school? We'd all benefit.

My understanding is that UNF wanted a shuttle to go to the SJTC but the TC said no. They were afraid that students would park there and then take the shuttle to class.

And since students pay up to $200 for parking ( http://www.unf.edu/anf/auxiliaryservices/Parking/Permits_and_Rates.aspx ) I would have to agree:)

[Tacachale]

^You can pay a lot more than $200 a year for parking at UNF. 1st floor garage parking runs you $280 a year, and it gets much more expensive for semester-only passes. But most (including most students who use the shuttles to begin with) go for the general pass, which is $95. I don't see a lot of students using the Town Center for free parking, especially considering that the stop would be in a place not particularly convenient to parking. The student government is still working on the SJTC shuttle; it might happen and it might not, in light of the reason you mention, among other things.

[coredumped]

^You can pay a lot more than $200 a year for parking at UNF. 1st floor garage parking runs you $280 a year, and it gets much more expensive for semester-only passes. But most (including most students who use the shuttles to begin with) go for the general pass, which is $95. I don't see a lot of students using the Town Center for free parking, especially considering that the stop would be in a place not particularly convenient to parking.

I believe students can't buy a 1st floor passes, unless that's changed(?)

[Tacachale]

I meant in general. Yes, the most expensive passes are faculty and staff only - though student parking can add up to even more than that if they buy single-semester passes. But like I say, most students who use the shuttle to begin with are paying $95 dollars and are already parking in the outer lots. Parking at the town center means they'd be even farther out, have to walk to wherever the single stop was, and basically never be able to take their car on campus for the entire year.

At any rate the stop is certainly still in the works, but there are logistical and financial concerns as well as the mall's worry about students parking there.

[tufsu1]

In Gainesville, RTS runs a park-and-ride facility at the Oaks Mall.....and based on field observation the otehr day, it is definitely used by UF students

[Tacachale]

The UNF-SJTC shuttle would certainly be used by students (that's pretty much its only purpose). The Town Center's worry is that many students would just park for free at the Town Center to go to school, without shopping there. The situation isn't really comparable to Gainesville RTS; this isn't public transportation, it's a shuttle paid for by UNF that would make only 2 stops.

[cline]

The UNF-SJTC shuttle would certainly be used by students (that's pretty much its only purpose). The Town Center's worry is that many students would just park for free at the Town Center to go to school, without shopping there. The situation isn't really comparable to Gainesville RTS; this isn't public transportation, it's a shuttle paid for by UNF that would make only 2 stops.

Actually it is pretty comparable to Gainesville RTS.  The Oaks Mall has granted RTS the use of a portion of their parking lot as a park-N-ride, they have plenty of parking to be able to do so.  SJTC has ample parking to be able to do the same thing.  As for RTS being public- you are technically correct however, UF subsidizes RTS immensely (via "student fees") so I would argue that it resembles a shuttle more the public transportation.  The majority of the Gainesville RTS ridership is student usage.  Technically, RTS receives the majority of its funding from UF.

[Tacachale]

^It's not really the same thing, as the Town Center doesn't want UNF students to use its parking while they go to class. As planned the shuttle would make exactly two stops - one at UNF and one in some part of the Town Center that's specifically not particularly convenient to parking - and would be entirely funded by UNF. Additionally, the parking conditions at UF and throughout Gainesville are much different than they are at UNF - UF's a much bigger school with much less parking per capita, meaning that many more students use transit both to get to school and around town.

[I-10east]

As said earlier on this thread, the H&M clothing store will open in the spots where the former Kirklands, Pottery Barn, and The Childrens Place. Also Vans(shoes), Bare Escentuals(cosmetics), and Papaya(women's apparel) will open this year.

www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2012/02/06/hm-opening-first-area-store-in-the.html