First Baptist Church: Opinions? Now vs the Past.

[Ocklawaha]

You guys are fucking hilarious saying that downtown is better with fbc....thats the biggest line of bullsit ive ever heard. That group has helped big time to keep this city in the 1940's.

1940's! Oh that it were only true Garden Guy! Imagine 1/4 of a million people a week coming into downtown from Jacksonville Terminal alone, not to mention a live, working downtown waterfront. City streets jammed with CHRISTmas shoppers, and a sense that this is the only city in Florida anyone in the rest of the country takes seriously. If only First Baptist could get us back there, because if they could, we'd all be waiting for that alter call.

Rather then empty BS, Stephen and I would both like to hear you put up or shut up about your problem with God or church. So I repeat myself as I actually put a little thought into what I previously wrote, IMO in life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him. Consider that the soul is  immortal and we spend our lives trying to train it to detach from the body. Sorry if your not capable of a civil discussion at this level, please, if you believe my statement mindless BS, then refute it.

At some point in life, you must consider death, and that is REALLY what church is all about. Death is one of two things... Either it is annihilation, and the dead have no consciousness of anything; or, as we are told, it is really a change: a migration of the soul from one place to another. No one knows whether death may not even turn out to be the greatest blessings of human beings. And yet people fear it as if they knew for certain it is the greatest evil. So what say you Garden Guy?

[thelakelander]

Pork Chop Gang - a group of 20 conservatives in North Florida who supported segregation (or however it was worded). Honestly, besides being the brother-in-law of Alfred and Jessie duPont, this really tells me very little about Jacksonville going backwards. It's 2012 now and still not much has changed. Anyone have a picture of the Jacksonville skyline from the 1960's? I'm sure it doesn't look that much different now.

Northbank Skyline - 1960


Northbank Skyline - 2011

[thelakelander]

I don't attend FBC but did have the opportunity to take a tour of their facilities a few years back.  I believe it would be good for downtown to actually embrace FBC and work with the entity to help open its buildings up to the streets they surround.  For example, just replacing the glass block windows with transparent windows and awnings on FBC's restaurant would enhance the entire block of Laura, between Ashley and Beaver Streets.

Inside:


Outside:

[Ocklawaha]

This will be fun. Hey Lake, you still watching?  I give you a Jacksonville sampler 1935-1945, that ought to cover those Garden Guy years. Anyone want to bet he doesn't answer stephen or myself?


FBC 1944


That sign around a few corners from FBC 1940's



The old Airport (Imeson) Pure Station, your gas and oil came with not one but two attendants!



Gotham City Southeast!



That lovable LOVETTS FOOD STORE coffee counter on Mc Duff... Yeah, you could get there on the streetcar or a dependable city bus.



The Governor opening the new Main Street Bridge, nobody afraid to show up at the event, 1941.



A humble post card of Florida's most famous beach resorts dated 1944, guess which city was front and center? Hint? It doesn't start with Day... or Mia... or Coc...!



The beach when people KNEW it was one of the best in the country, before somebody decided roller coasters, midways, tiki huts and rides should be replaced by lawn grass and tricked out streets.

[Timkin]

Downtown was a ghost town ,back in the 40s .   

[Anti redneck]

Pork Chop Gang - a group of 20 conservatives in North Florida who supported segregation (or however it was worded). Honestly, besides being the brother-in-law of Alfred and Jessie duPont, this really tells me very little about Jacksonville going backwards. It's 2012 now and still not much has changed. Anyone have a picture of the Jacksonville skyline from the 1960's? I'm sure it doesn't look that much different now.

Northbank Skyline - 1960


Northbank Skyline - 2011

Well I deserve a dirty sock in my mouth.

[Anti redneck]

You guys are fucking hilarious saying that downtown is better with fbc....thats the biggest line of bullsit ive ever heard. That group has helped big time to keep this city in the 1940's.

I'm at least trying to keep this non-offensive.

[Debbie Thompson]

And I appreciate non-offensive language.  FWIW, it wasn't FBC but urban sprawl, metered parking, white flight, and urban shopping malls that emptied downtown of businesses.  The newly consolidated city encouraged suburban development (growth) without thinking about, or maybe without realizing, the ultimate detriment to downtown.

Well, you can't stop people from wanting new stores with acres of free parking, so now the idea is to figure out how to get stuff downtown people want to visit that you can't get in the suburbs.  Specialty shops, cool stuff, stuff SJTC and River  City Mrketplace, Regency and Orange Park Mall don't offer.

[Gonzo]

My only real objection to FBC is that they seem to close half the streets going into or out of downtown to the north and south on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings/afternoons. But, so do the Jaguars on games days...

[thelakelander]

And I appreciate non-offensive language.  FWIW, it wasn't FBC but urban sprawl, metered parking, white flight, and urban shopping malls that emptied downtown of businesses.  The newly consolidated city encouraged suburban development (growth) without thinking about, or maybe without realizing, the ultimate detriment to downtown.

Well, you can't stop people from wanting new stores with acres of free parking, so now the idea is to figure out how to get stuff downtown people want to visit that you can't get in the suburbs.  Specialty shops, cool stuff, stuff SJTC and River  City Mrketplace, Regency and Orange Park Mall don't offer.

I believe this is our most critical mistake. Focusing on bringing in things to attract suburbanites is worrying about the effects of an ignored cause. White flight and urban sprawl didn't kill downtown. We killed it accidentally by relocating its economic anchors, the rail, maritime, and logistics industries. It artificially survived with the insurance and banking industries until the mergers of the 80s/90s. Until, we focus on establishing a natural economic base that will allow the area to grow organically,  the revitalization process will continue to struggle.

[ubben]

I've heard several members of First Baptist Church are moving to fundamentalist ground zero Mississippi because Jacksonville has 'gone gay' and is quickly becoming much more diverse. Also because Florida has become a solid blue state. In other words, Florida is evolving.

"As of 2012, Mississippi is widely considered the most religious state in the United States of America, with 59% of Mississippians considering themselves "very religious". In 2000 the Southern Baptist Convention had 916,440 adherents and was the largest religious denomination in the state." Wikipedia

Hell yeah!