Elements of Urbanism: Denver

[vicupstate]

The city should take advantage of its rather unique climate, but it doesn't. :\

+1.  Stop planting South Florida native Palms everywhere, and plant some Live Oaks and make more places look like Hemming Plaza.

[thelakelander]

Hemming's tree cover is one of the best features in the Northbank. Unfortunately, some want to cut the trees down in Hemming.  They believe this is a way to reduce crime and encourage vagrants to not want to spend as much time in the park.

[CityLife]

The city should take advantage of its rather unique climate, but it doesn't. :\

+1.  Stop planting South Florida native Palms everywhere, and plant some Live Oaks and make more places look like Hemming Plaza.

I believe the oaks in Jacksonville's urban neighborhoods were planted during the developments, so that may not be the natural landscape of downtown/urban core. I'd imagine that prior to settlement, the banks of DT Jax looked similar to Exchange Island which is covered with some beautiful palms.  Anyone know?

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-sep-urban-parks-exchange-club-island

Back to Denver...the photo essay shows a lot of the 16th street Mall, but you can't really tell how vibrant the rest of DT/LoDo is. Pretty sure most of the bars/restaurant/clubs are on the roads that intersect 16th. There is also a beautiful block or two long stretch of string lights in an upscale shopping/dining area.  Pretty sure I have a picture or two at home that I'll try to upload later. Ock, did you catch a glimpse of it? I've always thought that string lights would be a great investment for DT. Maybe on Laura or somewhere in the Bay/Adams/Forsyth area.

[fsujax]

palms have always been a part of the landscape in jax, especially from the river east.

[Captain Zissou]

The best way to find out what Jacksonville's native landscape should be is to spend a day or two hiking around Dee Dot ranch.  They have hundreds of acres of undisturbed and unsettled old Florida landscapes.  Along the water you'll find cypress, palm, and pine.  Inland I'm sure you'd find a wonderful mix of trees and shrubs.  I imagine there are plenty of other examples, but this is the first that comes to mind when I think of natural Florida.

Ock, I think pedestrian bridges over railroad tracks are wonderful, I just don't love ours.  I don't like the benches every 20 feet that break up the incline.  That makes running or biking at any speed difficult.  I also don't like the spiral down the other side.  I agree that the chain link is ugly and a cheap solution, as is typical in jax.  Cables or something else would have accomplished the same thing with a much better appearance.

[CityLife]

The best way to find out what Jacksonville's native landscape should be is to spend a day or two hiking around Dee Dot ranch.  They have hundreds of acres of undisturbed and unsettled old Florida landscapes.  Along the water you'll find cypress, palm, and pine.  Inland I'm sure you'd find a wonderful mix of trees and shrubs.  I imagine there are plenty of other examples, but this is the first that comes to mind when I think of natural Florida.

Never been there, but I'll have to check it out. I think people sometimes forget how tropical Jacksonville really is because of how much development has occurred along our waterways...but virtually every undeveloped parcel along the water is covered with palms and is very tropical. From Guana River State Park to Nocatee Preserve, to the Timucuan Preserve and so on. The ocean may not be as clear up here as it is down south, but North Florida is very much old Florida in terms of landscape.

[Adam W]

The best way to find out what Jacksonville's native landscape should be is to spend a day or two hiking around Dee Dot ranch.  They have hundreds of acres of undisturbed and unsettled old Florida landscapes.  Along the water you'll find cypress, palm, and pine.  Inland I'm sure you'd find a wonderful mix of trees and shrubs.  I imagine there are plenty of other examples, but this is the first that comes to mind when I think of natural Florida.

Ock, I think pedestrian bridges over railroad tracks are wonderful, I just don't love ours.  I don't like the benches every 20 feet that break up the incline.  That makes running or biking at any speed difficult.  I also don't like the spiral down the other side.  I agree that the chain link is ugly and a cheap solution, as is typical in jax.  Cables or something else would have accomplished the same thing with a much better appearance.

I think the powers-that-be in Jax are a bit design-averse. I don't know why, but I think it's maybe fear of having another Hayden Burns Library. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely adore the building. But it's loathed by probably as many people (if not more) as those who love it. And I think it's loathed by many of those whose opinions "matter."

I remember when the new library was being designed. I think there were three or four (or possibly five) final designs to choose from. A couple of them were amazing. I recall one design was by a Scandinavian (or possibly Finnish or Icelandic) architect. There was also a Michael Graves design, which I didn't like, but his name stuck out because he had a range of housewares at Target at the time.

Anyway, instead of choosing an interesting (or daring) design, the City went with the safe route. I love the new library and think it's a great place. But I wish it was more interesting and made more of a statement. We have a lot of empty space downtown. It's practically a blank canvas. We could build some great buildings and put the City on the map for that alone.

So it doesn't surprise me they went with a boring design for that bridge. On the other hand, I'm should just be happy they built it! I love the northbank riverwalk.

[vicupstate]

palms have always been a part of the landscape in jax, especially from the river east.

Certain Palms are indeed native, but not some of the varieties that are used as 'decoration' along Riverside Ave in Brooklyn and other places, for instance.

Regardless, we are talking about an urban setting in a very hot climate, so the native trees that will provide shade should be used whenever possible. 

[Captain Zissou]

Dee Dot is a private property, but there are lovely pictures of it in the intuition tap room.  I may have to go by there this weekend for some 'research' of old FL.

[Ocklawaha]

I believe the oaks in Jacksonville's urban neighborhoods were planted during the developments, so that may not be the natural landscape of downtown/urban core. I'd imagine that prior to settlement, the banks of DT Jax looked similar to Exchange Island which is covered with some beautiful palms.  Anyone know?

Actually most of downtown is on quite a large sandhill so the oaks are native.

Sandhills are upland, savanna-like habitats on gently rolling terrain with an open overstory of longleaf pines. Mixed in among the tall pines are turkey oaks and a few other hardwood species along with a groundcover of herbaceous grasses, ferns, and wildflowers.  The open canopy and grassy undergrowth give these habitats a beautiful park-like appearance. Early settlers claimed to be able to drive their wagons through acres of longleaf sandhill forests.

As early as 20 million years ago vast expanses of longleaf pines covered the coastal plains from Virginia to Florida and as far west as Eastern Texas. At one time there were an estimated 25 million hectares of longleaf forest in the Southeast. While some of this land was low-lying flatwoods much of it consisted of higher elevation sandhill ecosystems.

Most of the original longleaf forests have been replaced by pine plantations, citrus groves, rangeland, and residential and commercial development. Only a few large tracts of sandhill still exist in Florida today. The largest expanses are located in the Panhandle. Most of the sandhill habitats are small, isolated areas scattered throughout the Panhandle and northern peninsula. Only 38% of sandhill habitat in Florida is found on public lands. Most of the remaining land is privately-owned. These beautiful relics of ancient Florida offer aesthetic, environmental, and economic benefits that can not be replaced once the last stands are gone.


General Characteristics of Sandhills
Sandhills, like scrublands, are found in dry, upland areas with sandy soils and sloping terrain. While there are many similarities between the two xeric habitats sandhills are easily  distinguished by the tall, longleaf pines and open, grassy groundcover. Interspersed with the pines are turkey oaks and a few other hardwood species such as sand post oak, bluejack oak, and persimmon. Sandhills burn more frequently than scrub habitats so there are fewer woody shrubs and thickets of undergrowth in these ecosystems. The widely-spaced trees and soft groundcover make these open woodlands easily recognizable.

The soil in sandhills is deep, sandy, and well-drained but lacks distinct layers. There may be a variety of textures and types of soil as one travels to different regions within the state. Sandhills in the northern peninsula and Panhandle generally have more coarse soils with some loam and clay mixed in. As you travel farther south along the ridges of the peninsula the soil is a finer texture and lacks the clay and loam. Sandhill soils range from yellowish to creamy white in color and are very permeable. They allow water and nutrients to leach out easily so the soil tends to be fairly infertile.

[CityLife]

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-02-03/story/greatest_generation_of_trees_fading_in_jacksonville

Soon after World War II, a sea of oaks spread across Jacksonville's neighborhoods.

"Victory trees" handed out by a utility shaded sidewalks and yards from Avondale to Springfield and San Marco.

Now, those trees are dying of old age.

"They turned out to be water oaks or laurel oaks," said Anna Dooley, executive director for Greenscape of Jacksonville, a beautification group. "They have about a 60-year lifespan, which is where we are."

[fsujax]

yes, they are rotting all over springfield, riverside-avondale and sadly this is what was mostly planted in Hemming Park. There is one large live oak at Hemming, though.

[goldy21]

I just moved back to Denver from Jax.  I grew up in Denver and am still amazed by the progress this town has made.  The transit projects alone are changing the urban landscape and definitely promoting urban infill.  Thrilled to be back.

[finehoe]

Actually most of downtown is on quite a large sandhill so the oaks are native.

One rarely sees the turkey oaks mentioned in your article planted as ornamental trees, they are almost always live oaks or laurel oaks.

As far as the palms, there are a number of species native to the area, but the one most widely (and over) planted is the Sabal Palm.  However, as the climate warms, many species formerly associated with South Florida will be able to be grown here.

[simms3]

Cities in the South that are really leading the way with public landscaping and requirements of landlords to integrate landscaping/pedestrian experiential improvements into their footprints include Charlotte, Greenville, Raleigh and Atlanta, Jacksonville leaders need only take a 6-7 hour drive to learn from really good examples in this arena.  8 months of the year up here there are flowers blooming everywhere.  Details from a recent $6M project on a corridor downtown that finished in April:

“It is absolutely gorgeous what they have done with the sidewalks,” he said. “They gave it a nice architectural flavor with some traditional nice wrought iron ornamental light posts and by planting trees and flowers in wrought iron boxes.”

Other benefits are the widened sidewalks, which give pedestrians more room to stop and wait on pedestrian signals, new and additional trash cans that encourage people not to litter, and upgraded traffic signals that make it easier and safer for walking around the area.

“Before the improvements, it was a really dirty area,” Shaw said. “When it looks clean and well taken care of it changes the image. It feels like a live-work-play environment and goes against the stigma of downtown being an unsafe place.”