Lighting Laura Lives

[rjp2008]

Well, street beautification in general is a good thing.

However, the plan seems too small-scale for what the stated goal is though (drawing people downtown - uptown actually!). To give people a reason to walk uphill - quite steep actually - a couple new trees, bushes, pavers and arch sign are not going to do it.

The obstacle working against this whole idea is your trying to force people to hangout right where a great majority of people work.

[thelakelander]

Keep in mind, there is no such thing as a one trick pony for creating downtown vibrancy.  Enhancing Laura is one of many things that need to be done to make the downtown environment a better place. 

The Laura Street idea, or at least "our" original ideal, was to take advantage of a compact corridor with existing destinations and projects rising along it and improving it with better lighting, landscaping and signage.

While people do work in the area, its actually pretty diverse with the Landing at one end, the office towers in the middle and the Carling, Chew, Knight Lofts, LaCena, Chamblins, City Hall, the Library and MOCA Jax on the north end.  However, it suffers from poor lighting and signage, which in turn leads to two nodes of vibrant activity.  The Laura St. streetscape plan that can potential combine those nodes into one vibrant one.  The city's streetscape plan may be a little overboard, imo (traffic circle, gateway arches, etc.), but the idea of better lighting on the street to make the area more attractive and pedestrian friendly and vibrant is a valid one.  In fact, if you're going to improve the walkability of a street downtown, Laura should be the top one, since its the one with more urban building fabric along its path, as opposed to surface parking lots.

Btw, the hill is not steep.  Downtown Jax is virtually flat compared to the downtowns of most cities outside of Florida.

[rjp2008]

I understand it's a main artery, that makes sense.  The main desire is to make it more a night-time/evening walking destination, correct? Well, as visitor/tourist, what else is there to draw me uphill to at night after I've visited the landing? Library and park are closed at night. Maybe the museum restaurant is open, but that's it.

[thelakelander]

Don't forget that when we put our initial ideas together, Kuhn's developments in the middle of this corridor were a major part of it.  I also don't believe it was ever done in the intention of attracting tourist.  Its simply cleaning and lighting up and area to make it more end user friendly to the every day downtown visitor.  Office workers, business owners, residents, visitors, etc. would all be intended users of what could become a safer environment in the heart of downtown, helping enhance the area's image.

[brainstormer]

I was just about to ask about the Kuhn developments.  What is the status?  Does a bank own them, could some other developer buy them?  It would be great to not have this "dead" block on the way from the library to the Landing.  Lighting will help the block, but apts or more shops/restaurants would be great.

[rjp2008]

Yeah, I could see people walking down from FCCJ and the Baptist church area for coffee/snack/food after events/classes.

* * *
More brainstorming here...

To draw people up from the Landing, I think you'd need a "trail" of really sharp looking spots right off the face of the Modis building and the one across from it (don't know name). And instead of "Regions Bank" off in the distance (why would I want to walk to that?), some kind of interesting, attractive restaurant with a huge, well-lit sign I can see right on that corner.

[thelakelander]

I agree.  Its critical that something pedestrian friendly and attractive ends up in those buildings at street level.

[skmincey]

Instead of pavers you can stamp the concrete to look like bricks I have done this to my last four homes, not hard.  I am very glad I found this site, am looking at retail space downtown and this is all very interesting! I spent all day downtown yesterday and only counted 20 people walking the streets, that concerned me.

[Dapperdan]

skm,
  What time of the day were you walking the streets? Depending on what type of retail you want to open, make sure you realize you will have lots of foot traffic on Bay Street during week nights and weekends, and lots of foot traffic 8-5 M-F anywhere else. Our downtown is not vibrant yet and the crowds ebb and flow.

[thelakelander]

• Speaking of Laura Street, news of the improvement project is traveling fast. In addition to the printing shop moving into the space at the corner of Laura and Adams streets, a T-Mobile cell phone store is going to open a few doors north next to La Cena Ristorante and Wine Bar.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/citynotes.php

[reednavy]

Slowly, but surely, this revilization of Laura can create a new day for downtown.

Nice to see more retail coming.

[jeh1980]

Anybody das any idea of what retail we might see at Independent Square?

[Ocklawaha]

What about that historically correct arch?



As you can see they were often a feature of downtown's everywhere.



This one was ours.

OCKLAWAHA

[Dapperdan]

So, besides the new street lights being installed,are any of the design elements from the orginal lighting Laura implemented, such as architectural uplighting, etc?

Also, I am not sure how I feel about these kiosks. They look like little bcakyard sheds complete with shingled roof.

[Dapperdan]

That is a blast from the past, Stephen.  Good thing we are connecting Fuddruckers and Club Paris to Hemmings Park!! It does seem like alot of the suggestions were taken. I have noticed most of the city garages have extended parking signs on them now and I guess the little kiosks are better than nothing.  I guess we will all see how it looks when completed.