Seattle: America's Next Big Gateway

[thelakelander]

As for the article, great pics Simms. I've been putting off a Portland, Seattle, Vancouver train trip for five years now. Seattle is one of the few major US cities I've have not visited.  It may be time for me to just do it.  How does it compare with a place like San Diego?

 

[ProjectMaximus]

As for the article, great pics Simms. I've been putting off a Portland, Seattle, Vancouver train trip for five years now. Seattle is one of the few major US cities I've have not visited.  It may be time for me to just do it.  How does it compare with a place like San Diego?

Well, lol San Diego is one of the few major US cities I've not visited (been to UCSD a few times though) I'll just say this: In my rather uninformed opinion, those three cities in the PNW epitomize a lot of the guiding principles you discuss on this website. Really would be worth a visit, especially by train!

[mtraininjax]

At last week's Consolidation Task Force meeting, task force member Kay Ehas asked Paul Crawford of the Office of Economic Development (OED) if our local government was aware of what it takes to retain young professionals and if we are doing anything about it. That question went unanswered.

Has Paul Crawford gotten an answer for Kay yet?

Here's a crazy idea, why not move the Farmer's Market on Beaver Street closer to downtown, and give them double the space they have now to create more of a public market where we can have fresh market fish as well as produce and a restaurant or two or three. Lavilla is still empty, even after the Courthouse was moved. Why not look to tie Lavilla back into downtown?

As I said, it was crazy!

[I-10east]

I love the line someone said on another topic about seattle...."seattle prefers to invest in its people and infrastructure than an NFL owner"

Of course you do....Whatever typical negative crap sticks to the ceiling, right? Every commonplace, and common sense thing (that you don't like) of course is only an unique Jacksonville situation. I'm sure that Seattle....errr...Portland is willing to make all of the necessary moves to keep the Trailblazers viable there.

[thelakelander]

At last week's Consolidation Task Force meeting, task force member Kay Ehas asked Paul Crawford of the Office of Economic Development (OED) if our local government was aware of what it takes to retain young professionals and if we are doing anything about it. That question went unanswered.

Has Paul Crawford gotten an answer for Kay yet?

Here's a crazy idea, why not move the Farmer's Market on Beaver Street closer to downtown, and give them double the space they have now to create more of a public market where we can have fresh market fish as well as produce and a restaurant or two or three. Lavilla is still empty, even after the Courthouse was moved. Why not look to tie Lavilla back into downtown?

As I said, it was crazy!

They actually want to do that right where they are at on Beaver Street. They've already acquired the land and buildings.  Beaver could make a pretty cool wholesale district in the same manner that Detroit's Eastern Market has become.

[mtraininjax]

The area has been shamefully neglected for decades, and they seem to have the energy to advocate for its renewal.

Or until they get pushed out of the area in favor of more frozen food storage. In which case downtown looks better and better.

[thelakelander]

That may be a while since that's not Beaver Street's plans for the market site.

[unobody]

I had to laugh at this article listing the shortcomings of the biggest city in the most progressive region of the United States. The whole time, I was thinking, where exactly is Jacksonville again? Mississippi? Kentucky? No, Missouri, right? Turns out, it's somewhere in Florida!

Let me get some facts straightened out for your readers:

San Francisco is not a rival to Seattle. The last time San Francisco was a rival to Seattle was perhaps sometime around the California Gold Rush. Seattle aims to compete on the global market and works in partnership with our ecologically-minded neighbors in Portland and Vancouver. San Francisco is in a different economic region altogether and is not seen as a competitor to businesses here.

Comparing the statistics of Jacksonville to Seattle, as was done in the introduction of this article, is ridiculous. For example, what is the point of comparing the population of an 83.9 square mile city to that of a 747 square mile "city"? In Seattle, we call a city like Jacksonville "sprawl". As for urban infill obstacles, the author states that Seattle has none. Our topography would argue to differ; our natural and manmade obstacles are what make our city so unique and livable.

To say that there is no downtown nightlife district in Seattle is also disingenuous; nightlife in Seattle occurs not downtown, but in close-in and dense residential neighborhoods such as Belltown, Pioneer Square and Capitol Hill. These neighborhoods are no more than a 15-minute walk from the Central Business District. Most neighborhoods in Seattle can be enjoyed without a car; I doubt that is possible in Jacksonville.

Listing the Fortune 500 companies of the two cities is equally misleading. The author only counts in-city companies, but as I mentioned earlier, Seattle is a much more geographically compact city. By excluding suburban Seattle companies, the author has neglected to mention Costco (24), Microsoft (37), Paccar (159), and Weyerhaeuser (374), among others. If Seattle were a sprawling, amorphous blob like Jacksonville, these companies would easily fall within city borders.

Seattle is a dense, vibrant, compassionate, inclusive, and innovative city. Jacksonville, on the other hand, where the hell is that?

[vicupstate]

Comparing the statistics of Jacksonville to Seattle, as was done in the introduction of this article, is ridiculous. For example, what is the point of comparing the population of an 83.9 square mile city to that of a 747 square mile "city"? In Seattle, we call a city like Jacksonville "sprawl"

If the metro stats were not included, you would have a valid point.  But since they were, I don't see YOUR point.  The population of the principal city in the metro  area is important and indicative of some things. It has value as a metric.

Since Jax has a large percentage of it's metro area under the control of ONE government, with the tax base of same, it would reason that it should have an easier time implementing an economic development strategy, keep taxes at a reasonable level, and complete capital projects more easiliy.   Despite this advantage, it still struggles in pursuing an urban stratgey for development.

Cities of all sizes are looked at in this continuing series, because there is much to  be learned from any size city.

[thelakelander]

Comparing the statistics of Jacksonville to Seattle, as was done in the introduction of this article, is ridiculous. For example, what is the point of comparing the population of an 83.9 square mile city to that of a 747 square mile "city"? In Seattle, we call a city like Jacksonville "sprawl".

Welcome to the site unobody.

I actually added that to the photo thread. It allows our readers to get a feel for cities being shown in the images, in relation to Jacksonville.  The purpose isn't to see who has the biggest stick in their pants, so a variety of numbers are shown.  On population alone, city, metro, urban area, and urban area density are a few that are shown. It doesn't matter if the city being shown is Seattle, Miami, New York or Lexington, KY. We do it for all in this series.

As for urban infill obstacles, the author states that Seattle has none. Our topography would argue to differ; our natural and manmade obstacles are what make our city so unique and livable.

What you've explained isn't an obstacle.  It's a positive when it comes to urban infill. 

To say that there is no downtown nightlife district in Seattle is also disingenuous; nightlife in Seattle occurs not downtown, but in close-in and dense residential neighborhoods such as Belltown, Pioneer Square and Capitol Hill. These neighborhoods are no more than a 15-minute walk from the Central Business District. Most neighborhoods in Seattle can be enjoyed without a car; I doubt that is possible in Jacksonville.

This was not mentioned in the data because I didn't have this information. Btw, N/A stands for Not Applicable.

Listing the Fortune 500 companies of the two cities is equally misleading. The author only counts in-city companies, but as I mentioned earlier, Seattle is a much more geographically compact city. By excluding suburban Seattle companies, the author has neglected to mention Costco (24), Microsoft (37), Paccar (159), and Weyerhaeuser (374), among others. If Seattle were a sprawling, amorphous blob like Jacksonville, these companies would easily fall within city borders.

Actually, all of Jax's F500 companies are located within a three mile radius of DT.  They pretty much fall within the limits of the original 30 square mile city.  Since this is intended to be a look at different regions on a hyper-local site catering to Jacksonville readers, given the context that we know locally, it makes sense.

[BridgeTroll]

I had to laugh at this article listing the shortcomings of the biggest city in the most progressive region of the United States. The whole time, I was thinking, where exactly is Jacksonville again? Mississippi? Kentucky? No, Missouri, right? Turns out, it's somewhere in Florida!

Let me get some facts straightened out for your readers:

San Francisco is not a rival to Seattle. The last time San Francisco was a rival to Seattle was perhaps sometime around the California Gold Rush. Seattle aims to compete on the global market and works in partnership with our ecologically-minded neighbors in Portland and Vancouver. San Francisco is in a different economic region altogether and is not seen as a competitor to businesses here.

Comparing the statistics of Jacksonville to Seattle, as was done in the introduction of this article, is ridiculous. For example, what is the point of comparing the population of an 83.9 square mile city to that of a 747 square mile "city"? In Seattle, we call a city like Jacksonville "sprawl". As for urban infill obstacles, the author states that Seattle has none. Our topography would argue to differ; our natural and manmade obstacles are what make our city so unique and livable.

To say that there is no downtown nightlife district in Seattle is also disingenuous; nightlife in Seattle occurs not downtown, but in close-in and dense residential neighborhoods such as Belltown, Pioneer Square and Capitol Hill. These neighborhoods are no more than a 15-minute walk from the Central Business District. Most neighborhoods in Seattle can be enjoyed without a car; I doubt that is possible in Jacksonville.

Listing the Fortune 500 companies of the two cities is equally misleading. The author only counts in-city companies, but as I mentioned earlier, Seattle is a much more geographically compact city. By excluding suburban Seattle companies, the author has neglected to mention Costco (24), Microsoft (37), Paccar (159), and Weyerhaeuser (374), among others. If Seattle were a sprawling, amorphous blob like Jacksonville, these companies would easily fall within city borders.

Seattle is a dense, vibrant, compassionate, inclusive, and innovative city. Jacksonville, on the other hand, where the hell is that?

Welcome to the site unobody!  Wow... you seem to object to comparisons of your city to both San Francisco and Jacksonville?  Is there a city you do not object to being compared to?  You also seem to miss the entire intent of the article... please read it again... s l o w l y.

[mtraininjax]

That may be a while since that's not Beaver Street's plans for the market site.

Because plans never change. 

The draw of people downtown, tied to restaurants, allowing the 2000 residents downtown to walk to a farmer's market for dinner,  build your light rail, I know its shocking to think about it in Jacksonville. Farmer's Market wants to stay there, so be it, not easy for downtown residents to get there without a car.

Want to change downtown? Change the thinking.

[I-10east]

Uh, that Uno-out guy was so annoying, talk about tootin your own horn. I never woke up and said, hmmm what place I wanna go visit, oh yeah!! If any 'new to me' city on the West coast, it would be San Fran, or maybe San Diego. Enjoy that crappy weather and Mexican Cartel overrule up there in 'Junkie Town' (as 'Drugs Inc' on NatGeo called it) buddy.

[thelakelander]

That may be a while since that's not Beaver Street's plans for the market site.

Because plans never change. 

The draw of people downtown, tied to restaurants, allowing the 2000 residents downtown to walk to a farmer's market for dinner,  build your light rail, I know its shocking to think about it in Jacksonville. Farmer's Market wants to stay there, so be it, not easy for downtown residents to get there without a car.

Want to change downtown? Change the thinking.

What I've bolded is what needs to happen.  The thinking needs to change. The urban core is bigger than the imaginary bubble around the CBD that many market it as.  In addition, the population the market serves is significantly larger than the couple of people living downtown.  It and many of the businesses on Beaver Street are also economic anchors for the urban neighborhoods surrounding them.  Perhaps, it's time for us to acknowledge that these places exist and promote them for the assets they are?  We have a bonefide industrial, wholesale and market district in Beaver Street that complements nearby residential districts.  Instead of ignoring it,  maybe we should breathe more life into it and acknowledge that it actually exists.  I've never been to Seattle but from looking at the pics in this thread, others, and Google Earth over the years, it does appear it has a variety of attractive, vibrant and unique urban settings.  We have a few and can have more.

As you know, we've been long time advocates of having efficient, attractive, high frequenc and reliable alternative forms of mobility that directly connect the CBD (North/Southbanks) with adjacent walkable neighborhoods and destinations.  This is a much easier and cheaper option than attempting to relocate other long time neighborhood assets to the CBD to boost it up.

[KenFSU]

Relevant:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/24/5023454/amazon-giant-biodome-design-board-approval