Christopher Wickersham Interview: Historic Demolitions

[mbstout]

For the record:
I grew up in Jax, graduated from UF in 2001, and quickly moved to the East Williamsburg/Bushwick section of Brooklyn and have been there ever since.  I've seen the neighborhood change and blossom into a desirable area from mostly abandoned structures, crime, etc. As much as I'd like to return to Jax (Springfield) I'm just not sure it would offer the culture, policies, diversity etc I've become accustomed to.  But I see tremendous possibility in Springfield becoming the next San Marco/Riverside (hopefully before it's too late!)

[sheclown]

Oh. I think it's way better than San Marco '

[Scrub Palmetto]

 Excellent video. I'm very grateful that more and more attention is being brought to this catastrophe. I only learned about it myself through this forum and was outraged.

As asked kindly by Stephen, I'll voice my view, so to speak. There's no bringing back the Springfield that we should by all means have today, but I hope I'm not alone in feeling a greater draw to Springfield than ever because of this. I hope to God that if there are others who react in this way, whoever it is who's trying to keep that area blighted finds their screw-ups come to bite them in the you-know-where. There WILL be an equal and opposite reaction to these folks' stupid, stupid decisions, and I would be glad to be a part of that. Similar to mbstout above, I left Jax as soon as I could, but after several years away, I'm finding my hometown can pull on me like no other, moreso when I recognize just how much work there is to be done there and how much parts of it need as much TLC as they can get. If everything was going great in Jax, I'd feel more open to other options.

Springfield, as it is, clearly offers different challenges than places like Riverside ever did because of this loss of its historic fabric, but many places throughout the country offer an increasing number of creative approaches to addressing similarly destructed landscapes that resulted from the even greater monster of massive population and job loss. Springfield has an advantage in being in a growing metro area and city, where it doesn't need to look beyond the borders for the pool of people and cash that it needs to implement these ideas, once this pathetic little monster of corruption is buried. This issue is very disheartening, but keep room for hope, because it will be needed to make this problem's eradication a pivotal moment, a time to unleash the hammering, mowing, moving trucks, and grand openings like a fury.

On that note, hurray, I'm no longer of "Newbie" status! 

[mbstout]

And just to drive home my point from yesterday:
http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2013/11/14/jacksonville-job-growth-hurt-by-citys.html?page=all

Paying $100,000 for consulting fees, studies, or branding websites don't make a city 'cool' or attractive.  Young people see right thru that.  Cities that place value in authentic, unique, historic (walkable) areas without suburban blandness (national chains) is a good place to start.  That's where the identidies develop.
Lavilla today is a joke of suburban scale development and empty lots.  Ed Austin's River City "Renaissance" (wholesale removal & destruction of historic housing stock) did more harm than good.  Brooklyn (NY), Portland, Austin, & currently even New Orleans did not experience "renaissances" by razing thier neighborhoods.  They experienced them because they placed value in their history, which gave people a place believe in, start out, invest in, start a business then a family etc.. Leading to their collective identities to form over time.  Springfield is hanging on by a thread not to end up like Lavilla.
In a nutshell:  CBGB's did not happen thru a CDBG.

[IrvAdams]

It's so good to see a group of people who care for their city and the historic fabric that holds it together. If I had money and resources, and didn't have to struggle for a living as most people do, I would dedicate all my energies to help with this recovery and restoration.

As it is, all I can lend is my support, ideas and some time and attention, and I will continue to do that. This forum is an excellent place to share ideas and I am so happy that I found it.

I grew up here, and spent a lot of time in Springfield and Riverside in the 70s. They were both hippie hangouts at the time. It brings me to tears to see unnecessary destruction of beautiful old homes. I know it's a lot of work to properly restore an old building. In fact, a friend of our family worked on a Springfield house restoration that took a couple of years, but it is a beautiful sight today. I commend her foresight and hard work.

[tufsu1]

And just to drive home my point from yesterday:
http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2013/11/14/jacksonville-job-growth-hurt-by-citys.html?page=all

Cities that place value in authentic, unique, historic (walkable) areas without suburban blandness (national chains) is a good place to start.  That's where the identidies develop.

Atlanta seems to have done ok while constantly tearing down anything more the 30 years ols

[thelakelander]

Atlanta still has significant intact century old districts left. For example, Downtown Atlanta's Fairlie-Poplar district dates back to the 19th century.  It's very similar in scale to what the area of downtown between Bay, Broad, Church and Hogan used to be.

Atlanta's South Downtown has been hit pretty hard but large chucks of it still exist. Plus areas like Cabbagetown, Old Fourth Ward, Castleberry Hill and Virginia-Highland seem to be well desirable places today because of their uniqueness.   Even districts like Sweet Auburn and the West End (which we'd consider blight....think what's left of Eastside's Philip Randolph Boulevard) still stand largely intact. 

I think the largest difference between a city like Atlanta or Charlotte (they really ripped down a lot) and Jax is that they've largely moved away from haphazardly ripping down older building stock and we haven't.  In the meantime, they'd enjoyed a lot of infill in the last 20 years and we haven't. Thus, where we stand today is where these places were in the 1980s, so we're a few decades behind.

Our challenge will be to stop demolishing and making it more feasible for market rate adaptive reuse and infill.  Once we get the ball rolling, things will begin to fall in line, just as they have done in cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Miami, etc.

[sheclown]

Here's the thing:

The days of willie-nillie spending without checks and balances is over  O V E R over.

NSP and CDBG money is predominantly urban core money.  The impact of well-executed funds on our sad and neglected urban neighborhoods could be huge. 

No more. 

Its time to clean our house, Jacksonville.

[GoldenEst82]

Paying $100,000 for consulting fees, studies, or branding websites don't make a city 'cool' or attractive.  Young people see right thru that. 

Oh Yeah, like glass..

I was actually mortified at the expense that the Jax2025 meetings had taken on with the all the merch, and the seriously-expensive-to-print report, with equally glossy, full color "updates".
I know those things were meant to"reward and appreciate" the people who showed up. However, I think the real "thank you" for people who show up, is to see that the resources available to these organizations (money and time) are being used in a responsible way. Coffee for morning meetings? I feel appreciated. Big expensive glamorous report?  Not so much.

And for the love of Jeebus, we do not need any more "consulting" or "studies". It reeks of pocket lining.
What was Jax2025 but the best "free" city study ever? Is not DIA open commentary "consulting"?