Jacksonville's Ten Major Missed Opportunities

[pierre]

I still have my doubts that those 30k jobs would have ever made their way to Cecil Field. Even if the citizens of Jacksonville had not overwhelmingly voted against the proposal. Virginia had John Warner in their corner. He was head of the Senate Armed Services Committee at the time. And former Secretary of the Navy.

If I remember correctly. The person pushing the hardest to get the jet base back to Cecil Field was a business man from Ponte Vedra, who was not even able to vote on the measure.

[thelakelander]

^I believe that was after COJ backed out. Initially, Mayor Peyton and Governor Bush publicly advocated for the Navy's return.  That ceased when the Better Westside group started gaining traction, creating a true community debate on if Jax really wanted to return Cecil or not.

[Tacachale]

The Navy's prospective return to Cecil was one of those things that sounds good on the surface, but which further inspection reveals to be a bum deal, like voting for certain Mayors who will remain nameless. We'd have kissed hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars goodbye for something that had already abandoned us once, that the Virginia pork connoisseurs would not easily part with, that may well have abandoned us again when the wind changed.

On Disney, unless I misread, the article originally said "Northeast Florida", ie, our part of Florida. However, all versions I've seen or heard (outside of Metro Jacksonville) indicate the land Disney was inquiring about was in the Panhandle, where St. Joe had most of their land. There's some indication that Disney did look at Wakullah Springs, which was owned by St. Joe and was a personal favorite of Ed Ball's, in 1959. This seems to be the origin of the "carnival people" story, whether it's true or not. Land in the Panhandle wouldn't have done much for Jax (not any more than the Central Florida site has done). I've read and heard quite a number of versions, but this site is the only place I've ever heard associating it with land in "Northeast Florida".

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Baldwin is just so damn far, to have to load your bike up just to go biking takes the fun out of it.

Not sure where you're coming from, but from Riverside area it's only about 8 miles.  What's another 16 miles if you're planning on 50?  Just don't ride the entire thing. 

I have this 'discussion' about 3-4 times a month when I'm asked where I went, lol. 

"Why didn't you tell me that's where you were going, we could have loaded up both bikes."  [facepalm]

[JaxJersey-licious]

Nevertheless, don't worry. We'll have a feel good Jax version for you as well! Perhaps, 10 Opportunities That Worked In Our Favor?

Excellent. I was also going to suggest a future article on opportunities that Jax has taken advantage of and how those have helped create a more active and vibrant downtown.

Amen! Would love to see that list. To be honest many of the missed opportunities of Jax mirrors that of countless cities that valued their suburbs over their urban core, and many of those mistakes now provide the teaching lessons we use to promote sounds urban development. But it's those big time "gets" of cities that gets everyone talking.

A good example would be the importance and impact of Jacksonville landing the southern headquarters of Prudential Insurance over Savannah and Charleston back in the 50's.

[Redbaron616]

All this means is that you have 20-20 hindsight. Who doesn't? Stop trying to make Jacksonville something it isn't. If all those things did come to pass, you would whining about the lack of affordable housing, etc. Be happy and stop trying to compare Jacksonville with every city in America. If you don't like Jax, there are plenty of moving vans available. Cheer up. The glass is half full, not half empty!

[WarDamJagFan]

I think the courthouse disaster should be in a category all to its own. It's not necessarily a missed opportunity, but the epitome of government's efficiency in wasting other people's money.

[Know Growth]

Chalk one up to Quail Hunting,a penchant for Natural Lands. Screw You Bambi!!! Yea!!!

Regards Disney, one focus included a sizeable 'single owner' tract southwesterly of Orange Park. Sanlebrydo Lumber Company.Gordon Sandridge ("San") ,Clay Booster. Et Al

Now the site of the 20,000 acre + site of Jennings State Forest.
Thanks in part ( or horrors for the Growth Gang...) to then expanding  Cecil Field Military Operations, related aircraft pattern 'restrictive foot print'.....and a quail hunter descendent of Governor Jennings.......and also,Sandy Sandridge.

Jennings State Forest was a key element of Public Conservation Land Acquisition of the 90's era,and continues to accommodate "Mitigation" procedures that allow regional growth. Hey,how bad can that be....? better than Tourist Dollar some would say!!
The development of the Jennings State Forest would have syphoned off even more "Jacksonville" development draw. 

(Gosh...future envisioned nearby " Outer Outer Beltway" could have been a real driver,even if decades "too late".)

(I got my picture on the front cover of Folio over this.... )

[deathstar]

?  seriously missing the point.

The past exists, and we can learn from it.

And if you don't like the fact that there is a lot of analysis going on here, then there are plenty of news sites with intelligent, informed local conversation available. (or.....something like that)

I never understand this idea that metrojacksonville is actually a marketing arm for failed city policies of the past.

We aren't, we look at what is possible and we look at the record of things that have actually happened.

The number of successful & failed ideas from the past, that came to fruition, of which I have learned all about here on MJ, have opened my eyes up to where Jacksonville has been, where it's at, and where it's going. I enjoy reading about other cities I may never visit in my lifetime, how similar they are or how different we are from them. See what's working there and see how it could apply to a vision for our very own Jacksonville. I mean, where else could I have learned about the Terminal Train Station & the down and dirty exploring Ock did to snap photos of what exists now, only to find what it looked like before in a photography collection on Flickr doing a random search for something else? That's just 1 example of hundreds

[mtraininjax]

We aren't, we look at what is possible and we look at the record of things that have actually happened.

I love the saying, IF....."Ifs and Buts were Candy and Nuts, everyday would be Christmas". It ranks right up there with the idea of "Hope being a strategy".

Let's move on and deal with the issues of where we are today. We can pontificate on New Years Eve as we set goals for 2015 and discuss what we did or did not do in 2014.

[Adam12]

I think whiffing on Florida Coastal School of Law may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. That place has some serious problems:
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/08/the-law-school-scam/375069/

[johncb]

I think it was actually Busch Gardens that wanted to move here. They wanted to buy the zoo and expand. That was the 70s,I think.

[Noone]

I think whiffing on Florida Coastal School of Law may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. That place has some serious problems:
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/08/the-law-school-scam/375069/

WOW! Helps to understand the FSCJ midnight email by the Pres. asking for an EXTRA, EXTRA, $500,000 and then voted on by a Board that same day.

[brcool]

Doesn't really matter what the specifics of the past are.  Look at the specifics of TODAY!  We continue to miss opportunities for positive growth as we are handcuffed by infighting, politics,  racial divide, crime, the need to build monuments to our organizations or leaders of the day - including the Chamber, the Courthouse and the library - and so many other shortsighted behaviors.  Downtown Development for recreation and enterprise is moving in the wrong direction (except for big boards and swimming pools in our under-performing sports stadium or tax breaks and subsidies for already failed enterprises and venues such as The Landing) and sprawl in all directions has fragmented both vision and dollars to total ineffectiveness.   While the Better Jacksonville Plan had some large strings attached and many balked at the expense and funding means for the plan, at least it was A PLAN!  When Jacksonville defines what it wants to be when it grows up, what it CAN be with leadership and vision, it will be a start.  I suspect we will be long gone by then.  I WILL say, however, that we have a pretty good streets, roads and bridges plan and execution for major thoroughfares, with logical pathways about town.  But now we are cutting bus service by frequency and routes, which is further regression as it forces more individual vehicles onto the roadways.  Two steps forward, five steps back.  We need some leadership and vision in public office, by people who don't demand a paycheck or a contract in return for their service...  The Bold New City of the South just isn't...

[AaroniusLives]

Lets look back and wallow in our sorrows, instead of looking forward to make Jax a better place. I personally think that the first two wouldn't have ever happened (Jacksonville replacing Hollywood, and Disney World being here). The 70's 80's downtown follies (tearing down buildings etc) is not unique to Jax.

I agree that, at best, Disney World in JAX was a brief passing thought over at the House of Mouse. I believe the closest runner-ups were either Metro Atlanta (rejected for Southern race issues and land costs,) and Palm Beach County (favored for beach access; rejected for land costs.)

As for the motion picture industry locating in JAX, that's 100% true and 100% a missed opportunity of the city and region. 100% supported by verifiable historical fact. At the beginning of the industry, JAX would have been massively preferable to LA, as it was closer to NYC via the railroad (and private cars, for that matter,) and didn't require massive feats of water/river diversion to actually create paradise: it was already here. Hands down, bar none, the rejection of the movie industry entirely changed the fate of the city and the region.

To be honest many of the missed opportunities of Jax mirrors that of countless cities that valued their suburbs over their urban core, and many of those mistakes now provide the teaching lessons we use to promote sounds urban development.

That misses the point a bit. Yes, collectively, American cities abandoned their cores and suburbanized and exurbanized. Jacksonville, however, has missed the urban core gentrification trend, almost in its entirety, as reported by numerous sources noting that continued loss of population, vitality and value. I'm not one to posit as to why, but it's important to note that the other three major MSA regions of Florida have revitalized their urban cores, and that in South Florida's case at least, that "Eastward Ho" revitalization is driving the energy of the region, the recovery from the recession and the resurgence in growth. The reawakened cores nationwide are in cities and metro regions, whether or not they are "car cities," that are moving forward. Heck, even HOUSTON woke up their downtown. HOUSTON.

If you don't like Jax, there are plenty of moving vans available.

I believe that what the owners of the site don't like is stagnation and regression of the Jacksonville region and the urban core, yes?

...and be careful what you wish for. The Florida University Brain Drain to other states is a key, long-term issue for the vitality of the state.