Living Downtown as a Millennial

[jaxjaguar]

Something I noticed on my trips to Houston, St. Petersburg and Atlanta recently is the severe lack of lighting downtown / non working water fountains. Our downtown is extremely poorly lit on pretty much every street except Laura, Bay and part of Adams. Even the Riverwalk isn't very well lit west of the Landing. I've also noticed that maybe 1 of the 10 or so water fountains along the Riverwalk actually work. I feel like these are things that could easily be improved... Are these not low hanging fruit?

[David]

^ I think that is a large part of it. Most people say downtown doesn't "feel" safe, when it usually is. It's a perception issue. Dim lighting, transients - which aren't a problem if there's enough people around, it's when it's just you and 6 of them, walking down the dimly lit Riverwalk after dark that creates an unsafe feeling.  But the biggest threat they'll present is they'll ask you for change.

[jaxjaguar]

^ I think that is a large part of it. Most people say downtown doesn't "feel" safe, when it usually is. It's a perception issue. Dim lighting, transients - which aren't a problem if there's enough people around, it's when it's just you and 6 of them, walking down the dimly lit Riverwalk after dark that creates an unsafe feeling.  But the biggest threat they'll present is they'll ask you for change.

^this 100%. My girlfriend / other lady friends who aren't from the area constantly tell me how they would never consider walking around downtown without me around or go near the Riverwalk at night by themselves. Better lighting, more working water fixtures and maybe a slight increase in the bike cops and people would start feeling a little more safe. Hearing the stories about people being mugged / part of the knock out game on the Riverwalk and in Memorial Park isn't very comforting to me though... and I'm not normally scared to go out at night alone.

[thelakelander]

Yeah, the basic essentials of urban living are largely absent in DT Jax. Most want large sexy projects. I'd be happy starting off with clean lit parks and streets. The lack of lighting was one of the first things that stood out to me, when I came to town.

[jaxjaguar]

Since I'm unsure how much longer I'll be living in the core, I'm planning on doing a couple of pros and cons photo journals and posting them here. I think one of the topics will be on how bad the lighting is... What do you think Lake? Do you think it could help spark something? Lol

[jaxjaguar]

I'm not sure if you guys have any advice, but there has been a pretty big increase in the amount of homeless people loitering near my building recently. One guy in particular is literally sleeping on the sidewalk next to my car almost every night. I've tried calling the non-emergency line several times, but they've proven to be kind of useless as they don't show up half the time.

Is there any other action I can take that would be more successful? Between this and the recent jump in parking tickets, myself and 2 of my buddies are considering leaving downtown... We've tried staying as long as possible and supporting the local bars and restaurants, but the city isn't doing it's part to keep us here.

[Tacachale]

Unfortunately you'll never be far from transients in a city. The best you can hope for is cracking down on nuisance behavior. My experience with calling the police is that you often have to call multiple times before they'll come (a police officer friend even told me that). In this case, you should also talk to your building manager and say it's becoming a serious issue that's making you consider leaving the building. They may be able to push the police into getting the guy to move.

[jaxjaguar]

Yeah, I mean the one time they did come out the guy was spitting on my car. I asked them to follow up with me, but never received a call or knock. When I went to leave at 8:17 in the morning not only did I have a nice $15 parking ticket, but I also had dried saliva all over my drivers mirror and windshield 

There have been 2 separate instances where gun shots have been fired across the street within the last month. 3 or 4 officers showed up, but they never followed up. There hasn't been any increase in patrol. They just asked some questions and then searched for shells for about 15 minutes and left.

Just venting here, but I understand that there "free times" for the meters, but myself and 90% of the residents purposely park on side streets that no one uses during the day. It's absolutely insane that they even monitor/have these meters. Whoever the new meter reader is has become a HUGE nuisance as he's been targeting the residents who are usually gone from 830-6 for work. For the past 2 weeks he's ticketed every single car on the 2 block stretch right at 8:01, about 3 days a week. He even ticketed me while I was letting my car warm up when we had that cold snap last week....

[simms3]

^^^^Sounds like you gave DT Jax a true old college try and the city failed you.  Get out of dodge, move to Riverside or San Marco for a far superior urban living experience with more to do.

You should write an editorial for the FTU describing in a nutshell your experiences.  It's one thing to complain that a homeless person is sleeping on your building stoop in SF, where you'll get laughed out of town and everyone just deals with it.  But it's a city notorious for its homeless/drug problem and your in it to win it with hundreds of thousands of other people every day.  But Jacksonville should be competing with other "clean" sunbelt cities trying to attract millennials and build up their downtowns.  No city I've ever visited and liked had a ratio of normal:homeless like Jax has.  It sounds cruel, but tuck the homeless away elsewhere and crack down on them (just don't bus them to SF like every other city does, we DON'T need anymore - we spend $200M/yr out of city budget on homeless services, including power washing teams for the sidewalks!!!!!)

When I go to Omaha, Denver, Austin, Charlotte, or even Nashville to a lesser extent (pleasantly rugged city), the downtown is cleaned up and it's obvious that city leaders are trying to keep downtown residents happy and trying to convey a certain message to visitors of their respective cities (clearly a positive message - one of cleanliness, safety, vibrancy, pro-business, growth, etc).  There is definitely an air of competence that I feel in those cities, like people in charge know what they are doing.

Jacksonville city leaders are all super pathetic and not all even know it.  It's such an insular place that I bet any one of you that there are people working for the city that honestly think that downtown is ok and that Jacksonville is doing just great at basically everything.  It's the same attitude I get from people who are Ortega natives who just haven't left and honestly believe that Ortega is one of the real fabulous neighborhoods filled with fabulous people in the country, when it's average at best (and filled with those people).

I think a blistering, no searing article is long overdue.  Please write one, or two, or three, or more, detailing your experiences, what you think is needed, what's currently missing or what shouldn't be there but is, where you think the problem lies.  If your downtown buddies are also equally unsatisfied, have them write too!

[simms3]

^^^You should not have to put up with too much shit if you are living in DT Jax.  The pros need to outweigh the cons.  You aren't living in NYC or SF where it's expected that you will live in a shithole shoebox and miss out on the conveniences of things like cars, elevators, AC, that you will occasionally have to step over dead/dying people on the sidewalk and shrug it off, etc etc.  You are living in a great city so it's all worth it.

But in Jax, downtown living needs to be *cool*/*awesome*, not a chore.  Our city leaders don't seem to get that.

If I ever moved back downtown, I would want a safe place for my car (which would be the first thing I buy before moving back), luxury appliances and space, a view, an abundance of awesome things to do within walking distance, no human blight (I don't care that you wannabe Jacksonville hippies have a problem with that word - stuff it and eat it), etc etc.  I would want visitor parking because I'd want to be in the "cool spot" that everyone wants to come visit.

From what it sounds like, and from others I know who have tried DT Jax, people don't like to come downtown.  Why live DT and trek out to Riverside, San Marco, or the beaches to see people all the time who refuse to come to you because of lack of things to do and potential late night safety hazards (or spit on their car)?  Defeats the whole purpose.

DT Denver is the gold standard model for this, I think.  Perhaps DT Portland or DT San Diego, too.

[Bill Hoff]

I'm not sure if you guys have any advice, but there has been a pretty big increase in the amount of homeless people loitering near my building recently. One guy in particular is literally sleeping on the sidewalk next to my car almost every night. I've tried calling the non-emergency line several times, but they've proven to be kind of useless as they don't show up half the time.

Is there any other action I can take that would be more successful? Between this and the recent jump in parking tickets, myself and 2 of my buddies are considering leaving downtown... We've tried staying as long as possible and supporting the local bars and restaurants, but the city isn't doing it's part to keep us here.

Please contact our City Council and Mayor's office via email to express your concerns about these issues. It's on their radar and the more they hear from people who care about these issues, the apt they are to address them.

[Gunnar]

When I go to Omaha, Denver, Austin, Charlotte, or even Nashville to a lesser extent (pleasantly rugged city), the downtown is cleaned up and it's obvious that city leaders are trying to keep downtown residents happy and trying to convey a certain message to visitors of their respective cities (clearly a positive message - one of cleanliness, safety, vibrancy, pro-business, growth, etc).  There is definitely an air of competence that I feel in those cities, like people in charge know what they are doing.

Jacksonville city leaders are all super pathetic and not all even know it. 

You nailed it there I think - the reason for the current and past DT problems in a nutshell.

[fsquid]

When I go to Omaha, Denver, Austin, Charlotte, or even Nashville to a lesser extent (pleasantly rugged city), the downtown is cleaned up and it's obvious that city leaders are trying to keep downtown residents happy and trying to convey a certain message to visitors of their respective cities (clearly a positive message - one of cleanliness, safety, vibrancy, pro-business, growth, etc).  There is definitely an air of competence that I feel in those cities, like people in charge know what they are doing.

Jacksonville city leaders are all super pathetic and not all even know it. 

You nailed it there I think - the reason for the current and past DT problems in a nutshell.

I agree

[downtownbrown]

In addition to a TU letter to the editor, I would contact the DIA, the Chamber, Tony Allegretti, and everyone on the City Council.  DIA is particularly sensitive to bad pub.

Secure parking? Guest parking? View?  Modern appliances?  You should buy that Riverplace Townhouse (formerly Berkman Townhouse) that has been foreclosed on.  Probably get it for 250k, and it's right on the water.

[simms3]

^^^I wish all my money weren't going to pay rent/partying (lol) and I'd buy it as an investment property, heck, maybe spend a few days a year in FL and claim FL residency!  Sounds like a deal, but what kind of rent can you get for it?  And is it possible to rent it, or is the quota maxed out with the COA?

My only concern would be appreciation.  Send the link about the listing.  $250K sounds high (also on a psf basis) for a Jax townhouse compared to what I could buy in Riverside (I think).  I'd want upside in value, and I'd want to profit from rent.