The Last Days of LaVilla

[Metro Jacksonville]

The Last Days of LaVilla



Sometimes the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence. 21st century LaVilla is known as a section of downtown that's characterized by blighted surface parking lots and failed dreams of urban renewal. Before it's wholesale demolition in the early 1990s, it was one of the densest neighborhoods in the city. Today, Metro Jacksonville presents a collection of images illustrating the last days of LaVilla.
 

Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2015-mar-the-last-days-of-lavilla

[jaxlore]

wow. greats shot. so much is gone.

[thelakelander]

^All in the name of revitalization of course!

[coredumped]

So many cool signs like these 3, "broadway, davis and Nemson(?):

and the firestone one.

[BrooklynSouth]

I love these "old" photos you've been posting lately from the recent past. I usually see photos from before WW2 and the people and cars look so different that it is hard to mentally place myself in the pictures. But these recent photos from the 1980s and 1990s are from my lifetime and I can imagine myself there. It's hard for me to imagine knocking down a whole neighborhood.

How does zoning work in Jacksonville? If I wanted to build a small shop or single-family home in LaVilla today, would I be allowed to do it?

[thelakelander]

I love these "old" photos you've been posting lately from the recent past. I usually see photos from before WW2 and the people and cars look so different that it is hard to mentally place myself in the pictures. But these recent photos from the 1980s and 1990s are from my lifetime and I can imagine myself there. It's hard for me to imagine knocking down a whole neighborhood.

I have a ton of them. I'm working on a book about Jacksonville from 1950 to 2015. The final script is due to Arcadia Publishing in April, so I've been searching photo scrapbooks from an era of Jacksonville history that most tend to overlook. The 1970s (in color) are proving to be the most difficult to stumble upon. Sometimes you hit the Jackpot. Other days, you don't.  I found several 1980s Northbank shots in the same scrapbook as the LaVilla images. I'll save those for another day.

[coredumped]

If anyone is interested, this guy/gal has a site called vintage jacksonville:
http://vintagejacksonville.net/
Not sure who runs the site, but there's some cool pictures, more of people and life back then rather than buildings.

[thelakelander]

Yes, Vintage Jacksonville has a pretty cool collection of old Jax images. Bob Self runs the website. Bob is a photographer with the Florida Times Union.

[Wacca Pilatka]

I have a ton of them. I'm working on a book about Jacksonville from 1950 to 2015. The final script is due to Arcadia Publishing in April, so I've been searching photo scrapbooks from an era of Jacksonville history that most tend to overlook. The 1970s (in color) are proving to be the most difficult to stumble upon. Sometimes you hit the Jackpot. Other days, you don't.  I found several 1980s Northbank shots in the same scrapbook as the LaVilla images. I'll save those for another day.

This news makes my day.  Thank you for all your dedication.

[JayePorter]

The saddest thing is none of this appears to be seriously run-down or unusable. I wasn't here in the late 80's early 90's, and I understand that the area had been in some serious decline, but Man! I hate all the empty spaces that ended up there instead.  The development that's happening in the area now is great, but all the newness lacks a little soul. It's very corporate, new-Florida looking, IMHO.
Better than nothing though, for sure.

[UNFurbanist]

Wow this is insane! I had no idea just how much they destroyed. I could imagine that today this district would have been full of renovation because old warehouse and multi-use space are so hot. Who knows, maybe Intuition or Bold City would have decided to set up shop in LaVilla instead of Riverside. It's a shame.

[thelakelander]

^I also scanned a few random shots of Springfield's Main Street area from the 1980s. Your old building at 8th & Hubbard is included in one of them.

[thelakelander]

Not that different from LaVilla's Broad Street....if it were still around. Probably a mix of old and new similar to Upper King Street in Charleston, SC  or St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans.


Upper King in Charleston, SC

[Elwood]

This just reinforces the need to save what little building stock remains in our urban core.

[BoldCityRealist]

Ugh. This just makes me lose all hope. We get a Fresh Market with a surface lot instead.