10 Grass Fields To Get You Pumped For The Landing Demo

[Kerry]

If the bus driver thinks Dunn Ave is dangerous it is in fact dangerous.

I'm not going to touch most of this post, but will touch this line, as it's incorrect. If the bus driver thinks Dunn Avenue is dangerous, it is not necessarily in fact dangerous. If the bus driver thinks Dunn Avenue is dangerous, the only thing that means is that the bus driver thinks it is, and Dunn Avenue MAY have a perception from others of being dangerous.

My point is if there is a legit crime issue, then the remedies for that are MUCH different than if an area has a perception of being dangerous.

If you have some time for Philosophy and want to play along answer me this, how do you know I exists?

[Steve]

If the bus driver thinks Dunn Ave is dangerous it is in fact dangerous.

I'm not going to touch most of this post, but will touch this line, as it's incorrect. If the bus driver thinks Dunn Avenue is dangerous, it is not necessarily in fact dangerous. If the bus driver thinks Dunn Avenue is dangerous, the only thing that means is that the bus driver thinks it is, and Dunn Avenue MAY have a perception from others of being dangerous.

My point is if there is a legit crime issue, then the remedies for that are MUCH different than if an area has a perception of being dangerous.

If you have some time for Philosophy and want to play along answer me this, how do you know I exists?

It's not philosophy at all. Does the random bus driver have a criminology degree or is this person up to date on crime statistics. I'm going to guess no.

The entire point of my post is while perception is important, solving a perception issue about crime is different than cleaning up actual crime.

[Kerry]

I get that - and perception IS reality.  You aren't going to solve the perception issue by calling people who feel that way closet racists.  Many times a place has to feel more safe than it actually is, not the other way around.  People who are afriad to fly are far more likely to die on the way to the airport but they perceive the exact opposite.

Disney is the ultimate example.  It is perceived to be a safe place, when in fact lots of people are killed, injured, sexually assaulted, and robbed there all the time.  How does Disney do it?  They control the media access and don't keep records.  I was involved in an accident on Disney property and the Disney security didn't even want to take down my name.  I was also injured at the Magic Kingdom and again - no paperwork or any info required.

[thelakelander]

I get that - and perception IS reality.  You aren't going to solve the perception issue by calling people who feel that way closet racists.  Many times a place has to feel more safe than it actually is, not the other way around.  People who are afriad to fly are far more likely to die on the way to the airport but they perceive the exact opposite.

We do have racial issues in this town that we do need to be open and honest about. There is obviously different worlds of Jacksonville and that's definitely a problem when it comes to how downtown and urban core revitalization has been approached. However, being open and honest offers the opportunity for an inclusive future. Putting cultural, social and historical reality aside, I'm not of the camp that would advocate one spend much energy trying to change biases and perceptions based on pure ignorance. You don't want to fly. Fine. Drive. You don't want to be in the city because you're afraid of being around too many brown people. Fine. Go where the brown people aren't at. We have enough real life issues and challenges to deal with that trying to pull someone's head out of the sand, when they're fine being there. No need to raze and rebuild Dunn Avenue because some bus driver is afraid of a commercial corridor serving a middle class black area of town.

Disney is the ultimate example.  It is perceived to be a safe place, when in fact lots of people are killed, injured, sexually assaulted, and robbed there all the time.  How does Disney do it?  They control the media access and don't keep records.  I was involved in an accident on Disney property and the Disney security didn't even want to take down my name.  I was also injured at the Magic Kingdom and again - no paperwork or any info required.

Disney is a theme park. It isn't remotely applicable to a real life urban city that is home to the largest concentration of Gullah Geechee descendants in the country.

[Steve]

Disney is the ultimate example.  It is perceived to be a safe place, when in fact lots of people are killed, injured, sexually assaulted, and robbed there all the time.  How does Disney do it?  They control the media access and don't keep records.  I was involved in an accident on Disney property and the Disney security didn't even want to take down my name.  I was also injured at the Magic Kingdom and again - no paperwork or any info required.

People also can't just stroll into Disney.

[OldOrangeHause]

 

We do have racial issues in this town that we do need to be open and honest about. There is obviously different worlds of Jacksonville and that's definitely a problem when it comes to how downtown and urban core revitalization has been approached. However, being open and honest offers the opportunity for an inclusive future. Putting cultural, social and historical reality aside, I'm not of the camp that would advocate one spend much energy trying to change biases and perceptions based on pure ignorance. You don't want to fly. Fine. Drive. You don't want to be in the city because you're afraid of being around too many brown people. Fine. Go where the brown people aren't at. We have enough real life issues and challenges to deal with that trying to pull someone's head out of the sand, when they're fine being there. No need to raze and rebuild Dunn Avenue because some bus driver is afraid of a commercial corridor serving a middle class black area of town.

Even if we as a society denounced the whole cultural hierarchy concept, and casted out all the madness associated with the idea, people would still exhibit prejudices and have biased views against others. There's no way around it. If it were, the solution would've already been implemented. But, people are getting too much of a delight out it to quit. You can make more money out of civil unrest and despair than you can with peace.

[thelakelander]

I'm talking about accepting what the city has been, still is and will continue to be......accepting everything about its multicultural heritage and promoting it. Not social revolution, which is way beyond a local issue. Even with biased views of some, it's hard to say southern cities like New Orleans, Savannah and Charleston have not successfully marketed various aspects of their historical music, food and cultural scenes. Millions flock to them today because of it. Jax has just as much unique multicultural history and heritage. We're sitting on an inclusive economic gold mine but we'd rather talk town centers, Lot Js, ferris wheels, aquariums and ridiculous marketing slogans.

[Kerry]

You are putting the cart before the horse.  You don't create walkable urbanism by first creating racial harmony.  You create racial harmony by first creating walkable urbanism.

As for Disney - 99% of Disney is free to access.  It isn't just 4 theme parks.

[thelakelander]

I'm not talking about creating racial harmony. That's more unlikely than that contextless walkable urbanism you speak of. For example, Durkeeville has been walkable and urban for nearly 100 years but it's probably 90% black which shares the bejesus out of some who aren't comfortable being in a social context where they are the minority for a change. Welcome to the south!

What I'm talking about specifically is living up to your own local identity, promoting, preserving, building upon your culture and owning it. This means striving to be inclusive and not catering to those with foolish perceptions and fears regarding the increasingly larger percentage of people that make up what we call Jacksonville.

As for Disney, I grew up 20 minutes from it. One of my active projects in Central Florida directly involves them and the movement of their employees. I can tell you a lot more than you need to know about how it works. It isn't applicable to compare a self contained theme park or anything in the Reedy Creek Improvement District with the interworkings of a nearly 200 year old municipality.

[KenFSU]

We're sitting on an inclusive economic gold mine but we'd rather talk town centers, Lot Js, ferris wheels, aquariums and ridiculous marketing slogans.

[KenFSU]

What I'm talking about specifically is living up to your own local identity, promoting, preserving, building upon your culture and owning it. This means striving to be inclusive and not catering to those with foolish perceptions and fears regarding the increasingly larger percentage of people that make up what we call Jacksonville.

This right here.

You might even be able to educate some of those fools along the way.

[Kerry]

If this is just going to be "white people are afraid of black people" I'm bowing out.  Talk about your preconceived prejudices.

[thelakelander]

Bow out, you're totally missing the point or refusing to acknowledge it.

[Kerry]

Then I must be missing your point, but trust me, I'm not missing it on purpose.

You can't seriously be thinking there are real people in St Louis saying, " Come on kids.  Let's go to Jacksonville and go to the Gullah Geechee Cultural Center".

[thelakelander]

Yes, there are real people who say let's go to NYC to visit Harlem. Let's go to St. Louis to visit the historic Busch brewery. Let's go to New Orleans and fill up on cajun, creole food and take in some jazz. There are people who grab a cheesesteak when visiting Philly, get a deep dish pizza in Chicago, lump crabcake in Baltimore. Others go to Miami because of the architecture and latin cosmopolitan atmosphere. Tampa has made a killing off of perserving and marketing its cigar making history and visitors do come specifically for it. I'm one of them and I've spent a good sum of money doing so over the years to experience local culture and sense of place that each locale offers. My advice to you would be instead of taking your visiting friends to town center or Applebees the next time in town, try a camel rider or opt for a plate of ribs from Jenkins. Take a ride down Heckscher and expose them to some authentic slices of Jax that can't be replicated in other places like OKC or Charlotte.