Urban Parks: Main Street Pocket Park

[Lunican]

I like how the fence and sign have already fallen down. Nice touch.

[thelakelander]

Lol I wouldn't expect anything less!

[Bill Hoff]

Memo to COJ: you don't have to have a dog to sit in a dog park. All the homeless can simply continue to stay there.

[Kerry]

Memo to COJ: you don't have to have a dog to sit in a dog park. All the homeless can simply continue to stay there.

My experience has been that many homeless types are afraid of dogs.  Maybe that is what they are banking on.  Only problem is, homeless outnumber downtown dogs about 50 to 1 so there is a good chance dogs will never get to use the dog park.

[thelakelander]

Some homeless people have dogs as pets. However, for you dog owners out there, is it ideal to place a dog park next to a highway?

[Keith-N-Jax]

I don't think that's a highway but no, not ideal if you want Fido to survive

[thelakelander]

Main Street is designated as US 1 and is one of the busier thoroughfares through DT. Cars usually speed through there to get through all the green lights. From that perspective, I've never seen a dog park right up on a street like that and was wondering if something like that would be an issue for dog owners?

[Keith-N-Jax]

Could care less about the designation, it's just a busy street IMO with traffic lights. Unfit for a dog park or any park for that matter.

[thelakelander]

it's just a busy street IMO with traffic lights. Unfit for a dog park or any park for that matter.

This was my worry: busy street with fast moving traffic = unfit for a dog park

[Josh]

Still no work on the Dog Park front, however the park does have some nice new tech!


JSO-branded security cameras of some kind have gone up recently. There is another pole-mounted setup a block north; both aimed at the park. I guess JSO didn't like that a few weeks ago there were people sitting inside the park.....

My favorite unintended consequence of this is that instead of the homeless being in the park itself, they now are spilled out all over the sidewalk and on the benches. That's done wonders to improve street-level activation we so desperately need.

Does anyone know anything about these cameras? There's another camera setup at Bay/Randolph hanging right across from the Intuition balcony. That one is larger than the ones on Main Street and appears to have additional sensors/microphones attached, but it's also JSO-branded and doesn't appear to be a Shotspotter, which I was led to believe were intended to be discrete.

[Peter Griffin]

Those cameras have been installed in a lot of places. Some parking lots (Walmart on Normandy) have trailer-mounted cams with flashing red and blue lights to let yo know you're being watched; there's a long string of them installed on Gator Bowl Blvd. near the stadium, and a bunch up on lightpoles along 103rd St.

In short, those are common around the city in areas where JSO wants direct surveillance. 

[fieldafm]

The cameras and ShotSpotter stations (which are present in neighborhoods other than just Downtown) are a separate issue from the Main Street Pocket Park. Those are part of the JSO and the Mayor's office plan to curb the spike in homicides in Jacksonville through the use of technology. Whether that's just a way to throw money at a problem, deserves a discussion all its own.

In regards to the Main Street Pocket Park, due to pushback from the community (ahem: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/is-a-dog-park-for-downtown-the-right-move/), it is my understanding that the Parks Department is working with the Cultural Council about re-introducing public art into a re-worked plan for the space... and that the dog park might be off the table all together.

In the meantime, three other pocket parks Downtown have received refreshed landscaping, pavers and furniture since the time the above- referenced article was published.

[Ken_FSU]

^The little park with exercise equipment on the Riverwalk (https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/riverwalk-exercise-park-now-open-downtown/) has been packed every time I've walked by it lately.

Was down there today and there must have been 40 people working out during lunch.

Cool little spot.

[fieldafm]

^The little park with exercise equipment on the Riverwalk (https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/riverwalk-exercise-park-now-open-downtown/) has been packed every time I've walked by it lately.

Was down there today and there must have been 40 people working out during lunch.

Cool little spot.

Giving people a functional place to congregate in, and it becomes popular?  What a novel concept

I use it twice a week, and have to give credit where credit is due. Boyer got Parks to repair and reopen the restroom facilities and install the initial exercise equipment... and DVI supplemented the amenity by adding more exercise equipment and staffing it with an Ambassador. The Y also offers a lunch-time class at Corkscrew Park several days a week. The constant staffing is a bit overkill, and could be much more cost effective by using an Ambassador to do an hourly sweep of the area.

But, no doubt, it has been a great addition to the Riverwalk. Need a dozen more destinations just like it.

*Since you posted it, the ADA-compliant kayak launch referenced in that article is now under construction next to the School Board building.
Another floating dock for recreational boating access that will be built on the Southbank Riverwalk in front of Riverplace Tower will likely go out to bid later this year.  Site work for a new dock/launching facility at Jackson Street in Brooklyn (next to Y) is currently underway. Finally, a new River Taxi dock at Post Street (between the Cummer and Garden Club) in Riverside will go out to bid in the next few months.

[Peter Griffin]

Finally, a new River Taxi dock at Post Street (between the Cummer and Garden Club) in Riverside will go out to bid in the next few months.

That's exciting, I would imagine that would lead to a fantastic boost in ridership for the river taxi