The View from Shands Jacksonville

[RiversideGator]

Great shots.  Thanks for posting them.   

[italianny07]

The first two and the last one we look like a real metropolis. Too bad we don't have the people downtown to be a metropolis.

[Lunican]

Shands has put together a video to promote Jacksonville and the hospital.

http://www.youtube.com/v/5f4Zo143rhU&hl=en&fs=1&

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f4Zo143rhU

[thelakelander]

Nice find.  It would be great if there were a way to get Shands more involved in building up and integrating with the neighborhoods adjacent to it.  Overall, it seems like an urban core asset that we have not found a way to fully exploit.

[Deuce]

Jacksonville really sounds like a great place to live. Kudos to this promotional video. Now if we can just start getting more people and businesses to move here, preferably from New England & the west coast.

[fsu813]

lakelander,

Proton Therapy Institute, while not technically apart of Shands, does integrate thier patients (most from out of town) into the surronding neighborhoods. Most patients rent in Springfield, Riverside, Avondale, San Marco, & Downtown during thier stay. The staff take patients on restaurant tours twice a week and they post city and neighborhood events in the lobby. They have promoted the 'urban core' heavily.

[Captain Zissou]

The Blue Cross Blue Shield campus looks awful in that video.  Sad.

[Jason]

Excellent movie.  Hits all of the high points that the CVB should be more heavily marketing.

[thelakelander]

lakelander,

Proton Therapy Institute, while not technically apart of Shands, does integrate thier patients (most from out of town) into the surronding neighborhoods. Most patients rent in Springfield, Riverside, Avondale, San Marco, & Downtown during thier stay. The staff take patients on restaurant tours twice a week and they post city and neighborhood events in the lobby. They have promoted the 'urban core' heavily.

Yes, they do and that's a great thing.  However, imagine the impact on the surrounding community if the entire medical complex followed the Proton Therapy's lead?  Imagine the impact on moving issues like connectivity and mass transit (S-line commuter rail for example) forward, if such concepts had the weight of one of Jacksonville's largest economic generators behind them?  All I can say is that it would not take a decade or so for rail, commercial revitalization and infill to take place in Springfield and the surrounding neighborhoods.  UAB's medical campus in Birmingham or Cleveland's University Circle are great examples to consider.  Not only are they active in the surrounding community socially, the planning of their facilities are also designed in a manner that promotes walkability throughout and around their campuses which leads to additional growth along corridors leading into them.

[Joe]

Great video. That was a good positive highlight of the region. I also liked the way that they addressed Shands biggest negative (emergency treatment for indigent patients and drug dealers) in a way that is a legitimate positive for potential employees and patients.

There were only a couple of points where I thought they were exaggerating to the point of being disingenuous.

- Jax isn't the 3rd largest "city" on the East Coast. City limits are an invalid measure, and Metro figures are more appropriate. Claiming to be the "X largest" because of our consolidated city limits only serves to give a false impression of reality and set up visitors for disappointment.

- Jax doesn't have some of the "finest museums in the South" at all. While the Cummer is a really cool asset, if we're being honest, this is one of Jax's weakest points. I don't mean to drag anything down - there's just no reason to claim to be something we aren't.

But anyway, those are minor points. Great video.

[ProjectMaximus]

UAB's medical campus in Birmingham or Cleveland's University Circle are great examples to consider.  

Hey, I've been to both of those places. Did they revitalize/infill their respective neighborhoods or were they built from scratch?

[ProjectMaximus]

Great video. That was a good positive highlight of the region. I also liked the way that they spun Shands biggest negative (emergency treatment for indigent patients and drug dealers) into something that sounds positive.

There were only a couple of points where I thought they were exaggerating to the point of being disingenuous.

- Jax isn't the 3rd largest "city" on the East Coast. City limits are an invalid measure, and Metro figures are more appropriate. Claiming to be the "X largest" because of our consolidated city limits only serves to give a false impression of reality and set up visitors for disappointment.

- Jax doesn't have some of the "finest museums in the South" at all. While the Cummer is a really cool asset, if we're being honest, this is one of Jax's weakest points. I don't mean to drag anything down - there's just no reason to claim to be something we aren't.

But anyway, those are minor points. Great video.

I agreed on both those points, Joe.

[thelakelander]

UAB's medical campus in Birmingham or Cleveland's University Circle are great examples to consider.  

Hey, I've been to both of those places. Did they revitalize/infill their respective neighborhoods or were they built from scratch?

All three were built in areas that had residential and commercial development already in place.  However, over time the Birmingham and Cleveland examples have expanded with structures that embrace designing at a pedestrian scale.  Thus the foot traffic those facilities stimulate on the surrounding streets create a market for additional complementing development (pharmacies, housing, restaurants, retail, etc.) that sets up to benefit from the foot traffic being generated by the medical center.  Over time, all of these places (designed to also accomodate the pedestrian) combine to create a vibrant pedestrian oriented district.

Cleveland's University Circle
Notice the buildings (old and new) interact with the public sidewalks.





On the other hand, Shands has expanded as well.  However, those expansion came at the expense of a pedestrian friendly neighborhood (Sugar Hill) and were designed to accomodate automobile movement.  Thus you have parking lots in front of buildings and entrances with little connectivity from the street.  You also have facilities like cafes and gift shops buried deep inside the floor plan instead of being visible to 8th Street. As time has gone one, complementing development (McDonalds, Walgreens,etc.) has been designed for the automobile as well.  Thus, 8th Street has gone from being a friendly environment for pedestrians into a hostile one.

Smart design and building placement, as the medical complex grows is one of the best things it can bring to the table.  As time goes on, medical facilities will expand to keep up with the region's growing population.  However, a choice will have to be made if that growth is pedestrian scale or for the automobile. Right now, its still automobile dominated thinking.  If that planning mindset can change, it will become a strong driver for the type of urban development taking place around UAB and University circle. If not, the process to bring pedestrian scale development and multi modal transportation options to this area of the Urban Core will be a much more time consuming process.

Birmingham

If the major people generator embraces the neighborhood streets properly, complementing development will set up to take advantage of the pedestrian traffic flow.









Shands Jacksonville

If the major generator is designed for the automobile, so will the complementing development.











Similar densities and uses, yet one example is hostile to pedestrians with little foot traffic, while the others are lined with the uses we would like to see in and around Springfield.

[Ocklawaha]

Got to love those power lines, and fences, the open sewer that once was Hogans Creek isn't bad for effect either.  My favorite fence, "The Great Wall of Shand's," is the newer fancy one that blocks crippled veterans from crossing from the VA clinic to the cafes or speciality labs at Shand's... Good thinking... My best guess is that the projects were leaking negroes and something had to be done! Which by the way is exactly why if Shand's jumped on the "S" line, the City and JTA would bail. Freaking neanderthals!

OCKLAWAHA

[ProjectMaximus]

Oh yeah...as a student at Stanton I drove by this McDonalds everyday for 4 years...and stopped by too many times too.

Thanks for the lesson, Lake.