Downtown groups say Jacksonville's core is in crisis, needs a new strategy

[vicupstate]

Going from 13.2% of the city's tax base to 2.3 % is a HUGE red flag!!   That is unbelieveable.

[tufsu1]

You know, I wasn't born this way.  10 years in downtown Jacksonville will do it to you.

If downtown is so bad, why are you still there?

[tufsu1]

I  think that DVI does 'get it', but has been too timid to really say anything until now for fear of stepping on the wrong toes.  What is past is past, but at least Peyton and DVI understand NOW, even if they didn't before.  THE REAL PROBLEM IS THE CHAMBER !!  I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM THE FIRST TO SAY THIS.

EXACTLY!

[tufsu1]

btw...here's the report itself

http://www.downtownjacksonville.org/_images/_documents/Turning%20the%20Corner%20_%20Rethinking%20and%20Remaking%20Downtown%20FINAL%20low%20res.pdf

[devlinmann]

Again and again I say it's the Arts community, give it to them (low to rent for a temp period), they will revitalize block by block and the rest will follow. Examples of this can be seen all over this and several other nations even now in Berlin. The mayor knows this and stated as much in his excellent interview here on MJ.

[thelakelander]

THE REAL PROBLEM IS THE CHAMBER !!  I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM THE FIRST TO SAY THIS.

DEpartment stores??!! An entertainment district at the stadium!!

YOU HAVE TO CRAWL BEFORE YOU CAN WALK FOLKS !!!   AIN"T NO DEPARTMENT STORE COMING DOWNTOWN.  YOU CAN"T BUILD  AN ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT AROUND 12 EVENTS PER YEAR!!!

You already HAVE an entertainment district in the 'bud' stage.   Been to Bay Street lately??!!!

GOD, do these people ever leave Ponte Vedra?!! 

Make what you have already started (Landing, Riverwalks, Laura St, Bay St) work FIRST, then maybe you can focus on branching out from there.

Keith is right, This city is a joke !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This comes AFTER the trip to Kansas City.  The Power & Light District, the convention center, etc. are prime examples of destinations clustered with complementing uses within a compact area to stimulate further synergy.  It seems like this was another trip where the basic concepts of connectivity and clustering were overlooked again.

[Captain Zissou]

Other than the few mudslinging posts, I agree with everything on here.  

One thing I would like to add, is that currently we are killing the potential benefits of the sports complex to downtown by the mass exodus after events.  Yes the complex is far from the core, but events at the arena/ stadium are still the largest events in the downtown area. If we allowed people to venture off bay st and union after events it would add to the activity in the real core.

Artists are great for bringing rebirth to an area.  We should have an administration willing to work with creatives and young professionals to get some projects going downtown.  I have great aspirations for some projects NEAR the core, but downtown itself seems detrimental to small developments.

[finehoe]

we’ve failed to take full advantage of the best years in the current real estate cycle.

Ain't that the truth.  And I'm afraid that anyone who thinks there's going to be a building boom equal to the one during the first half of this decade anytime soon is going to be sorely disappointed.  I hate to say it, but Jacksonville blew it.