For several months now there has been serious discussion of the development of the Laura Street Corridor to provide an initial street traffic creating backbone from whence to spread a vibrant city center development.

The idea that the creation of a strip featuring destinations that are open after sundown will create walking traffic and pedestrian life at street level by giving the public a variety of things to do in a relatively compact area.

The Jacksonville Daily Record is taking the position of legal advisor and advocate for downtown blight and the destruction of historic structures. They recently published an article in response to MetroJacksonville.com raising questions with regard to the legality of the practices employed by downtown's private surface parking lot owners.

Last week we shared an affordable solution that involved finding a suitable location for the Mayor's "Flex Space" needs, without being forced to relocate Kids Kampus or destroy Friendship Fountain in the process.  Today we take a look at what can be done to bring life back to the Southbank, by working with what's already in place.

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  Well in this case, let's substitute the asphalt with a $700,000 patch of grass.   Today we'll introduce 10 things needed to create a successful urban public space and illustrate why the pocket park being constructed as a part of the Greening of Main project is destined for failure. 

The Jacksonville Business Journal recent released their March edition of the Commercial Real Estate Journal.  For those that haven’t seen this before, it contains a breakdown of the commercial real estate, based on regions of town.  In the Downtown section, they show the details of many of the buildings available for lease.

Downtown parking lot operators, including Central Parking System, are engaging in the questionably legal act of issuing their own parking tickets to downtown visitors and residents. These parking citations are designed to look like an official city citation, but instead of directing the payment to the tax collector, as required by law, it illegally demands that payment be made to Central Parking System, located at 550 Water St. Suite 1343.

We are approaching the time of year when people will begin to break out their swimsuits, jet skis, and boats.  It will be summer again soon.  And if you ride the city bus here in Jacksonville, don't forget to take your umbrella with you every single day.   That is because the sun can be harsh.  Not only that, but you'll need your umbrella to protect you from the daily summer thunderstorms.  Don't expect to find shelter at a bus stop.  That's because less than 5 percent of the bus stops in Jacksonville have a shelter.

Over the last 15 years, nearly a billion dollars has been poured into our downtown sports complex, and city leaders have been very quick to point to this as part of downtown’s revitalization.  However, how much of an impact do these multimillion dollar venues really have on Jacksonville’s city core?  Today, MetroJacksonville.com takes a look at the different facets of downtown revitalization as it relates to the sports complex.