Lost Jacksonville: Cunningham Furniture Company

[heights unknown]

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha and a big ole LOL! You guys need to stop cause you're killing me; scared white people.......but that was a part of it I believe.......too many blacks creeping up in the urban core so they ran to the suburbs. Didn't last long as blacks started moving out there too. Well, glad that part of America's history is over and we all pretty much live together and all of us are trying to just get along!

[Ocklawaha]

103-Blanding Bl. West side suburban Jacksonville

7/24/2010 - 1/24/2011
Description       Count
Assault / Battery      10
Burglary
Burglary / Other      2
Burglary / Residential      0
Burglary / Vehicle      2
Murder      1
Robbery      3
Sex Offenses
Lewd/Lascivious/Exposure      0
Sexual Battery      0
Theft
Theft      30
Theft / Vehicle      1
Vandalism      4

ANY QUESTIONS?

OCKLAWAHA

what is the radius of the lower statistic set?

Both are 1/3 mile radius, sorry I didn't make that more clear y'all.  Funny thing is about 8 months ago some national magazine listed LaVilla-Brooklyn as the most dangerous place in Florida, but your FAR SAFER walking alone there then you are almost anywhere else in the city. Perhaps this is the same "national authority," that told us "Fruit Cove Florida," had suffered more insurance and finance job losses then any other city... Well DUH, the ONE INSURANCE SALESMAN that lived in Fruit Cove has moved to WGV! Makes you wonder sometimes...

OCKLAWAHA

[dougskiles]

Great debate!  Gravity, I am very happy to see you join this board, because even though it appears most don't agree with your opinions, it thrives because of the ability to express a dissenting opinion.  Nothing strengthens a case more than being tested by opposing views.

In response to:

Clearly the empty monorail cars and trolley lines, increasingly vacant buildings and green spaces are just screaming of people's ignorance to embrace something modern.

This is something I hear frequently and used to say myself before I started riding it.  Now I take it from San Marco just about everytime I go downtown.  Rarely am I alone.  If I go during the morning and evening 'rush' hour it is often standing room only.  Granted, it is grossly underutilized.  But that is because the system was never finished.  A simple extension further into San Marco (across the railroad tracks) would significantly increase ridership because people are always getting stuck by the train.  Also, connecting it with a streetcar system downtown would make it just one more part of a functional transit system.  Because of the river, it is about the only functional way for a fixed transit system to connect the north to the south.  Connecting it with a commuter rail system would enhance it further.

I agree with your points that the existing suburban nodes need to be considered in the discussion.  There need to be more local services in these areas so those who live there don’t need to drive as far to get them.  Having mini-town centers in each is a great solution.

The issue is that we have spent billions on roads to make the suburban development possible and that perhaps we don’t need to spend any more contributing to it.  We should instead focus on transportation alternatives that are less expensive to build, less expensive to operate, and less expensive for the user.  This type of a system will promote a more urban development pattern in the future.  But that doesn’t mean the suburbanites will have to move into the urban core.  It just means that people will have a viable choice as to the lifestyle they want.  Up until now, all the city and state agencies have done is promote suburban, automobile-centric living.  We simply can’t afford to continue that.

[stephendare]

Great debate!  Gravity, I am very happy to see you join this board, because even though it appears most don't agree with your opinions, it thrives because of the ability to express a dissenting opinion.  Nothing strengthens a case more than being tested by opposing views.

Absolutely!  Welcome to the forums incidentally. Gravity your points are well articulated and logically presented, you make a great addition to our discourse.

[peestandingup]

No matter if you tore down the ENTIRE building fabric of downtown and turned it into a suburban golf course, the geography and dynamics of the St. Johns River will still dictate that the cows cross at the ford DOWNTOWN. This part of the city was planned by GOD!

OCKLAWAHA

But see, man thinks he was put here by God to be able to do whatever he wants & that we're masters of the universe.

And give it enough time, Ock. I'm sure the city planners will find a way to divert the river & run it out to the suburbs.

[Overstreet]

I think the cows don't cross the river in downtown any more. They probably cross via truck on the Shands bridge.

[Ocklawaha]

I think the cows don't cross the river in downtown any more. They probably cross via truck on the Shands bridge.

All joking aside, if you park yourself along I-95 in south Duval, all the way out to I-10 in west Duval about April and just watch, the cattle trucks from Texas and Oklahoma will be hot and heavy moving the herds back to the tall grass prairie for the summer. Oh, and yes, they pass over the Fuller Warren, no kidding.

OCKLAWAHA

[stjr]

Up to $75 for a bicycle in 1901 (per the Metropolis ad featured in the article).  Adjusted for inflation, that's one heck of a bike!

I would say that every notable city in the world has an identifiable core with characteristics that stand for the identity of the metropolitan area surrounding it.  Unfortunately, this is working all too well with our downtown.  Ours reflects failures in planning, lack of vision, absence of creativity, conservatism, a disdain for history, worship of the automobile over mass transit, a desire for quick fixes that don't stand the test of time, superficiality over substance, a lack of regard for quality of life, little emphasis on the value of higher education, and an overall inability to execute successfully on a community wide basis.

If we want people to think the very best of Jacksonville, downtown will have to address all of the above and project a sense of vibrancy, energy, culture, enthusiasm, team work, forward-thinking, interconnectiveness, and great leadership.  Until it does, we will remain more backwater than uptown.  I think we all see the potential but no one has been able to stop the downward spiral of downtown since the end of WWII.  There are lots of reasons but it's time to learn from lessons of the past and successes by others and move forward.  Who will lead us to the "promised land"?