What if Jacksonville suddenly woke up?

[Deuce]

The episode where Maggie Beckett was introduced.

[Wacca Pilatka]

"Jacksonville Tars and the Negro League’s Jacksonville Redcap’s throwback jerseys, would be available at a"ny given local sporting goods store."

Are these sold anywhere in town at all?  I have the CD "Entering Duval County" by the local artists Tal-Kin Trees, and one of the members is wearing a Red Caps jersey on the face of the CD.  Not that that says anything about where he found it.

[Wacca Pilatka]

On the Maxwell House suggestion, I know it's been mentioned many times on here that MH ought to open a coffee house downtown, either at a central location like the Landing (or 11E?), or as part of its facility to better integrate the plant with downtown.  I know I saw it mentioned in a T-U article several years ago too.  Has anyone actually approached MH about this?

[DeadGirlsDontDance]

Good article, Stephen.

Okay, I didn't read ALL of the comments, but I would like to point out that I have an intelligent, well-traveled friend from Europe who has lived here for over a decade. Like many, he is frustrated about how cool Jacksonville isn't, but he still chooses to live here. That should say something about this town.

No segue:

I am a Maxwell House patriot! Back in the old days, before emission regulations forced the papermills to stop vomiting so much filthy stench, the lovely smell of roasting coffee overpowered it and was the only thing that made breathing downtown bearable.  I don't miss the papermill smell, but I think Maxwell House should be allowed to freely blow unfiltered coffee-scented steam as far and wide as possible.

[newzgrrl]

This remains one of my favorite pieces on this site. I've read it more than a few times, and it inspires me every time.

[stephendare]

thanks newzgrrl!  Its from the heart

[heights unknown]

If Jacksonville suddenly woke up, it would resemble Atlanta or Miami.

"HU"

[Sportmotor]

If Jacksonville suddenly woke up, it would resemble Atlanta or Miami.

"HU"

I'd rather it just be Jacksonville and not anyplace else

[Dog Walker]

I sometimes think that Maxwell House takes everything good in their coffee and blows it out into the downtown air 'cause their coffee sure doesn't taste as good as the air smells.

[Sportmotor]

Starbuck's does

[CS Foltz]

Three Layers is better...........no where near as metalic nor bitter!

[Sportmotor]

True, but its a far drive to go out of the way for for me being in St. Johns.
I do love Starbuck's VIA Ready Brew packets. Those are so worth the price.

[duvaldude08]

I acutally do think Jacksonville is a city that "hates itself". Being a Jacksonville native, I absolutely love being here and will rep my city wherever I go. However, there are alot of residents who hate jacksonville and hate staying here and wont move. Anytime there something negative about us in the media most residents resort to saying, " man jacksonville sucks" or " I hate this place." That type of  attitude will never get us anywhere. If Jacksonville woke up, this would be a mega city beyond anyones imagination. Forget Miami and Atlanta. Duval county would be the place to be. We already are the biggiest city land wise in the US, not to mention the most populous city in the state of Florida. We have so much potential....

[Wacca Pilatka]

I live in Virginia, and if you've read anything I've written on this forum you know I love Jacksonville far more than any sane person should love a city.

I fell in love with it while growing up, when my family drove to New Smyrna on vacations.  From an early age I decided it was the most fascinating and beautiful place on the planet, just based on the view from 95. 

I didn't actually pay a formal visit to Jacksonville until I was 13 or 14.  I bought copies of Jacksonville's Architectural Heritage and the long out of print Old Hickory's Town.  Learning about Jacksonville's fascinating and underappreciated history and architecture took my 95-borne affection to a whole new level.

Any chance I get to take a vacation, I almost inevitably go to Jacksonville.  I love its warm and friendly people, its pace of life, its architecture, its color palette, its food, its football team.

Walking around downtown and Springfield and the other urban neighborhoods never gets old for me.  I love to visit the zoo, the MOSH, Kingsley Plantation, and Fort Caroline, and just to be on the river; to drive over the bridges and along Heckscher Drive and Riverside Avenue, enjoying the view.

How many cities have their own architectural style, served as the birthplace for a genre of music, played a central role in the development of the film industry?  How many played hosts to clashes of civilizations and clashes of two regions within one?  How many have a Clark's Fish Camp, a Jenkins, a Three Layers?  How many Avondale and San Marco equivalents are there to be found in this country?

In visiting Jacksonville much more frequently upon becoming an adult with stable income, and in reading this site daily for four years or so, I've learned a lot more about Jacksonville's flaws and shortcomings.  Learning this doesn't make me love the city any less.  I'm more inspired by its potential than dismayed over its failure to realize it.

I "meet," in person or through this message board and the jaguars.com one, a lot of people who love this city and stand up for it.

I also meet a lot of people who do not have the slightest appreciation for what Jacksonville is and trash the city and everything about it at the slightest opportunity. 

The proportion of the latter set seems disturbingly high.

Anyone who thinks there's no culture, no distinction, nothing to do in the city, mystifies me.

Anyone who accepts and internalizes the taunts of the Miamis and Orlandos or the national sports press mystifies me even more.

I've been fortunate to bring two of my best friends to Jacksonville in the past few years for several Jaguar games.  Going in without any preconceived notions of what Jacksonville is, they've enjoyed themselves and the city immensely.

I show friends and coworkers who've never seen Jacksonville pictures of the urban landscape, the neighborhoods, the architecture, and the river.  Without fail, they're stunned at the beauty of the buildings and setting.

I'm no denier of the areas in which Jacksonville needs to improve and almost always find myself in agreement with the leitmotifs of this website about how the ways in which the city needs to change.

But this is a very, very special place, and I'll never understand the damage wrought by those who choose to believe it's trendy to down their hometown.

[finehoe]

^^ Wacca, I'm curious...why haven't you moved here?