A Peek in Jacksonville Beach

[Metro Jacksonville]

A Peek in Jacksonville Beach



Jacksonville's Atlantic coastal city is a sun-beaming hideaway for visitors and a transit-friendly, all-inclusive community to its residents.  An 8-square-mile mix of housing, hotels, retail, dining, nightlife, and outdoor recreation is enough reason for those who live there to "never cross the ditch" - and enough for guests to follow. MetroJacksonville takes a photo tour to see just why.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2011-jul-a-peek-in-jacksonville-beach-

[Noone]

Nice pics and story. The Beaches and the ocean in contrast to the river and Downtown Jacksonville. The pier at Jax Beach 1300' long. I was there when Mayor Peyton along with others cut the ribbon to open that Public Access benefit.

So what can Downtown Jacksonville do to capture the 10 block area that the Beaches has done to capture a vibrancy for its Core?

I'll expand on it more but I liked seeing all the bikes. If Jacksonville would immediately open up the 680' Promised Downtown Public Pier that was Shipyards/Landmar 2010-604 and pending legislation 2011-364 RAM. You can immediately garnish an inexpensive organic cluster using a shipping container as a kiosk to immediately rent bikes between the flex space at Shipyards and RAM and anywhere else that the market if allowed to happen can flourish. 

[blizz01]

Great photos - I love JAX Beach.  Is it officially called the "Boardwalk" or something else?  Seems like more of an esplanade (no boards).....

[Jaxson]

I have heard it referred to as a 'seawalk.'

[blizz01]

Ah - that makes sense (Seawalk Pavilion).

[fieldafm]

Seawalk Pavillion is about to get a revamp/makeover.  City of Jax Beach is also creating a :gasp: Jax Beach Pier Park.  The recent change in front of the Atlantic/Ocean Club (aka former Einsteins location, oh the memories) are part of the master plan to redo the Seawalk.

BTW, if you are looking for great jazz... come check out Mindi Abair this Sunday at the Seawalk Pavillion.  Former UNF jazz program student, GORGEOUS and a seriously good saxomophonist.
Every other Sunday after that... check out Nate Holley and Splitone playing at Atlantic

Don't get me started on the height restrictions... that is responsible for the moonscape you see north of Lynchs along First Street.  There are lots of things DT Jax can learn(positively and negatively) from Jax Beach.  JB was not a pretty place when I was a kid.

[SarahTay]

No, "Seawalk" refers only to the Pavilion. It's just the "Jacksonville Beach Boardwalk"

[danem]

They also had a music festival of their own in April called Springing the Blues.

[Tacachale]

Great article. The revitalization of "Downtown" Jax Beach since the 1990s is one of the great success stories in greater Jacksonville. There's a lot to take from it that would be useful in revitalizing downtown. But not without caveat, of course, because of the major differences between the areas.

[Tacachale]

Also, nice to see the mention of the push to name the Beaches island. "San Pablo Island" here we come.

[iMarvin]

Although it isn't in Jacksonville Beach, it's pretty close:

Beaches Town Center is where the Beaches come alive

Vehicle traffic is light on the brick streets in the Beaches Town Center shortly after 9 on a weekday morning. Runners, walkers and cyclists outnumber cars at least 5-to-1 and, with all the bars closed, the loudest sound is the nearby Atlantic Ocean.

The retail and dining district straddled by Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach is slow, its popular night spots shuttered.

But things aren't so slow in the upstairs studio of MBody Yoga's Neptune Beach center. There, yoga teacher Jamie Sherman has the room heated to a balmy 85 degrees and her 10 students going through a variety of postures at a steady pace.

"Begin to build a fire - begin to feel the heat in your body," Sherman says, walking up and down the rows of students, adjusting an ankle here, a lower back there. They were definitely feeling it - five minutes into the class some of the students are so sweaty it's as if they had been doused with a hose.
"Ride intentionality into your breath, into your life," Sherman says, steadying a woman's Warrior 1 stance. "It's so powerful just to do things with intention."
Intentionality is one of the keys to the success of the Beaches Town Center. In an era when government and civic leaders are trying to find a successful formula to revive the downtown Jacksonville area, shop owners and patrons of this highly pedestrian, health-conscious and vibrant corner of Duval County say a determined public-private partnership launched the area on a path to what it is now arguably one of the most inviting areas to walkers, runners, cyclists, diners and clubbers.

They like to note that whatever the goal - buying jewelry or imported goods, sipping some joe or martinis, buying books, enjoying a fancy meal or playing 25-cent pool while smoking a Marlboro and throwing back Bud Lights - it's all available within walking distance.

"Pretty much everything is here — it's like a secret paradise," said JoAnne Adams, owner of the First Street Gallery in Neptune Beach.

'You can walk to the beach'

By the afternoon, pals Amanda Sieusahai and Jarell Harris found a shady table at Lillie's Coffee Bar, which offers patrons hot and cold beverages plus serves breakfast and lunch.

They had come to do what many can be seen doing at Lillie's: study. Sieusahai, 23, a recent college grad, cradled a huge volume titled "Valuation" on her lap. Harris, 21, a UNF student and musician, had a laptop opened on the table beside a copy of "Fundamentals of Financial Management."

But neither was studying. Instead they seemed to spend most their time gulping hot chocolate (with extra whipped cream) and joking and laughing, oblivious to the slowly moving automobile and pedestrian traffic just beyond the courtyard.

Sieusahai, of Jacksonville, said she digs the spot because it's cozy and populated with locally owned businesses, which she loves to support. Plus, Harris said, the area has a vacationy feel to it.
"Your guard is not as up like it is in some parts of town," said Harris, who lives in nearby Mayport. "You can focus or take a walk to the beach."

'A synergy about it'

Shop owners downplay the notion that the nearby ocean is the key to the district's success.
Rather, it's a commitment to buying local on the part of residents that keeps local businesses afloat, said Rona Brinlee, owner of The Bookmark.

The district is sandwiched between two residential communities. Downtown redevelopment experts agree that residential is key to reviving urban retail and commercial zones.

"There's a synergy about it, a sense that we're all in this together" with shop owners commonly referring customers to each others' businesses. "There's that sense that if somebody does well, we all do well."

'It was run down'

Another draw: It's clean and safe and has a small-town feel, Atlantic Beach resident Kim Massar said after dancing to several tunes at Ragtime, where she's been a regular for two decades. "My waitress is one of my old students," said Massar, a school teacher.

It wasn't always that way.

"It was pretty run down" 25 or 30 years ago, said Edward Skinner Jones, president of the Beaches Town Center Agency, a citizens' group that raises money for improvements in the district, such as adding brick sidewalks and bike racks. The agency was created in the early 1990s to funnel city funds earmarked for urban renewal projects across Duval County.

'A little bit of everything'

Another boost was Ragtime, which opened 25 years ago on Atlantic Boulevard in Atlantic Beach. That sparked a vibrant night life that now offers live music somewhere in the business district seven days a week.

Tim Saggau of Atlantic Beach said he remembers when Pete's Bar, a landmark since the 1930s, was the only real night spot in the area. He should: it's where he had his first alcoholic beverage in 1972.

Saggau, 57, was there on a recent evening playing ping-pong with his brother, Mike, visiting from Detroit They were sipping beers and didn't seem to be taking the game too seriously.

Both men said it's amazing to see that everything from yoga to books to coffee and ping pong are available within just a few square blocks.

"You come down here and you have a little bit of everything," Tim Saggau said.


Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/entertainment/2011-07-08/story/beaches-town-center-where-beaches-come-alive#ixzz1RXBbPNgz

[Tacachale]

^I just saw that too. That's another area where public revitalization efforts have really been fruitful and contributed towards making an area a showpiece.

Goes to show that we're capable of doing things right if the stars are correctly aligned.

[finehoe]

Looks nice.  Too bad the architecture isn't more interesting.

[John P]

I would not say Jacksonville beach is very walkable. 3rd street and east is walkable although it has few sidewalks. The rest of Jacksonville beach is suburban.

[fieldafm]

No, "Seawalk" refers only to the Pavilion. It's just the "Jacksonville Beach Boardwalk"

The concrete walkway stretching from the lifeguard station down to slightly past the pier with the pink circular artwalk is indeed the 'Seawalk'.  There used to be signs on the lightpoles with Seawalk logos that mimiced the circular shell-like artwalk on the actual concrete.  That was built probably 20 years ago or more.  That was built first, then years later the city teamed up with a few key figures(one of which owns a certain landmark downtown destination who has been very unfairly described on this board as knowing 'nothing about revitilization') and demolished the Crab Pot and the old Jax Beach Community Center to then construct the Seawalk Pavillion and surrounding developments(Sneakers/hotel/Walgreens/Carrabas).  Others followed with the refurbishing of the remaining buildings(the building where Bukkets is now looked like it was about to fall into the sea for quite awhile).  They programmed the hell out of the Jax Beach Town Center for many years in order to get people to come back to the beach b/c of the negative/unsafe impression many had of Jacksonville Beach for many years (sound familiar downtown Jacksonville?).  Most of those events are gone now(Black Spring Break, Bike Week, etc).

Incidentally the Seawalk is slated to be repaired/rebuilt/extended as part of the new master plan that is being implemented now(and has been even throughout the recession).