Debate regarding temp. vs. perm. aside;
Having personally canvassed Eureka numerous times in the past, door-to-door, up and down each stairwell, finding the majority of residents home and willing to open their doors, ready to invite you right on inside to see and smell the mold in otherwise clean quarters (i.e. clean fridges, empty sinks, scrubbed commodes, mopped floors, etc.), the living conditions are not what most might expect as you drive by and look on from the exterior along LaBelle, Plymouth, Hollycrest.
Simple dump truck logic: These concrete structures aren't going to fall in on their own anytime soon on their own.
If Sustainability is key, and proximity to Kent campus and amenities like convenient bus routes, etc., remain, a long standing question among many is:
How do we help urge the holding group to do the math to see the feasiblility in rehabbing and beginning the necessary asbestos(?), mold, and lead(?) remediation measures beginning within these units block by block with the end goal of possibly eventually making them market rate(?), or keeping them as rental units? Could they be condos? Serve as Dorms? Plymouth St ties this community directly to FSCJ Kent.
As the JEDC continues to hopefully succeed in their aim to make the CBD of our DownTown a lovely place to live, work, stay, play.. its stands to reason that the inner-most ring of neighboring communities will once again rise in popularity and perhaps even increase in density and monetary value.
As we move just a few miles further out from the City center, we find communities like OakTree, Riveria North and Riviera South, and Eureka, all associated with the Jacksonville Housing Authority.
The Community formerly known as Nia Terrace which sits east of the Fire Station on Jammes Rd., just immediately south of San Juan Ave., and also fronts a portion of Hyde Park Rd underwent a transformation and is seeing better days with happier residents.
Longtime residents of Confederate Point, Cedar Hills and Hyde Park/Hyde Grove (Mt.Vernon area near former London Town-now Canterbury Gardens), and the area near Coastal Creek Condos, along with many in Murray Hill east from Alpha and Kingsbury/Lenox Court, and many within Lake Shore, so many of us all share a dream of Cassat, Lenox, Blanding at least north of the abandoned KMart near Harlow, and San Juan Ave seeing more vibrant times, and also see the current conditions of Eureka Gardens and the effect the stigma has had on the area as a major and yet altogether avoidable detractor which has drawn potential choice residents away from these areas in such desperate need of infill, not increased vacancy.
Im sum, Residents of Eureka are NOT alone!
Murray Hill and Lake Shore may have a fighting chance at seeing brighter times ahead given the lay of the land and the fact that many of their major roads tie directly in to Avondale, Riverside, 5Points, Brooklyn, Downtown, and Ortega_
but these multifamily communities and the living conditions associated with each need to be brought out into the light of day for the average resident of the adjacent wealthier areas to take notice.
THANK YOU Thank you MJ for this exposing article as it may be one of the only ways for contiguous affected neighboring residents to be able see the complete other end of the spectrum of the living conditions with which very nearby fellow Jacksonville residents contend.
Yes I serve on the board of a neighborhood improvement group non-profit 501c for Lake Shore, but my goal here is not strictly to benefit ONE area OVER another.
MHPA, RAP, and LAPS can all together stand to benefit once we all find it VITAL that everything east of I-295, certainly east of Old Middleburg, or moving closer in at least east of Lane Ave eventually be viewed as a desirable place to call home.
(The sooner the better.)
Sure, each pocket is different and might always attract folks from differing age groups, cultural backgrounds, and so on, but to RED LINE an area (which is what these residents feel like is happening) is STRICTLY ILLEGAL.
Fair housing laws provide trigger terms and this matter will not go away quietly, so I have been told.
Last night we held our Quarterly Community meeting and were met by two officers from JSO who initially responded to our call about an abandoned vehicle with damage and bullet holes. These self proclaimed "old-timers" responding officers stayed a while and dished quite unexpectedly, unsolicited yet indescribably helpful. A lot can be learned about the behaviors of our City "Leaders" when cultivating and maintaining a close working relationship with our police force.
Just because you CAN afford to pay north of $350k for a well manicured beautiful historic home doesn't mean you will WANT to when the thriving crime is allowed to persist less than a mile away.
What can we do to help the neighbors who don't have moving as an option?
Stephen Dare, your above remark that the residents who don't like Eureka should just relocate is not representative of your impressive intellect.
Having worked as a relocation associate for one of the area's largest and at the time most prolific Real Estate Construction and Management firms specializing in Multi-Family Development, I personally know it isn't THAT easy.
When a single parent struggling to simply keep the lights on, food on the table, shoes on growing feet, CANNOT get a call back from her contact at the Housing Authority, simply packing up and living on a bus or under a bridge is not your recommendation, I am sure.
You DO have a sympathetic heart within you - I HAVE to believe this, otherwise in my mind it stands to reason you wouldn't have ever had a hand in focusing on keeping this forum alive and well.
Please enlighten us as to what you REALLY meant..?
