Citizens Property Insurance starts plans for move out of downtown Jacksonville

[CityLife]

There's also this one too.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2024/sep/11/founder-of-dalton-agency-says-he-feels-forced-to-leave-downtown/

Dalton is a big loss. While not huge by sheer numbers of employees, they were in a prime spot and do the type of high profile, creative work that you want Downtown. There have been a lot of misses downtown, but Jax really blew it by not ever creating/subsidizing some sort of creative professional district downtown. In Orlando, a lot of big architecture, engineering, planning, and law firms are on/near Lake Eola. IMO, Jax really should have pushed that near JWJ Park (or anywhere). Converting Snyder Memorial to a space focused on creatives like marketing, design, and architecture firms would have been a nice start.

RS&H, Stellar, and ETM are all huge engineering/design firms that are HQ in Jax, but are located on the Southside/Mandarin. There are several others that are smaller and HQ in Jax or large companies with HQ elsewhere, but with a decent Jax presence. I believe Haskell is the only big design firm with a significant downtown presence (ETM has a small office on Hendricks). Many of the employees in these type of firms want to live Downtown or in the urban core, but almost have to move to the southside, beach, or SJC because of their office location.

One of Downtown Jax's most unknown mistakes, was listening to the grifters that wanted to create a tech hub in Jax, when there was absolutely no infrastructure/pipeline to even make Jax a tech hub, when it actually had the existing firms, location, and pipeline of talent from UF, FSU, FAMU, SCAD, Clemson, and GT to actually succeed.

[Tacachale]

Dalton hasn't left. They were speaking at that meeting to support the city's plan to address homelessness which was approved at City Council last week and rolls out tomorrow. Other downtown business owners (including Phillips) were apprised of that plan.

[CityLife]

Agh! My bad. Glad the City is taking action and they are staying. Still think the City should find a way to create a district downtown that focuses on creative class professions though. Maybe Gateway Jax becomes that.

[Ken_FSU]

There was apparently a bad stabbing at Adams & Main this afternoon.

Don't know anything else at the moment.

[marcuscnelson]

Action News reporting that a Citizens employee and security guard were attacked by a homeless man last month amid plans to reissue the Invitation to Negotiate a new headquarters outside Downtown.

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/citizens-insurance-worker-security-guard-attacked-by-downtown-homeless-expanding-moving-search/C2XQ5UCCSFAYHEYZFCL7KXW75E/

[Ken_FSU]

I had the fun responsibility this morning of removing a vagrant from our front window who was grinning at the receptionist while fondling his dick.

[acme54321]

Homeless aren't the problem though!

[jax_hwy_engineer]

heck even last week when a buddy and I were hanging out at Bold City downtown, there was a guy who was clearly having a bad time on drugs who just kept circling the block, occasionally screaming. Then we had a guy try to ask us for money, and then another man ambled over who reeked so badly of urine we had to go back inside.

We walked across the river to Southern Grill for food, then walked back for one more, and passed the odiferous gentleman on the bridge sidewalk, and once we got back to Bold City the unhinged guy who was circling the block was still at it. I feel for them, but I also feel unsafe around the more unhinged people who are living on the streets. There was another time, same location, where a guy was throwing rocks at cars.

Even for a couple of guys who could handle themselves OK, it's uncomfortable because you never know how bad of a day someone hard into drugs or withdrawal is having, and you just can't know if you're dealing with a rational person sometimes until it's too late

[DTJAXEYE]

Such hate being expressed here!!! Pure, unadulterated HATE!!!  You all sound like a squadron of JERRY MORANS!!!  Shame on you all!!!

[acme54321]

I hate when I walk down the street and it smells like pee.  I hate stepping over human turds on the sidewalk.  I hate being yelled at by crazy people when I am just trying to walk down the street.

You do you though.

[jax_hwy_engineer]

no hate here, just relaying my experience downtown. I notice it in Murray Hill and Riverside, but it's nowhere near as bad there, and there's always more of a crowd in those neighborhoods, too, which helps with the sense of security (until Riverside gets really busy on Friday and Saturday night, then I feel less secure for different reasons)