MetroJacksonville.com asks Mayor Peyton to re-think Main St Beautification Project

[Metro Jacksonville]

MetroJacksonville.com asks Mayor Peyton to re-think Main St Beautification Project



No More Empty Parks!Members of Downtown Advocacy Group MetroJacksonville.com are asking Mayor John Peyton to re-think the city’s current plan for Main Street Beautification.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/280

[!]

They should just build a homeless shelter at Hemming Plaza. The homeless wouldn't even have to move, they could just build it around them.

[House on Fire no Water]

Before we make any more beautiful parks, could we please clean up and make our current ones used and inviting by the workers and residents downtown.  Could we invite the casual guest from up north to move over to Met Park where there are no people to hurt and business to ruin and landscaping to trash?  Could we have a strategic plan BEFORE we move, instead of just reacting to one thing after another?

[John Peyton]

What we need is more empty space and less lightng in a major downtown city.  The more dark empty space there is, the more inviting it is for the homeless to hang out.  Their comfort is our real concern.  We're trying to keep out any private development through zoning laws.  We need less infill because we dont want the tax revenue.  I am determined to kill any Urban growth in Duval County!

[J]

I agree that the pocket park would most likely become another drifter hangout and is not a productive use of space.  Mixed-use development will help improve the struggling area's identity by producing a destination for non-homeless residents and pedestrians.

[Jerome Howard]

I think that Mayor John Peyton's idea about pocket parks is not a good idea to make our downtown a destination. Main Street is not all that attractive as it is right now. And with a pocket park, it still wouldn't do any justice; especially with the homeless issues. But I would like to see more buildings, high rises condos, hotels, retail, either or all of the three, along Main Street.

[bruineyes]

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/images/lakeland/jogging-path-INDY.jpg

That must be Indianapolis' mayor wrapped up in tape there. No wonder they're able to get things done!

[Lunican]

Peyton said he would re-look at this issue. What has he concluded?

[Lunican]

If only Peyton had heeded the warnings about this park...

[Driven1]

my family and I had a picnic there Saturday afternoon.  it was actually quite nice. 

[Lunican]

Don't lie.

[Driven1]

Don't lie.

lol.  u caught me.

[JayBird]

 

Wow, this was 2006 ... and you can find like threads on this site here today.  I am always amazed at how slow city councils can be to respond to issues.  If businesses were run like government, we'd still be in horse drawn carriages while they commissioned studies on the safety of the automobile.  SMH 

[Ocklawaha]

Trying to look beyond the paper bags, blankets and sheets of newspapers, at the "pocket park," it's hard to imagine how they managed to sink over a million dollars in this thing. The average house out here in WGV has about the same amount of concrete and plantings (if not more) and didn't cost half that much even during the boom. Perhaps we can chock this up to a do-nothing-unless-its-wrong mayor desperately seeking a legacy... Perhaps we should name the park and the Courthouse for him with the warning to 'never forget!'

[Steve]

Interesting to see this. The thing I'll always remember about Peyton's administration is that they wanted to hit home runs, but kept sending up below average hitters to the plate. If they tried to hit a few base hits, they might have made more of an impact