Urban Core Vision Plan to be Unveiled

[thelakelander]

This plan is for the Urban Core Planning District (most of preconsolidated COJ, not just DT).  There are also vision plans in the works for the Southeast and Arlington Planning Districts.

[Ocklawaha]

THANK GOD! The Skyway is at least drawn out, amazing that if we would just ask, it would be funded 100%!  So "Let's not ask!"

OH MY GOD! Not again! So WHERE ARE THE STREETCARS? The one thing that would drive all of this redevelopment is missing, as usual, from the color ball of Jacksonvilles dreams.  The most near-sighted city on earth...  I think we at MJ are starting to understand how the Biblical Moses must have felt.


OCKLAWAHA

[reednavy]

If only we could learn from OKC's success with the MAPS series of projects, now on it's 3rd set of projects. A voter-approved temporary few cents hike in the sales tax paid for all the projects such as the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, Ford Center, and fixed the COX Convention Center. Now, MAPS 3 will be the most ambitious yet at $777mil and will bring a streetcar line to downtown, a 70-acre central park that will connect the Oklahoma River( North Candian River) to downtown once the Crosstown is moved, a new convention center, and improve sidewalks to name a few.

I'd be more than willing to pay a few cents more on sales tax, as being from Murfreesboro at 9.75%, 7% is cheap and just a .1-.4% increase would do a world of good for the city in helping get this plan and others on the fast track.

[konstantconsumer]

beautiful, but doesn anyone actually believe this will occur in their lifetime?  i'm 28, and fairly certain that it won't in mine.

[fsujax]

It would make perfect sense for the City to take JTA's transit vision plan, the Mayor's plan for a new convention center, and all of these other plans for Downtown Urban Core and try to sell it to the citizens of Jacksonville as Delaney did with the BJP. Get the Business community involved! Call it BJP2, more transit friendly and figure out how to get the suburban folks to support it. A great core can help all of Duval County! It may fail a few times, but eventually people would support it I believe.

[tufsu1]

exactly fsujax....and that will be the first job of the new Mayor!

[fsujax]

Dang. Maybe I should run...on this plan alone!!!! haha

[civil42806]

Utter nonsense, this plan might as well be shelved now.

[Overstreet]

It would make perfect sense for the City to take JTA's transit vision plan, the Mayor's plan for a new convention center, and all of these other plans for Downtown Urban Core and try to sell it to the citizens of Jacksonville as Delaney did with the BJP. Get the Business community involved! Call it BJP2, more transit friendly and figure out how to get the suburban folks to support it. A great core can help all of Duval County! It may fail a few times, but eventually people would support it I believe.

Delaney went to the construction contractors in town collecting money for those ads. There was an assumption of more work for local contractors. Economy and experience with that program might not raise as much money this time around.

[reednavy]

Utter nonsense, this plan might as well be shelved now.

Yay positivity!

Did you even look through all the 130 pages of the presentation? I did, and found it interesting, with plenty of pics and graphics, which is my style of learning.

[cityimrov]

Since I'm bored today and there's very little dissent in this thread, I'll play the role of the common dissenter for this post.  
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This is such a waste of money!  Our schools are failing, our roads are falling apart, and the thugs in town are taking over.  We don't have money for fancy projects like this!  Nobody likes downtown!  The mayor convinced the council to vote for a tax increase to prevent the police from leaving and now this!  Fix our schools first!  Fix our crime problem first!  Fix our local neighborhoods first before we waste money on projects like this.  Forget downtown, it's a black hole for all our money.  

[copperfiend]

Since I'm bored today and there's very little dissent in this thread, I'll play the role of the common dissenter for this post. 
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This is such a waste of money!  Our schools are failing, our roads are falling apart, and the thugs in town are taking over.  We don't have money for fancy projects like this!  Nobody likes downtown!  The mayor convinced the council to vote for a tax increase to prevent the police from leaving and now this!  Fix our schools first!  Fix our crime problem first!  Fix our local neighborhoods first before we waste money on projects like this.  Forget downtown, it's a black hole for all our money. 

Posting straight from the T-U site?

[tufsu1]

ok cityimrov, let me help educate....this is a long-term vision....the problems you have listed are things that need to be done now.....there is no reason we can't do both!

[Captain Zissou]

I know you're playing devils advocate, cityimrov, but I'll respond anyway.

In my opinion, this project is fixing 4+ local neighborhoods, and will impact many others.  This looks like something Charlotte would propose (except they would follow through).  If we did these things, I think we would attract new large businesses, creative small business owners, artists, and smart young adults to downtown and Jax/ NE Florida in general.  I think if these projects are done right and done well they will pay for themselves over time.

We do need to fix our schools!

[reednavy]

Since I'm bored today and there's very little dissent in this thread, I'll play the role of the common dissenter for this post.  
----
This is such a waste of money!  Our schools are failing, our roads are falling apart, and the thugs in town are taking over.  We don't have money for fancy projects like this!  Nobody likes downtown!  The mayor convinced the council to vote for a tax increase to prevent the police from leaving and now this!  Fix our schools first!  Fix our crime problem first!  Fix our local neighborhoods first before we waste money on projects like this.  Forget downtown, it's a black hole for all our money.  

It's bullshit from people like you as part of the problem of why downtown is "a black hole". Everyone thinks that we're supposed to concentrate on the Southside or Westside, when a lot of problems can somewhat be attributed to a floundering core.

So, a little advice, read into things before you spew total bullshit. We know about the schools and crime, those are high priorities. Roads, hmm, if we weren't so sprawled it wouldn't be as bad. The damn page says this is a long-term plan, not short-term, so reading is fundamental.