TheUrbanCore

I worked through school at a law firm in the building. It was very cool. I can still remember the staircases.

wondering how to attach the photo straight in

Take Me to the River Jam www.downtownjacksonville.org credit Sarah G

The DDA's sentiment.

The laugh at the end is towards the unfortunate and ironic sentiment at the end.

Planes, trains and automobiles The Jacksonville Transportation Authority unveiled its vision for a transportation center headquartered in LaVilla. The Downtown Development Authority is considering an amendment to the downtown master plan to include the $127 million facility, which would provide access to the Skyway, JTA and Greyhound buses and an airport shuttle. The Skyway station would connect to an Amtrak station via a covered bridge. JTA is expecting Amtrak and Greyhound to base their downtown operations at the transportation center. Greyhound would move out of its current Bay Street building. The plan includes a renovated Skyway station on West Forsyth Street. Some members of the DDA are concerned the massive facility would clash with the walkable, residential and retail environment envisioned in the City

I should say that I will evaluate Lakelander's platform with an open mind.

Personally I like the mayor. I should disclose that I have a contract with Downtown Vision (I am the project manager for the art walk). DVI is NOT part of any city agency or function and stands alone as a BID, but we obviously work closely with the city on many projects, etc. Still, I should disclose these things I suppose. I do not speak for DVI on this or any other public forum. I think the mayor's business sense (which I believe is his best asset) keeps him from making quick (and sometimes obvious) decisions. But some of the decisions he has made have been thoughtful and clearly new-urban. The defeat of the pedestrian bridge at the library comes to mind as does the dedication to 10k units of housing downtown. His stance on incentives, in my opinion, is fair. We have gotten worked on quite a few deals. I was at a function where he was asked about the landing (which I think should be helped to a degree by the city). He said basically that they bought the property for $5M and wanted $50M of your money to develop it, and I don't think the kind of deal we want to do. I think this is a succinct answer and I think it sends the right message. Keep coming back with proposals until one works. We lost a whole neighborhood (La Villa) by making the first deal that came to the table. Any way, hes got a bear of a problem with the courthouse, that if he can bury that, hopefully we'll get cranking on some real city changers...like enforcement of the property maint. code.