This Friday Urban Jacksonville Weekly is returning for a lunchtime show. We’ll be broadcasting from the Times Union on our Ustream channel so you can watch it live. We are searching for a new time to do the show, Thursdays don’t work for the team anymore, so stay tuned.
We’re bringing you Jaguars lifestyle content that’s not too heavy on the X’s and O’s. Photos, editorial, comics and more.
New Sponsor: Transformations
We have a new sponsor for the show this month: 12th Annual Transformations – The Way Home. Stories of lives transformed through the Sulzbacher Center’s comprehensive programs and community partnerships.
Enjoy live music, great food and drink, and bid on amazing silent auction packages. For ticket or sponsorship information call 398.8084 or visit the website www.transformations2010.org.
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Jonathan Insetta’s restaurant group (Black Sheep) has an ambitious plan for building a modern, efficient infill project in the fast growing 5 Points district of the Urban Core. Insetta, of Chew and Orsay fame, is planning to open a new restaurant as the anchor of a three story commercial building which will feature a rooftop bar and gathering space.
The name has not be determined, but the location has. The group has been working hard to reach a complex set of goals, to
place the restaurant at the corner of Margaret and Oak, next to Mossfire Grill. The flatiron lot where the restaurant will sit, presents a unique set of hurdles in terms of parking and some existing trees.
Black Sheep is proposing to add 23 new spaces on Oak Street and upgrade the 13 spaces on Margaret adjacent to the property. All spaces will be open to the public with a 3 hour limit to encourage visitors to eat, walk and shop. You can bet there will be a sizable bike rack to support the large number of cyclists in the community.
As you can glean from the designs and scale model shown, the plan is an efficient use of space using true urban density design principles while also creating new parking. This project also creates new jobs and new street front retail which finishes a continuous retail link from Riverside Park to Memorial Park, one of the longest retail strolls in the city.
While urban development and the food and beverage industry are both fraught with risk, especially in today’s climate, Insetta’s experience and reputation from Downtown’s Chew and Avondale’s Restaurant Orsay (both in historic buildings) will be helpful. The neighborhoods of Riverside, Avondale, and Historic Five Points have been aware of and involved in the project for weeks.
There is much work left to do for the project to become a reality including the final city approval and a unique commercial zoning change called an Urban Transitional Area (UTA) added to HB 485 that would make this district much like downtown’s with regards to seating capacity required.
The addition of 5 Points to this well supported bill will make it easier for bona fide restaurants to survive and thrive in the spatially constricting spaces that a historic retail area presents.
The UTA – The Riverside Overlay set up the Urban Transitional Area (the Commercial area of 5 Points) to encourage this type of infill development – imagine, living, working and shopping all within a ½ mile radius. As projects like this, Publix, 1661 and others are developed, the area can truly live up to it’s Urban name.
So not only is Black Sheep investing in the neighborhood it is also paving the way for the further proliferation of destinations in Five Points, opening an economic development zone that allows a more reasonable seating requirement for historic districts. See map below.
Should this change work, expect further developments, local restaurants, jobs, and foot traffic in from Historic Five Points all the way to the river. Our neighbors and co-workers seem galvanized at the idea of further local, sustainable development in 5 Points and hope that urban infill and historic development spreads with the success of this project.
“We at Black Sheep Restaurant Group are very excited for the opportunity to become part of the 5 Points neighborhood. At Chew and Orsay we pride ourselves in the symbiotic relationship we maintain within our surrounding community and hopefully we can be a force for positive change with this new project. As owner operator of both the restaurant and the building itself we bring a level of commitment to the community that few can match.
I also believe that we can act as a bridge between historic 5 Points and the newer commercial district to the south. The project will create more jobs as well as fit the spirit of the urban transition area overlay. We plan on being a part of 5 Points for many years to come and see ourselves as a very positive addition to an already amazingly diverse community of independent and national businesses. 5 Points has a synergy and identity that we feel right at home in.”
What are your thoughts on the project and the design?
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online publication
since 2004
UNF photography degree
cover arts scene
“the real deal”
less commercial than Arbus
focus on local, independent artists
create a personal portfolio and expose artists meshmag.com
Why Mesh? mesh=fusion art, music, dining
Isn’t Print Dead?
kind of, but more in-between
online advertising is a hard sell
TU still does 85% from print
Coming Soon
new Jags beat writer, Jimmy Sal (former editor of Vibe/Spin), Tom Essex (Skinny Records), Jay (Bold Bean)
Recommendations
Jack: Pet Walk @ Art Walk
Jonathan: dilbert.com/blog
George: Famous Sandwiches, Pulp Juice Bar (San Marco)
Joey: Krung Fu – graphic design battle (Intuition Ale in the place, free cup!) $10 for non-AIGA members
Tony: RAM – free ice cream!
I grabbed a few pics of the new JTA bus shelter being unveiled today. What are your thoughts? I’m reserving judgment for a bit. If you want to see them, get down to Bay and Main in Downtown Jacksonville. There’s also a media event this morning at 10am.
Unveiling of JTA’s first new downtown bus shelters
Wednesday, July 28 at 10 a.m. JTA representatives will be onsite until 11
a.m. to answer questions.
Northeast corner of Bay and Main streets
In partnership with the Downtown Development Review Board, the new shelters were designed to reflect the character of the Downtown area and to support JTA’s green initiatives. Special features of the shelters include solar lighting, mesh walls for better air circulation, new trash receptacles, bike racks and maps of the entire JTA system.
The paint used on the shelters consists of low volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which minimizes the negative effects paint can have on air quality. Some of the shelters also incorporate panels that can accommodate advertising.
This is the first of 24 new shelters to be installed downtown with 50 additional shelters coming online throughout the JTA service area.
In this year’s election, three of the seven seats on the Duval County School Board will be up for election. None of the current board members are running for re-election, so the election can be a sea change for public education in Jacksonville.
The Jacksonville Public Education Fund is hosting three public forums for school board candidates to help the community learn more about the candidates. WJXT Channel 4 Reporter Ayesha Faines will moderate the event, asking a handful of questions selected by JPEF and then opening the floor to questions from those attending the event.
The forums will all be held from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on the following dates:
District 2 — July 27 — Twin Lakes Academy, 8050 Point Meadows Dr, Jacksonville 32256
District 4 — August 9 — Ribault High School, 3701 Winton Dr., Jacksonville 32208
District 6 — July 29 — Ed White High School, 1700 Old Middleburg Rd. Jacksonville 32210
Patrick Carter from Patrick Carter Design hooked up the cover art for this edition of the mixtape. He is available for work if you need design help.
Patrick Carter Design is a graphic design studio in Jacksonville, FL specializing in brand development and web design with an emphasis on typography and illustration. With a background of advertising agency art direction and years of experience in the Jacksonville marketplace, an attention to detail and a fanatical passion for design are always maintained.
All Summer – Kid Cudi, Best Coast and Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend
Dancing On My Own (Fred Falke Edit) – Robyn
Dirty Little Girl (Lakeshore Driving Remix) – Shwayze
Feels Like Forever – Holy Hail
GET U HOME – (Bloody Beetroots Italo Disco Rmx) - Shwayze
Heart To Tell – The Love Language
Hold Yuh (Major Lazer Remix) – Gyptian
Right On (feat. Joanna Newsom & STS) – The Roots
Rubadub Shakedown (Feat. Rod Azlan) – Rusko
Shutterbug – Big Boi
Trizzy Turnt Up – A-Trak
Two Doors Down (Pilooski Remix) – Mystery Jets
Two Weeks Of Hip Hop (The Hood Internet) – Dead Prez vs Grizzly Bear
We Are The People (Shazam Remix) – Empire Of The Sun
XXXO (Remix) (Feat. Jay-Z) – M.I.A.
I didn’t mix or create any of these tracks myself, they haveall been downloaded from various MP3 blogs. Thanks to all the MP3 blogs and artists who mixed these tracks*.
