Urban Jacksonville

This will be my last question in the series. For some this day hasn’t come soon enough. I was asked 16 questions about my neighborhood for FolioÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Annual Manual edition. The issue drops today.

It was hard reading the comments for yesterday’s post, Why would someone come to Springfield? I really threw my neighborhood under the bus and I took it on the chin from many people who commented. Most people disagreed with yesterday’s answer. I hope today will be a bit more on target.

On a scale of 1-10 What is the quality of life in Springfield?
6

Even though we are a historic neighborhood, close to downtown with an awesomely-gridded street structure, we still lack many things that could improve the quality of life in the neighborhood. The primary one is a decent grocery store or gas station.

From reading yesterday’s comments, many people might baulk at a rating of 6 out of 10. Some might look at it as 60% which would be a failing grade, but I look at it as being above average. 5 would be average. 6 is above average.

Things that would improve the quality of life:

Completion of East 8th Street
Completion of 8th and Pearl
More retail, more restaurants, more places to drink beer
More infill and commercial corridor rehabilitation (8th and Main Streets)
Start of the Hogan’s Creek Greenway
Road resurfacing between 5th and 6th on Silver
A decent gas station

Previous questions:
What is Springfield known for?
Who is the most interesting person in Springfield?
What is the best restaurant in Springfield?
Where is the closest coffee shop in Springfield?
Why would someone come to Springfield?

tags: jacksonville, springfield

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 25th, 2006 at 7:21 am and is filed under Springfield. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Nate

You guys could surely come out to the Atlantic Beach ghetto, AKA Mayport, and have a few beers under the car port. I can buy extra red laser pointers if need be. What kind of beer should I buy? Guinness?
John

The Pearl does have Guinness & London Porter along w/ some other decent beers on tap.
joeymarchy

I am pretty sure the Pearl has a large selection of draught beers. Either way, let me know when you guys are going.
PCollins

I noticed the concrete/stone wall was taken down from Springfield Pub. I wonder if this was a "need a permit for a fence" thing...one step forward, two steps back.

I think we are going to have to meet at London Bridge...unless The Pearl serves Guinnae (that's Guinness in the plural).

Phil
John

Hey Joey, i'm not going to bash you on this one. 6 is fair. By the way, on my previous comments when I asked for a positive tone on Springfield. Its not that you are right or wrong. Its your perception of the neighborhood, you were asked for it, you gave it - plain & simple. I just have a lot of people that I have to explain myself to for living in this neighborhood and its hard to justify that when others living in the neighborhood have a negative spin on it. I think the article came out a bit better than I was expecting though, since the first couple of questions you answered on the site were negative, I was afraid the whole article would turn negative. By the way, Phil & I are still supposed to drink some Guinness together, you are welcome to join if we ever make it :)

- from the fingers of the first half of johnnyrox
joeymarchy

Ha ha ha, but I only put out my recycle bin every other week. The results are skewed!
daniel

Putting a positive spin on it I would say a solid 6.5. It is much better than when we got here in 97/98. Just having neighbors now is worth a couple of points. If you want to sit somewhere and have a beer try the ol' porch. The beer is cheaper and it is a good way to get outside and whach the people coming into the neighborhood for crack and real estate!!!!!!

BTW I have seen Joey's recycle bin..... He does drink alot of beer!
joeymarchy

Phil, no spell checking planned for comments. None of us can speall all that gret anyways.

Uturn, yes drinking beer is a big part of my life. I love beer and coffee. It's nice to just go sit somewhere and have a beer. Speaking of which I should just go to the Pearl. I think they have a daily happy hour.
Downtownparks

We still love ya Joey!
PCollins

ahhhh, sorry.

but in looking back on my posts/comments over the past four years, i discovered that i do talk about beer quite a bit.

Something else we could use in SPR...a homebrewer's supply store.

phil
Uturn

Uh, actually, Mr. Collins, I was talking to Joey regarding his third comment....

"More retail, more restaurants, more places to drink beer".....

....along with his recent complaint that Nosh was not serving beer, etc. It seems that Joey talks about beer a lot :)
PCollins

Uturn - no, i also think about getting attractive Latin lesbians moved into the rental house next door, my next meal, skateboarding, how termites are probably nibbling on my house in secret, and how to teach my 5-year old that waiting until poop is the size of a Volkswagon Jetta is not conducive to easily passing said object.

Joey - adding Spellcheck to Comments any time soon?

phil
Nathan Arnold

Uturn, don't you?
Uturn

Dude, is all you ever think is drinking beer??
PCollins

I agree with a 6. While we love living here, all the things you mentioned would make it even better.

Although I don't think I will ever give up Roosevelt Publix.

Looking forward to Springfield Pub finally opening on 6th St West. And seeing vibrant businesses on Main instead of weedy lots and boarded up windows.

You "took it on the chin" because you own a website that is widely read and respected as a source of news re: SPR and Downtown. Your words have more weight than, say, my own sarcastic tongue in cheek drivel (I don't have the energy or "opinion discipline" to maintain a website that people rely on for accurate news of their neighborhood).

People get their news about SPR from sparcouncil.org and urbanjax. While I don't believe in sugar coating our remaining problems, there should be a corresponding description of the things that make SPR outstanding.

Phil
Jason

brace yourself....

I totally agree.

What is the quality of life in Springfield?

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