While sunday school teachers there teach their young students
that “Anger is the same as murder” Murdering children has become a staple to their cities landscape. I went recently to socialize and I found these people so invested in their own swaying faithfulness that they could barely greet me with any
considerable geniality. They are grounded, seeds sown, but still baring no fruit. It’s almost better to have corrupt fruit.

The abilities of that Church and it’s numbers alone could revitalize downtown, not necessarily with anything but what christianity in the 1800′s did for urban areas such as Chicago Illinois. A labourous inactment of the practices through faith to
enliven youth and encourage constructive thinking.

Obviously this is not a direct but indirect social commentary on
a form of thinking but it pervades all who flock to church on sundays but leave the downtown area for greener pastures throughout the week. I see how paralized the christians in our community are. I’m not making a point that Religion is important in a modern society, but rather if a religion is going to make itself a precedent in a modern society it must be more practical and pliable and willing to act. Inaction does not create men. Increasingly this backwater town has even lost the means to defend gentility against the worste contaminated solipsists.

Without their complete fantastical version of reality (which is still usable mind you) there might be some real impact and change inacted here in this downtown area and throughout this city limits.

Most Towns that have a population the size of Jacksonville have
a series of Colleges and Universities around their downtown area, making it easier to have a street dedicated to art and culture.
Art is not important on a fiscal level, it’s important for cultural identification. What a community experiences through art is genuinely and directly related to how the community sees itself,
and therefore acts out from such psychosis.

The more promising area for a cultural scene would have to be
Southside. Only because the commute is not always workable for those in colleges and universities to participate in Downtown Functions and there is actual money to support artists.

If the same Collegeate minded youth were also in the Churches Downtown then perhaps you’d see action to change.

But right now the major Head of the Downtown area is complacent, content, and basically a sleeping religious giant
being slowly eroded by other Relgious groups willing to wield swords and strike blows if need be.

In all things a harmony must be in order.
Balance and simplistic working with the natural courses inables
a system of dynamics which overlapses dysfunctional behaviourisms.

These are just scat thoughts. I’m pretty tired and so I’m going to sleep. Sorry. I just lack energy to produce my ideas any more.

Hence the corruption charges which have been so often levelled.

Of course, none of that holds a candle to the “improvers” and consultants.

Yesterday (friday) I picked up a multi million dollar pile of paper, 2 feet thick.

This two FEET represesnt what can still be found of all the consultant studies, NONE OF WHICH have EVER been implemented.

Stephen.

There is really a great thread posted from the MetroJacksonville.com website that is being discussed on Metjax.com right now entitled “Did a giant Thunderlizard Stomp it Flat?” which previews some of the points of the series.

The subject is depressing in retrospect, and remember that these photos show the effects of 30 years of corporate welfare and the wholesale dynamiting of the downtown by the actual “Redevelopment Agencies” put in place to revive it.

Its important for people to realize what a collosal disaster that the past thirty years of ‘Improvement, By-God!’ administrations that do things from the top down.

Its important because we are still continuing the same strategy as fast as we fucking can, with no vision whatsoever of the wholesale destruction it has already cause. (is ‘fucking’ blue collar enough?)

The downtown will succeed because of bloggers like you Joey, doing the only sensible thing that actually works: creating human interest in the environs.

Stephen ‘Obtuse’ Dare.
Stephen.

Yup. That’s pretty fucking depressing.

Everyone needs to print it up and tack it to the wall and look at those pictures whenever there is a vote/issue/proprosed change to Downtown.

Church St and the surrounding side streets in Burlington, VT are crammed with restaurants, shops, cool bars that offer all types of live music, etc. There is also a lot of affordable housing for students and singleyoungprofessionals.

The only way Jax downtown is going to increase it’s vibrant-factor is to increase the number of affordable apartments/condos (how many of us could afford $1,200 a month in rent right out of college?).

Because as you stated, Jax already screwed up the whole Locate Major University Downtown thing…in lieu of catering to Big Religion.
——————-
Downtown Jax needs young professionals LIVING downtown first. Then the vibrant restaurants/shops/live music nightclubs will follow. And the existing sites won’t feel like they are living on the edge.

Because, as it has been repeated over and over and over ad nauseam…tourists will not make for a healthy downtown. Nor will suburbanites occasionally visiting.

Downtown Jax needs a core group of people living there who care about its health, similar to Springfield, San Marco, Riverside, Avondale, D’ville, Brooklyn, The Hill, etc. The only difference being they get to their homes via elevator.

Now I think I better read Stephen’s post in case I just repeated what he said elsewhere…

Phil