Urban Jacksonville Predictions for 2010

Quite a few of my 2009 predictions never panned out. I was way out in front on quite a few like:

The trolley will begin making daily runs into San Marco Square, with Hendricks Avenue being the preferred route over San Marco Blvd

I was much closer to home on items like:

There will be a resurgence in new local bands

I thought 2009 blew with city budget issues, national economy collapses and a downtown revitalization that appears to still be quite a few years off. Urban Jacksonville Weekly producer Jack Diablo had the opposite view in his look back at 2009 while Wacksonville says there will be no mercy in 2010.

On Monday’s Urban Jacksonville Weekly, we’ll debate whether 2009 was shit or awesome, talk about my 2009 predictions and look at some predictions for 2010. Join us at 9:30am.

20 Predictions and Trends for 2010

  1. We will see a resurgence in investigative reporting from the Florida Times-Union and it will be led by Jacksonville.com, the online wing of the paper.
  2. The year leading up to the 2011 Mayoral race will engage this city in local politics like we haven’t seen in a decade.
  3. Hyperlocal media players like this blog and others will play a major role in shaping and guiding the political conversation in the 2011 Mayoral elections.
  4. I will endorse and campaign for the Mayoral candidate who I think can help Jacksonville reach the next level.
  5. Social media, specifically Twitter and Facebook, will continue to connect our geographically dispersed city.
  6. Urban Jacksonville will be redesigned to better integrate the Urban Jacksonville Weekly live show and podcast.
  7. If 2009 was the year of relationship building via social media, 2010 will be the year of putting those relationships to work and getting shit done.
  8. There will be an explosion of event programming from MOCA as a result of the new UNF partnership.
  9. Graphic design in the city will continue marching forward, elevate the city visually in ways we haven’t experienced.
  10. 2010 will be our last year of lingering in the past. It will begin to usher in a new era of change, vision and leadership for the city. 2010 is the year we tie up the loose ends and prepare to clean house for 2011, the year of change.
  11. 2010 will be the year of the Courthouse. Hopefully notable for good things like an on time completion with little to no cost overruns. I’m not hanging my hat on this one.
  12. JaxScene will get a redesign.
  13. Jacksonville.com will get a(nother) redesign.
  14. The Sinclair gets new neighbors. West Forsyth rises again.
  15. 2010 will be the year of respect. Respect for this city and respect for ourselves. I said something in a Whacksonville interview that struck me and I want to repeat it here: I want to have a awesome city everyone loves and fiercely defends to anyone who says otherwise. It’s time for that.
  16. Whacksonville will finally get it’s wish and dominate all other blogs in 2010. It will then immediately begin beefing with itself, effectively ending any and all blogging in the city.
  17. East Bay Street or “E-Town” (I just have to say worst district name ever) will flourish thanks to continued strength of nightlife scene.
  18. 2010 will be the year of independently produced audio podcasts and video content. People will grow tired of laborious time behind a keyboard and will start spending laborious time behind a microphone and video camera LCD.
  19. The Jaguars will have another tumultuous year. It will be better than 2009, but the drum in LA will still be beating. The Jaguars will go 10-6, make it to the playoffs as a Wild Card team and will not draft Tim Tebow. They will also have two home blackouts.
  20. Fill in the blank. What’s your trend or prediction for 2010?

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 10:01 pm and is filed under Downtown Jacksonville, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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