I think 2009 is going to be major, I can feel Jacksonville coming into it’s own. We kicked of 2009 with a huge Art Walk and a kick ass art show, I’m Board III, thrown by Chad Landenburger. We also saw the launch of a new Jacksonville blog aggregator called JaxReader. Not bad for the first couple days of the year.
2009 will move us one year closer to becoming an awesome city. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve talked to lots of people about the state of the city. The general consensus is people feel more enthusiastic and empowered about the city than ever before. I have a few predictions and things I would like to see for 2009.
Please leave your own predictions in the comments or tell me I’m full of shit. I’d love either type of feedback.
- There will be a resurgence in new local bands
- I’ll plan at least 2 events, probably music and film related
- I’ll host a new online radio show and talk about recent blog postings and events
- A new player will rise in the Jacksonville blog scene and take the reins as best blog in the city
- Downtown will see two new restaurants open
- Springfield will see a significant increase in retail and food establishments
- Someone will buy and redevelop the Premier Foods grocery store between 7th and 8th on Hubbard
- The trolley will revive Springfield in ways no one anticipated
- A new club will open on Bay Street and The Dive Bar will close
- Berkman Plaza 2 will be demolished and left for dead
- The Southbank will replace the Northbank as the place to live and hang out
- Southbank will be the new Riverside
- Springfield will be the new Riverside
- The area between San Marco Square and the Southbank will see a huge increase in food retail
- The trolley will begin making daily runs into San Marco Square, with Hendricks Avenue being the preferred route over San Marco Blvd.
- Rent in 5 Points will continue to go up until businesses can no longer afford to stay open
- Rent in Springfield and Downtown will be so affordable an existing 5 Points business moves to one of these locations because they are sick of paying so much
- Brooklyn will see the beginning of a revival. The stage is set, now all we need is for DOT to finish the I-95/I-10 interchange and the Riverside Artist Market to open.
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