3. Integrating Brooklyn and LaVilla

With the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center finally under construction, urban housing rising in Brooklyn and LaVilla, and a renewed interest in McCoys Creek, the old Jacksonville Terminal’s grand lobby would be a perfect location for a centralized node of mixed-use activity and open space, bringing these two increasingly popular districts together.

Example: Union Station – Denver, CO

Denver Union Station in 2008

Denver Union Station in 2016

4. Exposing Existing Retail Spaces

Everyone would like to see downtown’s core streets filled with retail. In reality, they already are. Unfortunately, much of the retail in the Northbank’s office towers turns its back to the street. Revamping storefronts to face the street, adding a little signage and outdoor cafe style seating are easy-to-implement solutions that activate and energize overlooked dead spaces. A perfect example would be what’s left of the street level mall in the Wells Fargo Center.

Example: The Tower at One Progress Plaza – St. Petersburg, FL

The Mill Restuarant (Above) takes advantage of sidewalk to utilize a former street level dead space (2008 view below) at the base of the Tower at One Progress Plaza.

5. "Bookending" The Suntrust Parking Garage

As illustrated by the successful launch of the Court Urban Food Park (food truck court), a little creativity can turn an underused sidewalk adjacent to a parking garage into a beehive of activity. That type of creativity doesn’t have to start there. A similar space, involving a small dead end street, is large enough for infill development along the Suntrust parking garage’s riverfront facade. A sprinkle of placemaking at this site, the Landing and exposing Enterprise Center’s ground floor to the street, would turn the intersection of Independent Drive, Hogan and Water Streets into one of the most lively places in the city.

Example: The Bookends – Greenville, SC

Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Davis is a certified senior planner and graduate of Florida A&M University. He is the author of the award winning books “Reclaiming Jacksonville,” “Cohen Brothers: The Big Store” and “Images of Modern America: Jacksonville.” Davis has served with various organizations committed to improving urban communities, including the American Planning Association and the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. A 2013 Next City Vanguard, Davis is the co-founder of Metro Jacksonville.com and ModernCities.com — two websites dedicated to promoting fiscally sustainable communities — and Transform Jax, a tactical urbanist group. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com