On a recent Tuesday at 8:35 a.m., I was driving to work and found myself in one of Downtown’s usual traffic jams watching a sailboat slowly meander under the raised Main Street Bridge.
I know of no other major American city that has traffic jams like this – one that causes you to pause, look at our magnificent river, the skyline and how fortunate we are to live here. Not only is it my own opportunity for meditation but also one of the major tools we can use to market Downtown Jacksonville: “A traffic jam in Downtown is waiting five minutes while the Main Street Bridge is up for passing sailboats.” As we move to market bigger and better in Jacksonville, I think there is something special about this quality of life that I would hate for us and for Downtown to lose.
Be on the look out this Saturday for an editorial in The Florida Times-Union in collaboration with Brenna Durden of the Florida Redevelopment Association, Chung Rutter of the American Institute of Architects and Ben Warner of JCCI. Our goal is to spark the conversation on creating a cohesive vision and coordinated approach for our riverfront to ensure we are able to retain the qualities that make Downtown Jacksonville unique and special for generations to come.