Jacksonville City Type

[jjoshjl]

Just a curiosity...

The Matthews bridge thread made me think how differant jacksonville really is from the rest of florida as a whole. (sorta an asset if you ask me.) Anyway, the pole is simple, do you think our city Business wise is more like Northern Cities, Midwestern Cities, or tropical destination cities.

Anyway... Just curious

[jjoshjl]

Also, do you think your selection is a good or bad thing for JAX.

[bobliocatt]

Jacksonville has a funky Midwestern/Floridian mix. Its got a history, setting and economic background, more in line with an industrial river city like Pittsburgh or Detroit, yet its coastal location, overall built density and climate say Florida. Personally, I think this is a good thing and only adds to the diversity of Florida. Everyplace in the state shouldn't be palm trees, hotels, neon lights and retirement homes.

[120North]

Jacksonville's history is so strange, that I think it is in a category all on its own. Jax is definately not a huge industrial city, although it used to have a substantial amount of ship building and the like going on. It is not palm trees and tourism by any stretch. Jacksonville is right now like a midwestern city, service based businesses and a good place to raise a family.

[Florida]

^nicely put

[wolfdawg54]

It depends on what you look at. I think that it is a mix but like the others it seems to be more like a midwestern city.

[Viper]

Jacksonville is a mix. It's diversity a mirror to its broad ranging boarders. On one end of the spectrum, it touches almost tropical waters. At the other, hunting and forestry are common staples. In the middle, a financial center that rivals cities twice our metro size.

What is most prominent? At one point, industrialism was huge but has slowly been replaced by service, medical, technology, finance and is continuing that change.

[RiversideGator]

Where is the none of the above option? I think Jacksonville is more like Birmingham, AL in that it is a working (as opposed to resort or tourist city) Southern city which happens to be on the coast. It also has elements of Savannah in the old historic structures. We also have developed from an industrial city into more of a modern, information age city. Culturally, I find we have little in common with the other large FL cities since they are almost completely Yankeefied (to coin a word) whereas we are only partially overrun by our Northern friends.

[afh]

Jacksonville has a funky Midwestern/Floridian mix.  Its got a history, setting and economic background, more in line with an industrial river city like Pittsburgh or Detroit, yet its coastal location, overall built density and climate say Florida.  Personally, I think this is a good thing and only adds to the diversity of Florida.  Everyplace in the state shouldn't be palm trees, hotels, neon lights and retirement homes.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have said the same thing. You still have the palm trees and new retirement communities being built by Pulte and other companies. But there is somewhat a Midwestern feel as you said b/c of the industrial river city background. I think that the location and people give it that Florida feel. The laid back attitude that is prevalent throughout the state. Less laid back than Phoenix but right for Florida. It's a good mix if you ask me. Definately adds to the overall diversity of this city which is lacking out here in the Phoenix metro.

[Brickell]

I've only been to twice, but I've never felt Jacksonville as anything more than a typical deep south city comparable to Birmingham, Mobile, or a bigger Pensacola. Yet it retains some of that Florida charm. I wouldn't call that tropical though. I don't see that as a good thing or a bad thing, it just is.

So none of the above.

[afh]

Where is the none of the above option?  I think Jacksonville is more like Birmingham, AL in that it is a working (as opposed to resort or tourist city) Southern city which happens to be on the coast.  It also has elements of Savannah in the old historic structures.  We also have developed from an industrial city into more of a modern, information age city.  Culturally, I find we have little in common with the other large FL cities since they are almost completely Yankeefied (to coin a word) whereas we are only partially overrun by our Northern friends.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Like B-ham. Uh, no! Yes Jax is working but there is still something like 7mil "tourists that visit Jax on a annual basis. Not counting the 8mil that go to St Johns county. So I wouldn't necessarily say that no tourists come to Jax and I wouldn't laugh at those numbers. The numbers keep growing so that is happening. No it not 40 mil like O-town but the numbers are good for a city that doesn't concentrate on it to the extent that other cities do.

I also wouldn't call J-ville your typical Southern city. One, it's in Florida and two you have too many transplants from other non-Southern areas of the country moving into Jax. Jax over the last 10 years or so has begun to lose the it's Southern feel. Sure you still have Southerners in Jax, but not to the extent you have in a city like B-ham. I find that Jax has plenty in common with Tampa than some of the others to the extent that it not just northerners who are moving to the metro. Oh sure you get that a lot, but you also get the Midwesterners, SoCals and the people from Texas and the rest of the south. It's a good mix that in my opinion separates Jax from other southern cities such as B-Ham, Charlotte, Raliegh and the like. I don't think anyone who has been to B-ham, Charlotte, Raliegh, Memphis or Nashville would confuse the feel of being in Jax with the feel of being in one of those cities.

Having lived in many diff cities while also being born and raised in Jax, I can say with a great deal of confidence that Jax has that Florida feel and totally Floridian all the way. It's doesn't feel like a typical southern city and I think alot of that has to do with the people who move there.

[RiversideGator]

Like B-ham. Uh, no!

AFH: Well, I was born in Jacksonville (my family has been here since 1901) and have lived here for 32 years (not counting 4 years in Gainesville for college and 3 years in Birmingham for law school), so I think I am well qualified to speak about the similarities between Jacksonville and Birmingham, unlike you who speaks from a perch somewhere in the desert. I think we have been through this before. The core of Jacksonville is Southern and, of course, there are large numbers of people from other regions moving here, just as people from outside the South are moving to Atlanta, Charlotte, Charleston, etc. We do have more Northerners than Bham does, but the presence of Northerners does not alter the fact that the city is more Southern than cheesy Florida (i.e. Tampa, Orlando, etc). Jacksonville is also more conservative and traditional than the other large FL cities. Of course, this is all in flux as the city is growing. However, I would hope that we would always retain our core values and traditions.

I used Bham as an example b/c it is a Southern city which used to be predominantly industrial but is now focused on banking, insurance and medical care. Sound familiar?? I was not saying that we are an exact copy, just that there are similarities.

[afh]

AFH:  Well, I was born in Jacksonville (my family has been here since 1901) and have lived here for 32 years (not counting 4 years in Gainesville for college and 3 years in Birmingham for law school), so I think I am well qualified to speak about the similarities between Jacksonville and Birmingham, unlike you who speaks from a perch somewhere in the desert.  I think we have been through this before.  The core of Jacksonville is Southern and, of course, there are large numbers of people from other regions moving here, just as people from outside the South are moving to Atlanta, Charlotte, Charleston, etc.  We do have more Northerners than Bham does, but the presence of Northerners does not alter the fact that the city is more Southern than cheesy Florida (i.e. Tampa, Orlando, etc).  Jacksonville is also more conservative and traditional than the other large FL cities.  Of course, this is all in flux as the city is growing.  However, I would hope that we would always retain our core values and traditions.

I used Bham as an example b/c it is a Southern city which used to be predominantly industrial but is now focused on banking, insurance and medical care.  Sound familiar??  I was not saying that we are an exact copy, just that there are similarities.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was born and raised in Jax as well. And I think that sitting out here in this desert as well as having lived all over Florida and traveling all over allows me to look at this issue from a distance with some perspective. I'm 28 so maybe I see it from a different perspective than you. I don't know how long my family has been in Jax but we're all over Florida and the rest of the country. As I said, Jax does have it southerners, but as I mentioned, it not the northerners who are changing the face of Jax. It's the northerners in combination with the people from Cali, Texas and the midwest. That is why I said Jax is probably more like Tampa. I wouldn't call the rest of Florida cheesy just b/c it not as "southern". Sure Jax is more conversative than the rest of Florida but so is Phoenix and it's not in the South so I wouldn't necessary term that a "southern" quality. Jax's core is made up of it's people. The fact of the matter is that it's people are diverse in terms of where they come from and racially. This mixture leads to and has lead to change. In doing, Jax's core as you say, is changing and will change, but I think it's for the good.

The comparsion to B-ham in terms of economy is something that I can see. That and the fact that both cities are in the south would be the only similarities that I could see.

[120North]

You can't group JAX into a category. Its like a lot of other cities, but it has a qualities that are its own. Jacksonville has rich agricultural heritage. It is one of the formemost deep water ports in the south. It has three active military installations. It has world class beaches. It has a gorgeous river that flows backwards. It has an economy that is thriving. It is conservative. It is a great place to grow up in. It is so many different things that you can't categorize it as one type of city. Jacksonville is like Jacksonville and there is no other city that is quite like it.

[afh]

You can't group JAX into a category.  Its like a lot of other cities, but it has a qualities that are its own.  Jacksonville has rich agricultural heritage.  It is one of the formemost deep water ports in the south.  It has three active military installations.  It has world class beaches.  It has a gorgeous river that flows backwards.  It has an economy that is thriving.  It is conservative.  It is a great place to grow up in.  It is so many different things that you can't categorize it as one type of city.  Jacksonville is like Jacksonville and there is no other city that is quite like it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well said!

[JaxInvestor]

  It has a gorgeous river that flows backwards. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

flows backwards???? nope, just flows from high point to low point...like every other river in the world.

[120North]

Lets not get techinical... It is one of only two rivers that flow south to north in the northern hemisphere with the Nile being the other. So yeah, it flows backwards.

[Jmac823200]

Lets not get techinical...  It is one of only two rivers that flow south to north in the northern hemisphere with the Nile being the other.  So yeah, it flows backwards.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not really... http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/riversno.htm

[wolfdawg54]

That doesn't seem to be too technical. A river flowing from a high point to a low is what all rivers do. Ours is just uncommon because the high point is south of us. That's all.

[120North]

Water flows downhill? When did that start happening? How many of the rivers on the list end in the ocean? I know that there are very few rivers that do empty into the ocean after flowing north for most of their length. The link above has a list of about 30 rivers. How many rivers are there in the world? Hundreds? Thousands?. 30 out of 500 is not a lot. And then narrow it down even more by taking out the ones that flow into another river that ends up heading south, the St. Johns is a bit of an oddball.