Consolidation

[spenser1058]

2 hours ago, Uncommon said:

No to consolidation. Jacksonville is a cautionary tale.

Is Nashville one too?

Your Jax hatred is sort of humorous; they have three Fortune 500 HQs (plus a couple of others like FL Blue that would be on the list but is excluded because it’s a nonprofit); their population growth for the last decade is 16%, which puts them among the fastest-growing major cities; they also have an NFL team with Urban Meyer now coaching. We have... the Magic. All in all, not too bad.

Best of all, at least Jax acknowledges they have to do something different with their downtown and are actively working on it from the ground up. Meanwhile, downtown Orlando is less popular than it was 20 years ago and nobody even wants to admit we need to fix it. Tell me who’s gonna win in the long run with that attitude.

Oh and they have 5 buildings 435’ tall or more - one’s over 600’. 

Edited January 24, 2021 by spenser1058

[Uncommon]

8 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Is Nashville one too?

Your Jax hatred is sort of humorous; they have three Fortune 500 HQs (plus a couple of others like FL Blue that would be on the list but is excluded because it’s a nonprofit); their population growth for the last decade is 16%, which puts them among the fastest-growing major cities; they also have an NFL team with Urban Meyer now coaching. We have... the Magic. All in all, not too bad.

Best of all, at least Jax acknowledges they have to do something different with their downtown and are actively working on it from the ground up. Meanwhile, downtown Orlando is less popular than it was 20 years ago and nobody even wants to admit we need to fix it. Tell me who’s gonna win in the long run with that attitude.

Oh and they have 5 buildings 435’ tall or more - one’s over 600’. 

Nashville doesn’t suffer from this because their tourist areas are downtown.

I don’t have a Jacksonville hatred at all. It only seems that way because of your irrational love affair. Why are you bringing up irrelevant nonsense? Buildings that were built 50 years ago but none in the past 15 years? Urban Meyer, really? An NFL team with one of the worst attendance rates? Growth, as if all Florida cities aren’t growing?

The city is 100% disjointed, and a lot of it is due to consolidation. Money and attention that might otherwise go to downtown is instead going everywhere else, leaving Jax’s core decrepit and dilapidated. Easily one of the worst downtown areas I’ve ever been to, and that was before the Landing closed down. If Orlando and Orange County merged, I could 100% see a scenario where all of the attention goes to the tourist areas, leaving downtown as the forgotten district.

[WAJAS]

I wonder if we can get @thelakelander from the MetroJax forums to get his opinion on the comparison. I don't have an account over there, but someone should reach out.

[jack]

On 1/23/2021 at 9:25 PM, spenser1058 said:

The suggestion has been that the smaller OC cities would keep their current governments and boundaries. They would work with OC just as they currently do - the only difference would be the county would now also include Orlando.

Another interesting part would be to allow OUC to extend further into the county (it already does in some areas like Pine Hills). Given that OUC charges less and is more reliable than Duke Energy (and instead of the profits heading off to Wall St. they’re used to defray government costs), I assume it would be relatively popular. I’m not sure if FP&L has territory in OC these days (I seem to recall they may have a part of the far side of East Orange). If they do, that would need to be worked out since their rate/kwh is lower than OUC’s.

So, not real consolidation. Just absorbing Orlando. No thanks. 

As to OUC, its crazy that their profits go back to the City of Orlando is Orlando still has the highest taxes in the region. 

OUC also makes you pay more up front for service. Many (but not all) utilities provide the equipment for you for free or at a low cost and get it back over time from the homeowner. OUC charges a good amount for equipment but allows for a lower monthly rate. 

[sharase]

I've read a lot of posts on this site, but yours piqued my interest. In the future, I believe you should add more themes.

subway surfers

[spenser1058]

It’s interesting to ponder that Orlando is probably the only city of significant size in the country whose city council is less progressive than its county commission.

Fascinating. Only in Orlando, where the mayor and council resemble extras for the remake of Cocoon…

 

[spenser1058]

The Jaxson takes an interesting look at how consolidated Jacksonville compares with other cities, consolidated and not.

It also takes on some of the questions of how consolidations works for Duval County vs. other cities. Specifically, it compares the decision to consolidate Jax in 1968 vs. the hodge-podge approach Orlando has taken ( @AndyPok1will get a kick out of this, I suspect).

https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/4-myths-about-jacksonvilles-city-government

[jack]

On 12/20/2022 at 9:25 AM, spenser1058 said:

The Jaxson takes an interesting look at how consolidated Jacksonville compares with other cities, consolidated and not.

It also takes on some of the questions of how consolidations works for Duval County vs. other cities. Specifically, it compares the decision to consolidate Jax in 1968 vs. the hodge-podge approach Orlando has taken ( @AndyPok1will get a kick out of this, I suspect).

https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/4-myths-about-jacksonvilles-city-government

The idea that they have too many council members is shocking. We have too few.