If you haven't read/heard about The Spark Plan yet, here is a quick blurb to get you caught up. The “Spark,” a partnership among the City, the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, Downtown Vision Inc., JTA and the private sector, is focused on creating a redevelopment plan for the Northbank core based on attracting artists to live and work Downtown and using unoccupied historic buildings.
This is really exciting for Jacksonville. In cities all over the US, creative people have moved into "unusable" spaces or neglected neighborhoods, often for cost/price issues. But the creative energy they bring is often the "spark" that ignites more development, such as galleries, coffee shops, restaurants, shops, etc to move in. The biggest example of this to look at is, of course, SOHO in NY. More locally, Ybor City in Tampa was also "sparked" in this way in the early 1990's.
Recently, James Richards, the co-founder and principal at TOWNSCAPE, Inc visited to assist with The Spark Plan. You can read Part one of his interview here and part two here
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