J Magazine June 2017

FROM THE PUBLISHER
Jacksonville’s future
depends on the heart
of our downtown
MARK
NUSBAUM
PHONE
(904) 359-4349
EMAIL
mark.nusbaum@
jacksonville.com
e owe this to future generations
W as well as our own.
Jacksonville is many things to
many people. From our amazing beaches
and eclectic neighborhoods to the Fortune
500 companies and the mom and
pop shops that line our streets, Jacksonville
continues to be a city on the verge of
greatness.
Many have said the very vitality of a city can be
measured by the energy of its downtown. If that’s the
case, it’s time to stop dreaming and start doing. Now
is the time to be part of something remarkable. Now is
the time to look to ourselves instead of future generations.
Now is the time to make this happen.
If Jacksonville, circa 1968, was tagged the Bold
New City of the South, today we should all aim to be
Boldest City in America. A city no one can overlook.
A city no one will ever take for granted. And a city
that’s the envy of every place — big or small — in this
entire country.
With resurgence tied directly to the rebirth,
revitalization, reimagination and renewed spirit in
their downtown cores, cities such as Denver, Atlanta,
Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Greenville, S.C., have
flourished while breathing an infectious spirit into
their communities. Spirit that attracts new business.
Spirit that attracts new people. And, just as important,
the very spirit that makes people swell with pride in
the places they live.
There is no other city in this country as perfectly
poised to be the next “big thing” as Jacksonville. But to
do so, it can no longer be hampered by its struggling
Downtown. It can no longer let time pass. It can no
longer be a city of unrealized potential.
In 2014, Jaguars owner Shad Khan said, “A homeless
guy in Detroit has more mojo than a millionaire
in Jacksonville.” While some bristled at the thought,
consider Khan’s context in that same speech when
he said, “There’s great potential here, and I’m always
befuddled. … Why aren’t we doing better? ... It’s just
not that we have great people here. I mean, they are
young people. And that is absolutely the DNA, I mean
the vital juice, that everybody craves.”
Today, Khan’s view remains a critical lens on both
the opportunities we have, as well as the challenges we
must overcome to take that important next step. That
gigantic leap.
While the optics through which we are seen, and
even how we view ourselves, are critical in making this
Bold City as unique and vibrant as we all imagine, the
single biggest missing piece to the puzzle of this amazing
place we call home is our city’s downtown.
Make no mistake, this is not an indictment of what’s
transpired in the past. This is not a finger-pointing or a
rehashing of the “if we’d only dones.” No, this is about
moving forward. Rolling up our collective sleeves. Pulling
the oars in the same direction. All of us. Together.
You’re holding the first issue of J Magazine, its
pages filled with a simple mission: to look forward
while chronicling the transformation of Jacksonville’s
downtown. With the dreamers and the doers. With the
policy makers and the developers. With the new voices
and the old. With the obstacles and the solutions.
With vision and hard work, Downtown Jacksonville
will be a place of which we can all be proud. A place
where we’ll be honored to say we helped to create this
remarkable transformation. A place that is the envy of
every city in our country.
In coming issues, you’ll find articles on everything
from the river bisecting our core to the future of Jacksonville’s
mass transit. From Peter Rummell’s unique
living concept to Shad Khan’s desire to breathe life into
the Shipyards. From the influx of housing bringing millennials
to live, work and play in our downtown to the
intersection of art and culture in a thriving urban area.
The country’s Boldest City can only be a reality if we
stop squinting to imagine a vibrant downtown.
Let our legacy be that we didn’t kick the can down
the road. Let our legacy be that we helped make Jacksonville’s
downtown BOLD for generations to come.
MARK NUSBAUM is president and publisher of The Florida
Times-Union and T-U Media. He and his wife live in
Jacksonville’s Avondale neighborhood.
JUNE 2017 | J MAGAZINE 9