J Magazine Fall 2017
The magazine of the rebirth of Jacksonville's downtown
The magazine of the rebirth of Jacksonville's downtown
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he motto of the<br />
Downtown Dwellers<br />
Association is simple<br />
enough:<br />
T<br />
“Let the river<br />
unite us. Let the<br />
bridges bring us together.”<br />
And its mission statement is also a<br />
straight shot of prose — with no poetic<br />
chaser.<br />
‘The Jacksonville Downtown Dwellers<br />
are north and south Riverbank residents<br />
actively participating in the ongoing development<br />
of the riverfront as an inviting, culturally<br />
rich place to live.”<br />
But don’t let the no-frills, low-hyperbole<br />
language fool you.<br />
The fact is the Downtown Dwellers Association<br />
— a 100-plus strong collection of<br />
residents living in various apartments and<br />
condominiums across the city center — has<br />
become an under-the-radar powerhouse<br />
in its genuine quest to enhance and elevate<br />
Downtown Jacksonville.<br />
It has worked with the city’s Parks and<br />
Recreation Department to strengthen Jacksonville’s<br />
waterfront, including successful<br />
collaborations that have led to dramatic improvements<br />
to the Lone Sailor fountain area<br />
and other sites along the riverwalks.<br />
It has taken on its own beautification<br />
projects — with some Downtown Dwellers<br />
members even taking to regularly strolling<br />
the riverwalks and picking up carelessly<br />
discarded trash.<br />
And it is actively helping to drive the local<br />
dialogue on how Jacksonville can truly<br />
fulfill the promise of the Southbank and<br />
Northbank.<br />
“Jacksonville is a growing mixture of<br />
ideas, wants and opportunities,” said Sandra<br />
Fradd, Downtown Dwellers’ feisty, witty<br />
and charming president, in an email.<br />
“We Downtown Dwellers are ... in places<br />
where we can watch, see what’s happening<br />
and in small ways maybe even influence it.”<br />
Eric Smith — a beloved civic figure and<br />
former city councilman who has his law<br />
office Downtown and is playing a lead role<br />
in helping Downtown Dwellers officially<br />
incorporate as an organization — said one<br />
reason Downtown still holds so much ap-<br />
Downtown<br />
Dwellers members<br />
Sonia Vivian (seated,<br />
from left) and Sandra<br />
Fradd, with Gianni<br />
Vivian (standing from<br />
left), Thomas Dumas<br />
and Howard Taylor,<br />
pose on the pool deck<br />
of the Peninsula.<br />
54<br />
J MAGAZINE | FALL <strong>2017</strong>
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