J Magazine Summer 2018

J MAGAZINE // SPECIAL REPORT
PULSE
ILLUSTRATION BY J MAGAZINEI“I think Downtown — with the
attention the Jaguars are placing
on it — is getting a second look
among some millennials.”
Michael Corrigan
UNF political science professor
f you can’t tell from the number of
construction cranes you see when you’re
driving around Downtown …
If you couldn’t tell from the grand openings
of Daily’s Place orthe $10 million
restaurant or the new or arising apartment
complexes …
If you can’t tell from the buzz around
Hemming Park …
You know it’s happening when it reaches
the hearts and minds of people like you,
and the fact is: Downtown is improving.
It certainly hasn’t reached critical mass
yet, or even achieved credible momentum,
but one year after The Times-Union created
J magazine dedicated to the “rebirth of
Jacksonville’s Downtown,” you and your
neighbors know something big is afoot.
A new poll for J by the University of North Florida Opinion
Research Laboratory found that 49 percent of Northeast Florida residents
believe Downtown is improving — compared to 37 percent
with that same answer a year ago.
The belief has grown even more in surrounding counties than in
Jacksonville proper. In Duval, those who are seeing improvement
increased from 42 percent in 2017 to 51 percent this year, and in
Clay, St. Johns and Nassau counties, the proportion jumped from
29 percent to 46 percent.
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SUMMER 2018 | J MAGAZINE 39