BACKGROUND:

The urban core planning district of the City of Jacksonville encompasses about 10,170 acres lying on either side of the St. Johns River. Of that area, 1,740 acres comprise the downtown. The pattern of development of the urban core and many American cities, prior to World War II, was one of densely populated, intensively used, compact areas utilizing primarily public transportation of pedestrian modes of travel. Street patterns, within Jacksonville's urban core, were established following the "Great Fire" in 1901 and followed this typical pattern of development.

Five bridges serve the Northbank of the city: the Fuller Warren, Acosta, Alsop (Main Street), Hart and Mathews. Three of these bridges (Main Street, Acosta and Fuller Warren) also serve the Southbank. Because of existing development within the city, no additional bridges are feasible. Travel within the urban core is limited by the St. Johns River and its bridges.

In additon to natural transportation constraints caused by the St. Johns River, growth of the city is limited due to the location of I-95 on the south and west side of the urban core. The Fuller Warren Bridge and its expressway system was constructed by the Jacksonville Expressway Authority in the 1960s, before the route for I-95 was established. Rather than build a new road and bridge outside the urban area, the interstate highway system incorporated the Fuller Warren Bridge and the city's expressway system into I-95. Because it is a limited access road, I-95 functions as the southern and western boundary of the urban core.

After World War II, the automoblie became less expensive and a comprehensive road network was constructed. Vast areas of inexpensive land in Jacksonville and other cities became open to development. This contributed to a nationwide mass migration out of central cities to the surrounding areas with the private automobile as the new primary mode of transportation. The results can be seen in cities with legendary traffic problems.

A change appears to be taking place in development patterns which could be encouraging for the downtown area. Land cost and rental rates in the high-demand suburban locations are now exceeding those of the urban core area. Infrastructure and permitting costs are becoming very expensive in suburban locations and people are growing tired of long daily work commutes and for other aspects of daily life. There is a desire to live in a more dense urban environment as evidenced by the rise in property values and the amount of capital improvement, both residential and commerical, in the downtown area.