When folks are asked to name the top Florida city, most don’t answer “Jacksonville.” The burg alternately known as “The First Coast,” “Gateway to Florida,” and “River City” typically gets left in the dust by a lengthy list of other Sunshine State settings.
But today, when folks are asked to name the Florida place most on the move, with the best-conceived plans for growth, “Jacksonville” may be the well-informed answer.
Or rather, “Downtown Jacksonville,” may be the words voiced by those in the know.
According to the October 2023 State of Downtown Report from Downtown Vision, Downtown Jacksonville’s nonprofit Business Improvement District, the number of residents living in downtown Jacksonville is forecast to more than double by 2030. More than 100 acres of St. Johns River frontage are gaining mixed-use development and parks projects. Approximately 5,000 residential units are under construction or in review.
A 30-mile Emerald Trail network and myriad biking and walking paths are in design or in construction to spur alternative transportation in the center of Downtown Jacksonville. The city’s first new law school in two decades opened its doors there in summer 2022, while a $15 million renovation of the city’s Florida Theatre is approaching completion. Also under construction are approximately 400 hotel rooms, among them the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Jacksonville, the first luxury hotel to sprout in Jacksonville’s central business district.
Read the fully story at Forbes.