In honor of a new year, The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission (JEDC) recently looked back at the lessons learned in the last three years of downtown development. The three main themes have developed:

• the importance of street-level improvements
• increasing the value proposition for private investment
• re-evaluating how to get sustainable funding for downtown development

According to the JEDC’s most recent update, street-level improvements such as streetscaping, lighting, landscaping and visitor signage, will encourage additional private investment downtown by creating seamless continuity between the public and private realms. Increasing the value proposition will most effectively be done through adding and improving street-level amenities.

JEDC has even added its own term to the downtown vocabulary – “amenitizing.” Amenitizing downtown and building a quality urban environment will be crucial to sustainable success. Available financial resources are exhausted and new projects such as a new convention center and an urban entertainment complex will be nothing but ideas unless sustainable funding is secured.

The JEDC recommended that in the next five years, as the economy begins to turn-around, more aggressive public-private partnerships will be necessary to achieve success.

Cheers to learning from the past and to success in the future of downtown, Jacksonville!