So I’m the proud owner (tenant?) of an old house in the Historic Springfield neighborhood.  The Springfield neighborhood is known for its nice historic homes, urban blight, and proximity to downtown (also known for urban blight).  While this might deter other buyers, I am both an armchair socialist and swayed by the opinions of my girlfriend.  Really, it was mostly the girlfriend.  In Jacksonville, there’s a saying that ‘Springfield is just around the corner…still’.  This is mostly owed to the lack of development in the area since 1950, and preference for other historical neighborhoods such as Riverside, San Marco, and Avondale.  To couch it in OKC terms, it’s like Heritage Hills houses, with the NE OKC neighborhood.  However, there is genuine interest in restoring the neighborhood and making it a decent place to live.  And honestly my experiences thus far reinforce that.

Jacksonville, is a weird city, much like OKC.  It has termendous amounts of sprawl, and deurbanization levels that probably compare with Pittsburgh and Detroit.  In doing a little research I found this to be a good aid in understanding the history of Jacksonville.  It appears like most cities, it fell victim to the infernal machine known as the Automobile, with the crushing weight of racism and segregation thrown on top.  For example, the city borders before consolidation of Jacksonville and Duval County, circa 1932:

With a population of roughly 130,000, Jacksonville was the largest city in Florida at the time.  The peak population of this area was over 200,000 in the 1950 census.  In stark contrast, the current population of this same area is less then 1930, with a 2000 census of 112,753.  After the consolidation of the county and city in 1968 here is a map of the current borders, population 778,879 in 2000.  Take note, the cities of Jax Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, and Baldwin are not incorporated into the city.  Probably makes sense, since it takes a good 30 minutes to get from my neighborhood to the beaches (Baldwin isn’t listed because it’s a terrible place that no one should ever visit).

What are the consequences of the county-city consolidation and the decline of the urban center?

• Homes are cheap, and at least 20 minutes away from Applebee’s (A significant Quality of Life Indicator)
• Jerks in the ‘burbs pay for my safety and infrastructure
• Jerks in the ‘burbs do anything they can to keep money out of the city center

When James Madison wrote about “Spheres of Interests”, I don’t think he meant city governance.  More on Springfield later.