SHARE:
Economic Yearbook 2007
NORTHEAST: Room for the Boom
The port is calling.
Room for the Boom
Regional Trends
|
PORT BOOM: Jacksonville is girding for an explosion of imports when Jaxport's direct shipping lines to Asia open next year.
ROAD CONCERNS: Will already-congested transportation infrastructure be able to handle all the new activity? "It isn't there yet," says David A. Smith, CEO of Jacksonville-based PSS World Medical, a $1.8-billion company that plans to bring some 4,000 40-foot containers into Jacksonville annually within the next two years. ... As business increases, so too will the influx of residents into surrounding counties such as St. Johns and Clay, both with 4% annual population growth, straining the region's highways. All six northeast counties cite transportation infrastructure as a major concern. ... In rural counties such as Baker, concurrency requirements mean developers will have to foot the bill for new roads. ... In built-out areas such as A1A along the region's Atlantic coast, officials are begging for state dollars to help ease the gridlock that hurts local business. "A1A is the artery through which the lifeblood of our business community flows," says Melanie Ferreira, executive director of the Nassau County Economic Development Board. "It's something that we as a region really need to address."
? Race gap
The Jacksonville Community Council has earned nationwide praise for its annual monitoring of the community's most serious challenges, including race relations. Its 2006 Race Relations Progress Report shows progress in some areas but slippage in others. For example, the gap between white and black unemployment rates is widening. In 2005, the unemployment rate for both whites and Hispanics was 4.7% but 11.4% for blacks.
The U.S. Census Bureau only began estimating median household income by race in 2005. In Jacksonville, white median income was $61,168; among blacks it was $37,103.
