March 29, 2024

Jacksonville

John F. Berry | 6/1/1996
Back in the 1960s, New York City Mayor John Lindsay once commented, it a suave urban bon mot, that he didn't trust air he couldn't see.

That sentiment came to mind when I visited Jacksonville recently. Folks there used to taste, smell, see - and most certainly die from - the foul air that spewed from nearby paper mills. They were advised to accept the condition as one of those economic realities that had to be endured.

After all, plants produced jobs. But in the 1980s, health and aesthetic concerns finally forced the mills to curb their fetid effluvium - and guess what? Jacksonville has been gaining, not losing, jobs ever since.

Indeed, there's some noteworthy excitement going on these days in Jacksonville, a city that has long suffered from a serious inferiority complex . The rest of the state sort of thinks of the city as, well, almost Georgia. When people discuss Florida cities, it's Orlando, Miami and Tampa. "I don't think the rest of the state knows what's going on here," sighs Jerry Mallot, executive vice president for economic development at the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. "We just passed the one million mark in population. I'll bet nobody knows it."

Mallot and the growing number of boosters of this huge countywide metropolis are determined to change that - and they're getting some help. You can't visit Jacksonville for long before hearing that Money magazine in 1995 named it the "Best Mid-sized City in America." Or that Fortune remarked that it was one of the best cities for business. Or that Site Selection magazine lauded the city's corporate recruiting efforts.

Mallot's chamber and the city have created an extremely persuasive dog-and-pony act for business prospects, and they have sweetened it with some generous financial incentives for companies which bring their business to Jacksonville. It's as aggressive as any campaign in the state, and it's producing results. For the past year, Mallot ticks off a list of arrivals that includes America Online with 1,300 jobs, Wellspring Inc., 700; Coach Leatherware, 650; Prudential Life Insurance, 600; and Unisource, 500.

Such is the stuff from which new images are created. In fact, Jacksonville is caught up in a fascinating struggle to overcome its redneck milltown image as it seeks to regain the powerful economic stature in the state it enjoyed in the distant past.

In his 42nd-floor executive offices, with riveting views that sweep from downtown to the sparkling sea some 20 miles eastward, Barnett Banks President Allen L. Lastinger, Jr., puts Jacksonville into historical perspective. "If you go back 100 years," says Lastinger, a self-described student of Florida history, "Jacksonville was the center of trade and commerce in the state primarily because of the river. It was also the population center of the state."

Then along came air conditioning. Suddenly, the more tropical climes of Miami, Palm Beach, Pinellas County and, later, Orlando became habitable year-round. Reflective of the shift in population, power and prestige, Lastinger notes that his own holding company's Jacksonville bank slipped from Barnett's biggest operation in the state to its seventh largest.

Like Chicago's hang-up over being "second city" to New York, Lastinger says Jacksonville over the decades developed an attitude of being a "second class citizen" to just about everybody. Now, from a cover blurb on Jacksonville magazine ("How the River City Became Boom Town USA") to the bubbling enthusiasm of local businessmen, a renaissance has been declared. "There has been a positive dynamic at work," according to Lastinger, "that says, 'We're as good as any major city in the state and country.'"

Virtually everyone in Jacksonville claims that the "capstone" of the new civic pride is the Jaguars NFL franchise. Now, I'm pretty cynical about these professional sports fat cats who take advantage of fans' emotional needs, and the Jaguar owners are no exception; they cut themselves a very sweet deal in Jacksonville. Still, when serious people say things like "the team helped the self-concept of the people here," you take it seriously.

Of course, all this civic bolstering may begin to sound like a Stuart Smalley self-affirmation routine on "Saturday Night Live," especially when considered alongside the city's lingering urban woes. Its simmering school integration and funding crisis has captured national headlines for more than a decade. This social throwback runs counter to the city's efforts to present a progressive image, and some businesses reportedly have stayed clear of Jacksonville because of it. Then there's the downtown area at night, which remains dangerously empty along the lovely banks of the St. Johns River. Jacksonville, like every other city, is struggling against our suburban mall society, but this city remains determined: An arts center is abuilding and ambitious development plans are afoot along the river.

"It's a great time to be mayor of this city," enthuses John Delaney. He was the surprise victor in last year's election, the first Republican mayor since Grant was president and the youngest (just turned 40) since World War II - a living symbol of the newly youthful enthusiasm of the city (average age: 32.7 years, less than the national average).

Over lunch at the River City Brewing Co. on this glistening Florida day with the city before us, it's hard not to share Mayor Delaney's enthusiasm. "We're the last best bet for Florida," he says, adding with a sigh, "if we don't blow it."

Tags: Florida Small Business, Politics & Law, Business Florida

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