Jacksonville, Florida – Downtown Jacksonville is a key component of the city’s growth, and Jake Gordon is one of the leaders working to improve and promote our downtown as a place to live, work and play, and he’s our guest on this week’s Jacksonville: Business Edition.
Broadly speaking, Downtown Vision, Inc. (DVI) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to “make downtown better” by working with property owners within a three-mile radius.
“I moved to Jacksonville about 10 years ago, and downtown wasn't as talked about as it is now,” Gordon said, “and it's incredible to think how much downtown has changed, how much positive change has been made in the last 10 years. But like any city, we're never satisfied and we always want more, so there are a lot of things downtown that need fixing… the work is never done, and we continue to look and try to add the best we can.”
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Gordon said downtown Jacksonville has seen improvements over the past decade, along with an increase in residential population. The frustration stems from the comparison game.
“The reality is, are we in line with other cities like Nashville or Charlotte that are really investing in their downtowns?,” Gordon said. “People who live in Jacksonville are going to love it, but it's also a very unique city, so it's really hard to compare Jacksonville to other cities exactly like it.”
Gordon has been CEO of DVI since 2015. In this episode, he detailed how they provide feedback on what people want for downtown, as well as the conclusions of the most recent “State of Downtown” report and how much funding has been put into projects over the past two years.
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