Featured image for “OPINION | The 2023 mayoral race is getting real”
January 2, 2023

OPINION | The 2023 mayoral race is getting real

It is now 2023, and city elections are all but upon us. If you’re in the mayoral race, you’d better have introduced yourself by now, and done it thoroughly and memorably, because odds are good that the oppo bomb will drop on you soon enough, as the campaign will likely move into increasingly negative territory through March, then May. As

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Featured image for “OPINION | 4 myths about Jacksonville’s city government”
December 13, 2022

OPINION | 4 myths about Jacksonville’s city government

Jacksonville City Hall provides no shortage of things to criticize, but there are some common complaints that don’t stand up to scrutiny. Looking around the country shows that. Myth 1: Jacksonville City Council is too big Reality: Jacksonville City Council is smaller than the councils of other consolidated cities One recurring claim about Jacksonville’s city government is that its 19-member

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Featured image for “THE JAXSON | List: The urban core’s largest historic public parks”
December 6, 2022

THE JAXSON | List: The urban core’s largest historic public parks

Jacksonville is one of largest cities by area in the contiguous U.S., covering 747 square miles of land area. It also is home to the largest urban park system in the nation. Prior to the city’s 1968 consolidation with Duval County, Jacksonville was a 30-square-mile pedestrian-scale community with 200,000 residents. Here is a look at the city’s five largest urban

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Featured image for “THE JAXSON | The first Thanksgivings on the First Coast”
November 22, 2022

THE JAXSON | The first Thanksgivings on the First Coast

Five decades before the Pilgrims celebrated their feast at Plymouth, Massachusetts, French and Spanish colonists held feasts of celebration on Florida’s First Coast. Origins of Thanksgiving Thanksgiving has its roots in European traditions. All across Europe, it was customary to give thanks to God after the yearly harvest and other important events. In the age of colonization, it became customary

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Featured image for “OPINION | The ‘resign to run’ trap”
November 20, 2022

OPINION | The ‘resign to run’ trap

I’ve written about politics in this town for many years and expressed my share of frustrations, including with candidates running for higher office while still an incumbent. The most glaring example of that obviously has been mayoral races, where a member of the City Council runs more often than not. When candidacy and incumbency converge, it raises questions about what

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Featured image for “THE JAXSON | LaVilla’s Railroad Row in color”
November 15, 2022

THE JAXSON | LaVilla’s Railroad Row in color

Between 1890 and 1920, more than 20 million immigrants arrived in the United States. Many found Jacksonville’s LaVilla neighborhood as a destination to pursue the American dream, as the district was home to the largest passenger railroad station south of Washington, D.C. Sandwiched between the city’s major railroad depots and the riverfront, West Bay Street emerged as a place where

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Featured image for “THE JAXSON | The last days of Adventure Landing”
November 8, 2022

THE JAXSON | The last days of Adventure Landing

For 27 years, Jacksonville Beach’s Adventure Landing has been one of the most popular attractions for kids and their families anywhere on the First Coast, but current plans for the property will shutter the park in the near future. The Jaxson’s Bill Delaney and photographer Erik Hamilton stopped by to take one last look. The adventure begins Adventure Landing came

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Featured image for “Trailblazer Dr. Charles B. McIntosh paves path for clinic, community center in Northwest Jax”
November 7, 2022

Trailblazer Dr. Charles B. McIntosh paves path for clinic, community center in Northwest Jax

A smile slowly crept across Dr. Charles B. McIntosh’s face as he watched the unveiling last week of a rendering of the community center that will bear his name.  The longtime Jacksonville pediatrician’s legacy is being affixed to the facility in Northwest Jacksonville, meant to both address health disparities and provide a place for youth in the area to gather.

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Featured image for “THE JAXSON | 5 mid-century modern neighborhoods in Jax”
November 1, 2022

THE JAXSON | 5 mid-century modern neighborhoods in Jax

Covering nearly 875 square miles, Jacksonville is a diverse community with a wide collection of neighborhoods appealing to different lifestyles. Located a short drive from the urban core are a ring of post-World War II neighborhoods characterized today by their mature developed landscape and American ranch and mid-century modern residential architecture. Here are five neighborhoods that developed rapidly on the

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Featured image for “THE JAXSON | Jax lore: Alpha Paynter, ghost of TacoLu”
October 25, 2022

THE JAXSON | Jax lore: Alpha Paynter, ghost of TacoLu

Before it was TacoLu, the iconic log cabin off Beach Boulevard in Jacksonville Beach was home to the famed Homestead restaurant for 80 years. According to widespread local tradition, its founder Alpha Paynter never left even in death. In honor of spooky season, here’s a look at the history and folklore behind one of Northeast Florida’s best-known haunted buildings. A

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