5 Underrated Features of Downtown Jacksonville

The ongoing revival of downtown Jacksonville has led to a new appreciation for the area after years of neglect.

But some residents still haven’t warmed up to the idea of hanging out downtown. Many don’t even know why anyone would do so. After all, it’s often portrayed as an empty wasteland – and who wants to hang out in an empty wasteland?

In reality, though, downtown Jax isn’t that bad. It’s actually pretty nice, and it’s getting increasingly nicer as development projects wrap up and new tenants arrive.

Obviously downtown is far from perfect. There’s a lot of work left to be done, and it’s still fighting reputation issues and lots of ground-floor vacancies. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth checking out – and more importantly, it means the area needs as much of the community’s support as it can get.

So if you’re still in need of some persuasion, here are a few great qualities of the city’s downtown area that just don’t get enough love.

THE RIVERWALK

Jacksonville is blessed with the natural beauty of the St. Johns River, which runs right through downtown Jax.

As a result, the downtown area features a miles-long, river-adjacent walking and biking pathway. The Riverwalk runs from Riverside Arts Market to the riverfront Hyatt Regency along the Northbank, with plans to expand the path on both ends in the future. On the Southbank, it runs from River City Brewing Company to the Duval County Public Schools building – and eventually it’ll continue into the planned The District community.

The Southbank Riverwalk provides some of the city’s best views, showing off its skyline as well as the Main Street Bridge. The Northbank, meanwhile, is a popular running path that ends at the city’s biggest weekly public arts market.

THE FOOD

Downtown Jax houses some of the city’s best restaurants. Locally-based upscale dining establishments Cowford Chophouse, Orsay, and Bellwether are joined by national chains Ruth’s Chris, MLG, and Morton’s The Steakhouse.

It also has a huge array of lunch options for the downtown working crowd. The Happy Grilled Cheese, Spliff’s Gastropub, Super Food + Brew, and Burrito Gallery are just a few of the varied options found downtown.

Not impressed by any of the brick-and-mortars? Not to worry, The Court Urban Food Park has a rotating collection of food trucks each weekday, and Hemming Park usually hosts at least one truck a day as well.

THE HISTORY

There are so many beautiful historic buildings downtown, and walking around the historic core of the area can give you an amazing helping of early-1900s architecture.

Must-sees include the Barnett Bank building, currently being renovated and revitalized, as well as the Laura Street Trio buildings, the DuPont Center building, and the old Carnegie Library.

As you walk around and look at all the historic structures, you can really get a sense of what downtown Jax was like during its heyday. You can also see obvious changes that have been made: bricks covering up windows, paint and siding plastered over old storefronts, and even buildings that have been partially demolished or mangled in some other way.

THE SILENCE/PEACEFULNESS

If you’ve been downtown in a big city before, you’ve probably observed how noisy it is.

Relatively speaking, downtown Jax is a pretty quiet place. There aren’t a whole lot of people around, so you’ll mostly be listening to random car sounds or the occasional mass-gathering of birds.

And on the average day, unless there’s a special event downtown, you’ll be able to find a parking spot more easily than you would in other cities.

Obviously, the hope is that more people will start coming downtown routinely in the near future. But for now, we might as well take advantage of the silence.

THE SKYWAY

Sure, the Skyway is super outdated and doesn’t really go anywhere interesting. But it’s still pretty fun to ride.

Not many cities have elevated people-movers like the Skyway. It offers some pretty cool views along its admittedly-limited path, even crossing over the Acosta Bridge and giving you a nice look at the water. You can even close your eyes and pretend you’re on the people-mover at Disney World.

It’s not really useful for actually getting anywhere, but if you’ve got nowhere to go and some time to kill downtown, riding the Skyway is a fun little blast from the past that we should enjoy before it gets the axe in favor of self-driving pods.