Impressions of Jacksonville

Jacksonville, FL is America's geographically largest city; most of it is suburban sprawl, and everywhere one sees new construction. Half the FM radio stations are country. We had lunch in an Indian restaurant in the Arlington section with an Indian grocery store next door where we bought dried fruit and nuts. The rather sterile downtown has office towers separated by parking lots, as well as a monorail (similar to the People Movers in Detroit and Miami), and the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art whose two floor collection boasts the southeast's largest modern art collection. The latter has a small but representative collection of 20th and 21st century art including work by Rosenquist, Stella, Frankenthaler, Mapplethorpe, and a few Picasso lithographs. Just southwest of downtown is the five points section (named for an intersection--no relation to the 19th century NYC slum), the funky artsy area of Jacksonville--especially one block of Park Street between Post and the five point intersection. A supermarket a couple of blocks away has a decent health food section, a large selection of wines and imported cheeses, and decent produce. There is also another museum nearby with a collection of American art. If God forbid I ever had to live here I would head for the five points neighborhood.

Impressions of Jacksonville

Jacksonville, FL is America's geographically largest city; most of it is suburban sprawl, and everywhere one sees new construction. Half the FM radio stations are country. We had lunch in an Indian restaurant in the Arlington section with an Indian grocery store next door where we bought dried fruit and nuts. The rather sterile downtown has office towers separated by parking lots, as well as a monorail (similar to the People Movers in Detroit and Miami), and the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art whose two floor collection boasts the southeast's largest modern art collection. The latter has a small but representative collection of 20th and 21st century art including work by Rosenquist, Stella, Frankenthaler, Mapplethorpe, and a few Picasso lithographs. Just southwest of downtown is the five points section (named for an intersection--no relation to the 19th century NYC slum), the funky artsy area of Jacksonville--especially one block of Park Street between Post and the five point intersection. A supermarket a couple of blocks away has a decent health food section, a large selection of wines and imported cheeses, and decent produce. There is also another museum nearby with a collection of American art. If God forbid I ever had to live here I would head for the five points neighborhood.