"Jacksonville, FL" Jacksonville by grimss

Jacksonville, my adopted city, is a huge, sprawling place (largest in terms of land size in the US) that only in the last ten years or so (actually more like the last two!) has really begun to develop a sense of itself. Its biggest claim to fame used to be the awful smell from its nearby paper plants (thankfully before my time here), but those plants have now been closed and things are much improved. The city is putting a lot of effort into revitalizing its downtown--by no means is it a hotspot yet, but there are encouraging signs, with the conversion of old office buildings into lofts and the opening of new eateries etc. As a Washington DC native, and a transplant from Manhattan, I've grown to appreciate being part of a young city that still has so many of its best years ahead of it.

Jacksonville isn't yet a destination spot--and probably won't ever be--(although we are hosting the Super Bowl in 2005--shocking). However, if you find yourself passing through, it's worth a stop, especially in the Beaches area, and the older historic neighborhoods of Avondale, Riverside, and San Marco. Jacksonville's rhythms are dictated by the enormous and beautiful river that flows through it; the St John's River is one of only two northward-flowing rivers in the US, and is the artery by which much of Florida was discovered. As I get time, I'll highlight some worthy stops.

• Pros:some beautiful natural resources, great place for families to live
• Cons:don't come without a car; lots of urban sprawl
• In a nutshell:This is going to become a totally different place in the next decade!