Jacksonville List of Neighborhoods

I keep seeing all the Jacksonville neighborhoods as backdrops to maps, but I have yet to see them listed for those of us who like lists. So, after using the government websites to find the GIS maps that contain the neighborhoods, I was able to extract the lists of areas in Jax that appear on maps. It could be useful to those of you who also like lists and deal in real estate or something where you'd need the names of all the neighborhoods here.

What is the most popular city in Florida?

This is an interesting question that pops up on Google when you search for information about Jacksonville. I believe people want to know the most populous or populated city in Florida, unless they are total tourists who are just interested in popularity. As far as being popular, I suppose Miami is tops, then Orlando and Tampa. Population is always a bit more complicated.

29% of Americans Will Be Millionaires?

I thought it was a bit of a reach for 29% of Americans surveyed to say they were going to become millionaires, but I saw some stats that seem to almost back it up. I am a firm believer that some people can attain the American Dream, even if I don't have a huge amount of faith it will happen to me. Here are some numbers that might keep your own hope alive:

Retro Fitness and Single Moms

I feel bad for the employees of Retro Fitness who lost their jobs suddenly. I was surprised when the news framed the story as affecting single moms, but then they backed the statement up by interviewing two single moms who had worked there. While I'm sure Retro Fitness didn't only hire single moms, it almost seems that way based on 100% of former employees interviewed being in that situation and the newscaster calling attention to it. I wonder if Retro Fitness offered some kind of special benefits to single moms.

Cause and Effect: Walmart and Riffraff

A nice lady from St. Johns County was being interviewed on the news about the big shopping center going in near her house. She wasn't all that excited about the traffic, but she specifically didn't like the idea of a Walmart going in. She said Walmarts bring in the riffraff. No, not Riff Raff the rapper from Houston. She meant the type of people: disreputable or the lowest class. (OK, Riff Raff might qualify.) So the question here is whether Walmarts bring riffraff to an area or if Walmarts in an area simply provide a place for the riffraff that already exists to congregate.

1000 Pageviews Per Month

Sure, I have a few articles out there with 1000 views per month all on their own, so a website averaging 1,000 pageviews per month for the first year of New Jax Witty  isn't a complete surprise. Actually, the numbers aren't bad considering I barely know anyone in Jacksonville on Facebook, and I don't even like using social media too much to boost my numbers. Of course, if you read an article on this website that interests you, feel free to share it. But that's about as far as I take the social media pyramid.

Sinkholes In JAX or Not

I'd heard about the Florida sinkholes before. When my wife first wanted to drag me here several years ago, I told her I didn't want to disappear forever down a sinkhole, even if there is some potential poetry to that way of going. When I saw a report about sinkholes in Ocala, and it was referred to as Sinkhole Alley, I decided to see if Jacksonville has a sinking feeling.

Are Jacksonville Home Buyers Looking For Big, Older Homes?

I was standing in a wonderful house north of Blue Cypress Park when one person in the conversation said that homes like the one we were in were taking off as far as demand and value. I totally believed her, and I think she said it was a realtor who had told her the information. I decided to take a look at recently sold homes to see if the data matched what we seemed to collectively believe in the conversation.

St. Johns, Not St. Jobs

Everyone wants to live in St. Johns County. Just like where I'm from, those people all say it's because of the schools. But that was supposed to be the purpose of consolidating Jacksonville's schools. Jacksonville went with an experiment that I actually would have thought might work, especially given the sheer distances created by making Jacksonville so huge. But it failed. Why? I'm not sure, but I'm still trying to figure out why so many people see St. Johns as the place to be.

Florida One of a Few States With Lower Income Than Living Wage

I clicked on an article in my feed that talked about the living wage needed in all 50 states. The purpose was to show that some states required more than others for an average family to survive without assistance. While it's true that some states were much higher than others, those states tended to have pay that went along with the need. Florida, however, was not one of those states. In Florida, the living wage needed was higher than the one earned for a family of two adults and one child.

East Arlington Income by Race

I was looking through my Jacksonville neighborhood on the statisticalatlas.com website when I saw something that was different from other neighborhoods in which I'd lived. While it's not necessarily true for Jacksonville as a whole, the East Arlington neighborhood has median incomes by race that was maybe surprising to those who don't live here. Whites are at the bottom of the median household income food chain in this area.

How Many Guns Again?

The news tonight said there had been almost 350 guns stolen in the first 10 months of 2017 in Jacksonville. A little math implies over 400 guns were stolen for the whole year. The news story suggested most of these guns were stolen from unlocked cars. While I've already written about car burglary, that was before I understood just how many guns were part of the equation.

Why Would a Website About Jacksonville Get International Hits?

I've built all kinds of websites, and I've even targeted some specifically at other countries. However, New Jax Witty was built for a very specific niche, which is why I'm surprised at some of the early numbers that show more international views than expected. I know that it's probably spammers in most cases, but usually international spammers take longer to find a website, so I wonder what's up.

Sacksonville Should Prepare For the Worst; Hope For The Best

When it comes to sports, I'm more of a realist than a pessimist. There's a difference, but both philosophies point to the distinct possibility that Jacksonville will not be in the Super Bowl next year. When you finish second in the AFC only to Tom Brady (who has to retire eventually), you might think it makes you a shoe-in for next year. And that could very well be, but there's no guaranty, and it's certainly harder to make this whole Sacksonville thing into any kind of a dynasty. That's I was sad to see the team lose.

Takeaways From Recent Power Posts

I read two very long articles recently about power in Florida, and it gave me a better understanding of the state of the state, though I'm still a bit concerned about whether it means anything to me or JEA. One article was specifically about Florida and the other was about the nation, but both make a difference for us in the Sunshine State.

Jacksonville Wins Library of the Year -- What's That Mean?

The Florida Library Association has presented Jacksonville's Public Library with the Library of the Year award, so I wanted to see what that meant. Here's the Jax library take on it:

Among more than 800 public, academic, school, and special libraries, Jacksonville Public Library was named Library of the Year this year by the Florida Library Association for demonstrating outstanding service to the community.

I wanted to see who has won this award in the past. Yes, I'm sure it's spread around, but 800 libraries IS a lot of competition, so it's a fairly big deal.

Ex-Military, PTSD, and Guns

This past week led me to consider who should have guns, assuming we want to limit the ownership to some degree. I assume most of us would agree that a man who killed over two dozen people at a church in Texas should not have had a gun, since his history included anger problems as a result of PTSD. It would appear that Jax has many current and former military residing in the area, so I know this is a topic of concern for the community.

Never Seen The Price is Right?

As I sat way too long at the Atlantic Beach Jiffy Lube location (I only chose it because of decent Google reviews), the TV was tuned to The Price is Right. That's not unusual, since the show has been a mainstay for decades. I used to watch it daily when I was in kindergarten and before. Then I'd catch it over the summer sometimes. And it got popular with college kids as Bob Barker got older. What surprised me today was a woman obviously in her 60s or 70s who said this: I've never seen this show before. It's pretty entertaining.

Reality Theft: The Perception of Burglaries in Jacksonville

I get weekly offers from ADT, SafeTouch, Xfinity, and more, for security system installation and monitoring. My house came equipped with an alarm. I see SafeTouch ads every day when I watch my two hours of TV. I've even had the ADT guys show up at my house and ask if it was the cost or the fact that I'm not interested in protecting my family that kept me from buying their product. I told him I wasn't interested in protecting my family. But, in reality, I am interested in it. I'm not interested in scare tactics and negative perceptions dictating how I live, so are we safe here in Jacksonville? I used FBI crime statistics to see, and it's not really as bleak as those security salesmen might lead you to believe.

Historical Flood Risk and Costs

I am sure 2017 will put Florida and Jacksonville back on top when it comes to flood risk and cost, but I thought it was interesting to see the historical data. Here's the top 30 as of 2016 with the total number of claims closed with FEMA payment and the total amount.