Jacksonville

Jacksonville is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the most populous city in the Southeast and the South outside of Texas. The city was named after Andrew Jackson, the first military governor of the Florida Territory and seventh President of the United States. The area was originally inhabited by the Timucua people, and in 1564 was the site of the French colony of Fort Caroline. Its riverine location facilitates Naval Station Mayport, Naval Air Station Jacksonville, the U.S. Marine Corps Blount Island Command, and the Port of Jacksonville, Florida's third largest seaport. People from Jacksonville are sometimes called "Jacksonvillians" or "Jaxsons" (also spelled "jaxons"). The city is the seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968. The Jacksonville metropolitan area ranks as Florida's fourth-largest metropolitan region. It has a population of 1,733,937, making it the 12th most populous in the US and the third-largest in the South. Its military bases and the nearby Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay form the third largest military presence in theUnited States. As with much of Florida, tourism is important to the Jacksonville area, particularly tourism related to golf. In the 16th century, the region was occupied by the Mocama, a coastal subgroup of thetimucua. In 1564, René Goulaine de Laudonnière established the first European settlement on the St. Johns River, Fort Caroline, near the main village of the Saturiwa.

History

Jacksonville is the primary city name, but also Baldwin, Maxville are acceptable city names or spellings, Jax on the other hand no longer accepted or obsolete and are no longer used as a designation. The official name is City of Jacksonville and Duval County. The area of the modern city of Jacksonville has been inhabited for thousands of years. In the 16th century, the region was inhabited by the Mocama, a coastal subgroup of the Timucua people. In 1564, René Goulaine de Laudonnière established the first European settlement on the St. Johns River, Fort Caroline. In 1821, American settlers on the north side of the Cow Ford decided to plan a town, laying out the streets and plats. They named the town Jacksonville, after celebrated war hero and first Territorial Governor (later U.S. president) Andrew Jackson.During the American Civil War, Duval County produced several units that fought for the Confederacy. The city was blockaded by Union forces who gained control of nearby Fort Clinchee in 1862. In February 1864, Union forces left Jacksonville and confronted a Confederate Army of Olustee, going down to defeat for the first time in the state. In 1862, Confederate forces captured a Confederate position at the Battle of St Johns Bluff, and Jacksonville held the city until the Union forces retreated to Jacksonville in 1863. In 1863, the city was occupied by the Confederate forces and held the state until the end of the Civil War. In 1865, Jacksonville was taken over by the Union and held by the Confederates for the rest of the war, until the surrender of the Union in 1866. In 1861, Jacksonville became a key supply point for hogs and cattle shipped from Florida to the Confederate States of America.

Geography

Jacksonville has a total area of 874.3 square miles (2,264 km²), making it the largest city in land area in the contiguous United States. Of this, 86.66% (757.7 sq mi or 1,962 km²) is land, and 13.34% (116.7sq mi or 302 km 2) is water. The city developed along both sides of the St. Johns River. Jacksonville is home to one of the largest collections of Prairie School style buildings outside the Midwest. The tallest building in Downtown Jacksonville's skyline is the Bank of America Tower, constructed in 1990 as the Barnett Center. Four of Jacksonville's neighborhoods, Avondale, Springfield, Eastside, Mandarin, and San Marco, have been identified as historic districts in the National Register of Historic Places. Jacksonville has a humid subtropical climate, with hot summers, mild winters, and drier winters. The highest point of Jacksonville rises to 190 feet above sea level on Trail Ridge, along the boundary with Baker County. The high point was developed into a landfill and leveled in the 1990s. Jacksonville's early predominant position as a regional center of business left an indelible mark on the city's skyline. Many of the earliest skyscrapers in the state were constructed in Jacksonville, dating to 1902, and the city last held the state height record from 1974 to 1981. There are more than 500 neighborhoods within Jacksonville's vast area. These include Downtown Jacksonville and its surrounding neighborhoods, including LaVilla, Brooklyn, Riverside and Avond Dale.

Demographics

As of 2010, there were 821,784 people and 366,273 households in the city. The city has Florida's largest Filipino American community, with 25,033 in the metropolitan area as of the 2010 Census. Jacksonville has the country's tenth-largest Arab population, with a total population of 5,751 according to the 2000 United States Census. In 2010, 9.2% of the county's population was foreign born, with 49.0% being natural born residents. Of those born in Latin America, 5.9% were born in Africa, and 0.5% in Oceania. In total, 87.1% of Jacksonville's population spoke English at home, while 5.8% spoke Spanish at home. About 29% spoke other Indo-European languages at home; about 2.3% spoke another language other than English. The median income for a household in the county was $48,829, and the median income. for a family was $59,272. The per capita income was $25,227. About 10.5%. of families and 14.3%. of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.4% of those under age 18 and 9.9%. of those aged 65 or over. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.21. In the city, the median age was 35.5 years. For every 100 females,there were 94.1 males.

Economy

Jacksonville is home to the headquarters of four Fortune 500 companies: CSX Corporation, Fidelity National Financial, Southeastern Grocers and Interline Brands. The city is also the site of Deutsche Bank's second largest US operation; only New York City is larger. Jacksonville is a rail, air, and highway focal point and a busy port of entry. Lumber, phosphate, paper, cigars and wood pulp are the principal exports; automobiles and coffee are among imports. Approximately 50,000 jobs in Northeast Florida are related to port activity and local economy. The Port of Jacksonville, a seaport on the St. Johns River, is a leading port in the U.S. for automobile imports, as well as the leading transportation and distribution hub in the state. Jacksonville was ranked as the tenth-fastest growing business city in the United States in 2007, according to Forbes magazine. In 2008, Jacksonville had 2.8 million visitors who stayed overnight, spending nearly $1 billion. A study by Research Data Services of Tampa quantified the importance of tourism. The total economic impact was $1.6 billion and supported nearly 43,000 Jobs, 10% of the local workforce. The area's economy is balanced among distribution, financial services, biomedical technology, consumer goods, information services, manufacturing, insurance, and other industries. In a concept known as nearshoring, financial institutions are shifting operations away from high-cost addresses such as Wall Street, and have shifted some trading functions to Jacksonville. With relatively low-cost real estate, easy access by planes to New York, and high quality of life, Jacksonville has become an option for relocating staff.

Culture

Jacksonville is home to the Gator Bowl and the FloridaGeorgia game. River City Pride is Northeast Florida's largest Gay Pride parade. The VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, which opened in 2003, is a 16,000-seat performance venue that attracts national entertainment, sporting events and also houses the Jacksonville Sports Hall of Fame. The Murray Hill Art Center was reopened in February 2012 through a partnership of the Jacksonville Parks and Recreation (JaxParks) and the Art League of Jacksonville. There is a third indoor mall in the metropolitan area, but it's just outside of Orange Park, Florida. The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens boasts the second largest animal collection in the state, with elephants, lions, and jaguars, with an exhibit, Range of the Jaguar, hosted by the former owners of the Jaguars, Delores and Wayne Weaver. Adventure Landing is an amusement park with locations in Jacksonville and Jacksonville Beach. The city has two fully enclosed shopping malls, the oldest is the Regency Square Mall, which is on the former sand dunes area. The other is The Avenues Mall on the Southside of Jacksonville, Florida, at the intersection of I-95 and US 1. It opened in 1990 and is the city's only indoor shopping mall. The City of Jacksonville has one of the highest crime rates in the United States, with more than 10 murders per 100,000 residents in 2010. The average household income in Jacksonville is about $28,000, while the average household wealth is around $50,000.

Government and politics

Jacksonville is organized under the city charter and provides for a "strong" mayorcouncil form of city government. The Mayor of Jacksonville is elected to four-year terms and serves as the head of the government's executive branch. Law enforcement is provided by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, headed by an elected sheriff. Public schools are overseen by Duval County Public Schools, and several services are provided by largely independent authorities. The Jacksonville Housing Authority (JHA) is the quasi-independent agency responsible for public housing and subsidized housing in Jacksonville. Most of the city is in the Florida's 4th congressional district, and is represented by Republican John Rutherford. The 4th and 5th districts have been characterized by analysts as some of the most gerrymandered districts in the country. In 2014, the Florida Supreme Court ordered the state legislature to redraw at least eight of the congressional districts to correct inequities. The present mayor is Lenny Curry, who assumed office on July 1, 2015. The past mayor was Alvin Brown, who was in office from 1989 to 1995. In 2010 Duval county's violent crime rate decreased by 9.3% from the previous year, with total crime decreasing 7.3%, putting the murder rate behind Miami-Dade County. The county's murder rate had been the highest among Florida's counties with a population of 500,000 or more for eleven years in 2009, leading to widespread discussion in the community about how to deal with the problem.

Education

Duval County Public Schools administers 172 schools, including 103 elementary schools, 25 middle schools, 19 high schools, three K8 schools, and one 612 school. Stanton College Preparatory School, Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts and Paxon School for Advanced Studies regularly appear at the top of Newsweek magazine's annual list of the country's top public high schools. The Jacksonville Public Library had its beginnings when May Moore and Florence Murphy started the Jacksonville Library and Literary Association in 1878. Florida State College at Jacksonville is a state college and a member of the Florida College System, offering two-year associate's degrees as well as some four-year bachelor's degrees. The University of Florida has its second campus of the J. Hillis Miller Health Science Center in Jacksonville. Other colleges and universities in Jacksonville include Trinity Baptist College, and Jones College. The Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine operates a number of Catholic schools in Jacksonville, including two high schools, Other private schools include Arlington Country Day School, the Bolles School, Trinity Christian Academy, and the Episcopal School of Jacksonville. The largest public library in the state, the new main library marked the completion of an unprecedented period of growth for the system under the Better Jacksonville Plan. The new Main Library offers specialized reading rooms, public access to hundreds of computers and public displays of art, an extensive collection of books, and special collections ranging from the African-American Collection to the recently opened Holocaust Collection. The Library annually receives nearly 4 million visitors and circulates over 6 million items.

Infrastructure

There are seven bridges over the St. Johns River at Jacksonville. Interstate 10 (I-10) and I-95 intersect in Jacksonville, forming the busiest freeway interchange in the region with 200,000 vehicles each day. U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) and US 17 travel through the city from the south to the north, and US 23 enters the city running concurrently with US 1. The Jacksonville Skyway is an automated people mover connecting Florida State College at Jacksonville downtown campus, the Northbank central business district, Convention Center, and Southbank locations. A monorail was first proposed in the 1970s as part of a mobility plan hoping to attract interest from the Urban Mass Transit Administration's Downtown Peoplemover Program. In 2014, Jacksonville was among the top large cities ranked by the top percentage of commuters who drove to work alone. According to the 2016 American Community Survey, 80 percent of city residents in Jacksonville commuted in single-occupancy vehicles, 2.6 percent carpooled, and 2.7 percent used public transportation. In 2015, 4.5 percent of the commuter modal share worked out of the home, compared to national averages of 4,5 percent and 4,7 percent of car ownership. In 2008, a $152 million project to create a high-speed interchange at the intersection of Interstates 10 and 95 began in February 2005, after the conclusion of Super Bowl XXXIX. Construction was expected to take nearly six years with multiple lane flyovers and the requirement that the interchange remain open throughout the project.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida = 34.6. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 25. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 10. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Jacksonville = 5.8 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 949,611 individuals with a median age of 36.3 age the population grows by 14.66% in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,270.73 residents per square mile of area (490.63/km²). There are average 2.5 people per household in the 332,029 households with an average household income of $49,421 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 10.90% of the available work force and has dropped -5.47% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 18.16%. The number of physicians in Jacksonville per 100,000 population = 257.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Jacksonville = 52.3 inches and the annual snowfall = 0.1 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 114. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 221. 92 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 42.5 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 29, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida which are owned by the occupant = 57.55%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 27 years with median home cost = $104,540 and home appreciation of -14.71%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $10.74 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,458 per student. There are 17.1 students for each teacher in the school, 829 students for each Librarian and 524 students for each Counselor. 7.60% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 15.25% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 6.78% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).