West Palm Beach: 11 p.m. Thursday -- As genetic
superstars glide into the velvet-roped nightclubs Liquid Room and Bliss, a cross
section of men and women gather at the foot of the street for a drum circle.
Participants include a hippie chick, a 30-ish black man, a guy wearing a
yarmulke, a mentally disabled person and a smoker in a sleek suit, all playing
instruments as varied in size, shape and condition as they are.
Within sight are bistros, pizza joints, a playhouse, a newsstand, an ice
cream parlor and several bars. With few exceptions, they're locally owned. And
with few exceptions, they've been packed all night.
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ENTERTAINING AN
IDEA
Destination created from 'demilitarized zone'
West Palm: Mayor's vision
revitalizes downtown
Reversing the flow of negative perceptions
Plenty to
do, all within walking distance
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A cross section of interesting restaurants will serve food into the morning,
satisfying the hungry revelers who come spilling out of the Key West-themed Dax
or the boisterous Monkey Club craving late-night meals and never even
considering Waffle House.
When these people are finally ready to go home, many will walk just a few
feet to one of the coveted apartments that overlook the strip where they now
party, one of the most successfully revitalized downtown entertainment districts
in America.
But no one's going home any time soon because it's only 11 and the neon is
glowing and the drinks are pouring and the music is bumping and men on the
street are applauding as a slender woman in an outrageously high-cut skirt turns
the corner and walks under the sign that says in proud white on green: Clematis
Street.
No place in Jacksonville approximates the energy or diversity of Clematis.
People here know it, and people in other cities know it. Across gender, age and
race, downtown Jacksonville has a dreadful reputation.
"It's not happening," said Stefan Smith, a 25-year-old from Orlando. "There's
nothing to go there for, and everyone I talk to that's from there says that."
"You have to drive a hundred miles to go bar hopping," said Michael
Fitzgerald, president of the North Florida Music Association and a Jacksonville
resident for 32 years. "Downtown is such a joke to me."
"Jacksonville has these tall buildings, and you have to hunt for somewhere to
park -- and it's dead," said 46-year-old Annetta Jenkins, a West Palm resident
who visited Jacksonville over Easter weekend.
Even Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney acknowledged this last criticism,
saying, "I think there's some truth to the downtown observation."
Delaney also acknowledged what would change Jacksonville's image -- and, more
importantly, its reality -- before the city takes the international stage
playing host to Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005.
"We recognize that we somehow have to re-create an entertainment district,"
he said. "I think Clematis Street is the model."
