Murray Hill- An attractive historically working class Jacksonville urban district

I essentially only included the northern half of Murray Hill with the more urban portion north of Kingsbury Street. The areas south of here are completely devoid of sidewalk infrastructure and far from the relatively walkable business district that runs along Edgewood Ave.

Murray Hill (Heights), in Jacksonville took the name of a neighborhood in Manhattan. The Heights part of the original name may be due to its relatively elevated location compared to Dwtn. Development in Murray Hill was sparked by the Great Fire of 1901 which lead to a great expansion of the City to the west and south of Dwtn. The neighborhood got another boost in 1914 with the construction of streetcar line giving Murray Hill convenient access to Dwtn.  The neighborhood was annexed into the City of Jacksonville in 1925. Murray Hill has always been a haven for modest working class families and hosts an attractive mix of  brick, wood, stucco, concrete, bungalows and cottage style homes. Like much of inner-city Jacksonville the neighborhood began to decline in the 1970s thanks to white flight and the construction of suburban malls. But Murray Hill was less affected than neighborhoods north and east of Dwtn as it was not completely red-lined like those community.  Fortunately most of the neighborhood remained in tact by the 2000s and revitalization efforts began to take root by the turn of the 21st century, due to its centralized location, attractive but modest historic housing, quality parks, and relatively walkable commercial district along Edgewater Ave. More recently families desiring urban living but unable to afford neighboring Avondale of Riverside are moving here.

Murray Hill also offers a lot of rental options and at pretty modest prices. It has an excellent tree canopy and good array of walkable retail and cultural amenities concentrated on the Edgewood Ave corridor. For Murray Hill to bevome a great urban district it simply needs more density. This can start with upzoning along Edgewood avenue incentivizing mixed-use infill to built on this already successful business district. Cassat Avenue needs a complete redesign as its a very ugly autocentric road. Better sidewalk and biking infrastructure is also needed along with more walkable schools and some key retail amenities such as a supermarket. But Murray Hill seems to be headed in the right direction however.

Click here to view my Murray Hill album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

• Good access to dwtn thanks to the short driving commute.
• Solid urban street grid and good connectivity.
• Much more working class neighborhood than neighboring Riverside but higher than ideal poverty rates. Also much higher Black and Hispanic households here than Riverside.
• Good for sale housing diversity and very reasonably priced compared to neighboring Riverside and Avondale. This includes several 1-bed condo options generally selling in the 100Ks. Lots of 2-bed options selling anywhere from 75K to the low 300Ks. 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 90K-500K.
• Decent # of rentals and pretty moderately priced. 1-beds rent for $900- 1.5K, 2-beds in the low1Ks-mid1Ks, and even a good # of 3-beds leasing between the 1.5Ks to mid 2Ks.
• Good array of small and medium sized parks well distributed across Murray Hill.
• Excellent tree canopy.
  *Edgewood Ave contains the bulk of retail and cultural amenities in Murray Hill. Good array of restaurants, bars, and cafes, a quality community art center, a live music space in the historic Murray Hill Theater, and couple breweries & night clubs.
• Decent retail amenities including a couple grocerias, a drug store, a couple banks, a Goodwill’s, several boutiques and vintage stores, a bookstore, a couple antique stores, several dessert joints & gyms, plenty of churches, and a public library branch. There is also a suburban Lowes a block from Murray Hill’s western edge.
• The inner half of Edgewood Avenue until the Murray Hill Theater is pretty pedestrian friendly but the outer half starts to feel more like a Stroad.
• Murray Hill is a neighborhood on an upward trajectory but still some lingering crime issues. Cassat Ave is pretty rough on the western edge but the residential street near it are nice. The residential area just north of Edgewood is historically pretty working class. Some rougher looking homes but not widespread blight and abandonment.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

• Only a small dedicated bike lane in Murray Hill and along Cassat Ave. Other than that no bike infrastructure.
• Below average density for an urban district but decent for Jacksonville.
• About 50% of residential streets have sidewalks and many of those don’t have modern ADA curbs. The business district along Edgewater generally has good sidewalks and ADA infrastructure.
• Really only one school in the neighborhood, a well rated elementary. A handful of schools on the edge of Murray Hill with mixed ratings.
• Missing some key retail amenities including a supermarket, post office, and medical offices.
  *Cassat Avenue along the western edge of Murray Hill is a pretty ugly autocentric street. Some hope as a bike lane was recently installed here. But it really needs a complete resign to be more walkable and safe.”