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Jacksonville, Florida Blood Testing Facilities

HGH Blood Testing Center By Labcorp Represents a LabCorp blood testing facility
HGH Blood Testing Center By Quest Diagnostics Represents a Quest Diagnostics blood testing facility



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Hormone Replacement Therapy in Jacksonville Florida

Are you interested in the potential benefits of Hormone Replacement Therapy?

The Conscious Evolution Institute is one of the premier suppliers of quality Hormone Replacement Therapy Products in the United States. Although we are centrally located, we have a national network of affiliate physicians all across that United States that allow us to provide efficient and quality care to men and women over the age of thirty in all fifty states, including Florida!

Testosterone Replacement Therapy in Jacksonville, Florida

Testosterone Deficiency is a serious medical condition that should not be ignored. It increases the risk of a number of medical conditions which vastly increase mortality risk, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and osteoporosis.

In addition to increasing mortality, Low-T also has a tremendous effect upon body composition as well as your ability to live a happy and fulfilling life. Testosterone Deficiency prevents men from building muscle as quickly and also encourages fat to build up. If you've started gaining weight or losing muscle mass mysteriously over the course of recent years, and you haven't changed your diet or workout routine, it is likely that you are suffering from the effects of Low Testosterone.

Low-T also contributes significantly to fatigue, because your body loses the ability to process energy effectively. This means that you feel more tired and exhausted. Testosterone Deficiency is most well-known for its tremendous impact on sexual health. If you find that you are losing interest in sex, or that you are having trouble sustaining or maintaining an erection as you grow older, you are most likely suffering from Testosterone Deficiency.

The Conscious Evolution Institute offers a variety of Testosterone Replacement Therapy options to fit both your needs and your budget. Call us and ask about our various treatment options, including:

  • Testosterone Creams

  • Testosterone Injections

  • Testosterone Implants

  • Testosterone Sprays

  • Testosterone Patches

We also offer Testosterone Treatments for women that can benefit from therapy. For women, Testosterone Replacement has been proven to increase flagging libido, relieve the symptoms of Menopause, and reduce the risk of Osteoporosis.

HGH Hormone Replacement Therapy in Jacksonville, Florida

In addition to our highly effective Testosterone Treatments, we also offer Bio-Identical Human Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy for the treatment of Hypopituitarism and HGH Deficiency. Human Growth Hormone is an incredibly important hormone for both sexes which controls cellular division and metabolism. There is powerful evidence that Human Growth Hormone Deficiency contributes greatly to the physiological breakdown that occurs as a result of aging.

Like Testosterone, our bodies start to produce less and less natural HGH as we pass the age of thirty, and the older that we get, the more likely that we will experience health issues as a result of that deficiency. If you are getting older and experiencing some of these symptoms, you may be dealing with the effects of HGH Deficiency:

  • Weight Gain

  • Fatigue

  • Loss of Muscle Mass

  • Memory Issues

  • Trouble Healing

  • Trouble Recovering from Illness

  • Early Appearance of Deep Lines and Wrinkles

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • Loss of Bone Mineral Density

  • Reduced Sex Drive

If you are experiencing these symptoms, the Conscious Evolution Institute understands your pain and frustration and has the tools to help you take the necessary steps to correct your hormone imbalance and help you overcome your hormone deficiency. We have two forms of therapy which have been proven to restore HGH Levels with minimal risk of complication or side-effects.: Bio-Identical HGH Injections and Sermorelin Acetate Injections.

Human Growth Hormone Injections work by directly supplementing the HGH that your body produces in order to restore a natural hormone balance. Sermorelin Acetate Injections achieve the same goal by supplementing a hormone known as Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone with a functionally identical analogue which allows your own pituitary to naturally make all the Human Growth Hormone that your body needs.

HCG Injections in Jacksonville Florida

Another of our flagship medical treatments is HCG Therapy for Weight Loss. If you are overweight or obese and have been struggling with your weight, unable to find a way to effectively lose the weight without resorting to risky surgical procedures, we suggest HCG Therapy with Caloric Restriction.

We understand that the hardest factor to account for when dieting is hunger. Bio-Identical HCG Therapy works for a couple of important reasons. First, HCG has the ability to adjust your body's metabolism, encouraging you to burn stubborn belly fat rather than the muscle and structural fat that your body is more likely to burn when you go on a hard diet.

Secondly, HCG works because it actually has the ability to suppress hunger while also ensuring that your body has the energy that it needs even in the case of significant caloric restriction. The HCG Diet will require you to intake significantly fewer calories than you are used to, but the injections will alleviate the feelings of hunger associated with your diet.

If you want to lose weight fast and haven't had success with other methods, HCG Injections may be an effective solution to your weight loss struggles!

Interesting Facts about Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville Size and Population

Jacksonville is a really big city. In fact, it is actually the largest city by land area in the contiguous 48 states. The area of Jacksonville is more than 800 miles! In spite of its large size, it has a relatively small metro population, because few people live outside the borders of the city. Jacksonville is the most populated city in the state of Florida and is the fourteenth most populated city in the United States.

Jacksonville Parks and Recreation

Another cool thing about Jacksonville is that it has a complex system of parks which spreads across the entire city. There is actually more park area in Jacksonville than there is in any other city in the United States. There are over 80,000 acres of green space and community property in the city.

Historical Tragedies of Jacksonville

Arguably, the two worst things that happened in the history of Jacksonville were the Great Fire of 1901 and the Roosevelt Hotel Fire of 1961. The Great Fire was caused by a massive explosion at a candle factory which also set a mattress factory on fire. From this point, the fire spread over 146 blocks and burned for eight hours. In the end, seven people died, more than ten thousand were left homeless, and over 2,000 buildings burned to the ground. In terms of loss of life, the hotel fire was more deadly, although it did exponentially less damage. 22 people perished in that event.

John Grisham in Jacksonville

One of the most famous frequent visitors to Tallahassee is John Grisham. Although he was born in Arkansas and went to college in Mississippi, he spends a significant amount of time in the Tallahassee area. He is known for frequenting a place called the Old Sea Turtle Inn. He actually loved the area so much, he includes this inn, as well as Pete's Bar, in his best-selling book, The Brethren.

Jacksonville Musical Scene and History

Jacksonville also has a widely regarded music scene, and the most important musical event in Jacksonville is the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, which is the second biggest annual jazz festival in the United States. Some of the greatest musicians in American history have performed at this festival, including Tony Bennett and Miles Davis.

Speaking of musicians, Elvis Presley's first indoor performance took place in Jacksonville in 1957 at the Florida Theater. The world was a very different place back then. A judge actually monitored the entire performance in order to ensure that the performance passed local decency laws. Government officials were concerned that Elvis' propensity for hip shaking was too racy for public consumption. Oh how things have changed.

Although Elvis made waves in Jacksonville, the most significant rock band to ever come from the city was Lynyrd Skynyrd, most famous for their song “Sweet Home Alabama.” Jacksonville has remained a very active musical city in the past generation as well. Over the course of the last twenty years, many bands have risen from Jacksonville, Florida, including Red Jump Suit Apparatus, Cold, and Limp Bizkit.

Film History of Jacksonville

Historically, Jacksonville was a popular location for filmmakers. Over the course of the early twentieth century, thousands of silent movies were filmed in the city, and over thirty production companies were located here. Sadly, regional and national political pressures eventually moved film making to Hollywood and the surrounding areas, but for a significant period of time, Jacksonville was referred to as the Winter Film Capital of the World.

Even though Jacksonville inevitably lost its central importance as a film town, there have still been a lot of major movies filmed in Jacksonville and the surrounding area. Among the movies filmed in Jacksonville are Why Do Fools Fall in Love, GI Jane, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, the New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking, and the modern remake of The Manchurian Candidate.

Skateboarding in Jacksonville

Film isn't the only time that California stole Jacksonville's thunder. Although California is known for its interest in skateboarding, Jacksonville was actually where the first skate park in the United States was built. The most famous skater that called the Arlington neighborhood's Kona Skatepark home is unarguably Tony Hawk. Kona was one of the first skate parks where Tony Hawk competed as an amateur, long before he became a household name across the country.

The NFL in Jacksonville

In popular culture, the most important entertainment contribution made by Jacksonville is probably the Jacksonville Jaguars. NFL is the most popular sport in the United States, and since 1993, the city has had the opportunity to host an NFL franchise. Jacksonville is actually the smallest metro area in the United States to house an NFL team. Jacksonville has more than 800,000 people, but the metro area is only 1.3 million people. I guess you could say that Jacksonville is lucky to have a franchise, but the team remains to be financially successful to this day!

History of Jacksonville, Florida

The Naming of Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida is not the oldest city in Florida by far, but it does have a long and complex history. Florida was originally colonized by the Spanish, and was ceded to the United States in 1821. Soon after Florida was turned over to the United States, many of its major cities were renamed, including Jacksonville. Jacksonville got its name because it was renamed while Florida was under control of Andrew Jackson, the first appointed governor of the state.

The city was named Jacksonville in 1822, but Jacksonville was not the first name of the city. Originally, Jacksonville was referred to as Cowford by the British and later by Americans, and was known as Wacca Pilataka by the Seminole Indians that lived in the area. Ironically enough, both Wacca Pilataka and Cowford have the same meaning: Jacksonville was founded on the St. John's River, and was an area where farmers and ranchers were able to ford their cattle across the river.

Early Development of Jacksonville

During this era, Jacksonville was a very small community, too small to be referred to as a proper city. But the community expanded quickly as a result of its important strategic location. By the end of the 1850s, Jacksonville had developed into a highly active port city. By the time of the Civil War, the city was targeted by Union Forces because of its importance to the economy of the Confederacy. Jacksonville remained an integral port for the Confederacy in the Civil War before finally falling to Union soldiers after the Battle of Saint John's Bluff in 1862.

Jacksonville after the Civil War

Unlike Atlanta, which was burned and devastated after the Civil War, Jacksonville remained intact, and during the Reconstruction period in the late 1860s, Tallahassee became a bustling tourist venue during the winter because of its beautiful scenery and warm temperatures. Over 75,000 people visited Tallahassee each year during this period, and the city benefited from the boom as resorts and hotels sprung up all over the city.

Of course, the favorable location of Tallahassee led it to remain an important seaport for the United States, and the mixture of popular and mercantile business in the area led Jacksonville to be directly connected to the north by railroad in 1888.

As the turn of the century approached, tragedy began to strike, however. Later in 1888, Jacksonville was stricken by a Yellow Fever epidemic which led to the deaths of 427 people in Jacksonville in a single year.

Early 20th Century Jacksonville

In 1901, a giant fire burned through the city, displacing a full one-third of the population of 30,000. Luckily, although 146 blocks were burned to the ground, investors and developers quickly repaired the damage done to the city over the course of the next ten years and by 1920, the population of the city more than tripled to 90,000.

Before 1920, most of the development in the area occurred close to the center of the city, but as the population swelled and citizens became more mobile as a result of the automobile and other factors, the city began to expand outward. In 1923, an electric trolley system was built which spanned the Saint John's River, encouraging speedier development on both banks.

The early movie industry thrived in Jacksonville beginning in 1908, for about fifteen years, until economic and political conditions shifted movie production across the country to California.

As time continued to pass, Jacksonville's strategic location led it to wield greater and greater importance as a military staging ground, and this led the area to experience a sustained economic and population boom. From 1920 to 1940, the population nearly doubled, from 91,000 to 173,000. The city was vitally important during World War II because of its huge military-industrial presence and its naval base and stations.

All About Jacksonville, Florida Geographic Area

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968. Consolidation gave Jacksonville its great size and placed most of its metropolitan population within the city limits; with a population of 827,908, it is the most populous city proper in Florida and the Southeast, and the eleventh most populous in the United States. Jacksonville is the principal city in the Greater Jacksonville Metropolitan Area, with a population of 1,345,596 in 2010.

Jacksonville is in the First Coast region of northeast Florida and is centered on the banks of the St. Johns River, about 25 miles (40 km) south of the Georgia state line and about 340 miles (547 km) north of Miami. The Jacksonville Beaches communities are along the adjacent Atlantic coast. The area was originally inhabited by the Timucua people, and in 1564 was the site of the French colony of Fort Caroline, one of the earliest European settlements in what is now the continental United States. Under British rule, settlement grew at the narrow point in the river where cattle crossed, known as Wacca Pilatka to the Seminole and Cowford to the British. A platted town was established there in 1822, a year after the United States acquired the colony of Florida from Spain; it was named after Andrew Jackson, the first military governor of the Florida Territory and seventh President of the United States.

Harbor improvements since the late 19th century have made Jacksonville a major military and civilian deep-water port. Its riverine location facilitates two U.S. Navy bases and the Port of Jacksonville, Florida's third largest seaport. Significant factors in the local economy include services such as banking, insurance, healthcare and logistics. As with much of Florida, tourism is also important to the Jacksonville area, particularly tourism related to golf. In 2010, Jacksonville was listed as a "High sufficiency" world city in the World Cities Study Group aos inventory. It ranks alongside cities such as Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.

The area of the modern city of Jacksonville has been inhabited for thousands of years. On Black Hammock Island in the national Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, a University of North Florida team discovered some of the oldest remnants of pottery in the United States, dating to 2500 BC. In the 16th century, the beginning of the historical era, the region was inhabited by the Mocama, a coastal subgroup of the Timucua people. At the time of contact with Europeans, all Mocama villages in present-day Jacksonville were part of the powerful chiefdom known as the Saturiwa, centered around the mouth of the St. Johns River. One early map shows a village called Ossachite at the site of what is now downtown Jacksonville; this may be the earliest recorded name for that area.

European explorers first arrived in the area 1562, when French Huguenot explorer Jean Ribault charted the St. Johns River. In 1564, Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere established the first European settlement, Fort Caroline, on the St. Johns near the main village of the Saturiwa. On September 20, 1565, a Spanish force from the nearby Spanish settlement of St. Augustine attacked Fort Caroline, and killed nearly all the French soldiers defending it. The Spanish renamed the fort San Mateo, and following the ejection of the French, St. Augustine's position as the most important settlement in Florida was solidified.

During the American Civil War, Jacksonville was a key supply point for hogs and cattle being shipped from Florida to aid the Confederate cause. The city was blockaded by Union forces, who gained control of the nearby Fort Clinch. From 1862, they controlled the city and most of the First Coast for the duration of the war. Though no battles were fought in Jacksonville proper, the city changed hands several times between Union and Confederate forces. Warfare and the long occupation left the city disrupted after the war.

During Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, Jacksonville and nearby St. Augustine became popular winter resorts for the rich and famous. Visitors arrived by steamboat and later by railroad. President Grover Cleveland attended the Sub-Tropical Exposition in the city on February 22, 1888 during his trip to Florida. This highlighted the visibility of the state as a worthy place for tourism. The city's tourism, however, was dealt major blows in the late 19th century by yellow fever outbreaks. In addition, extension of the Florida East Coast Railway further south drew visitors to other areas. From 1893 to 1938 Jacksonville was the site of the Florida Old Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Home with a nearby cemetery.

On May 3, 1901, downtown Jacksonville was ravaged by a fire that started at a fiber factory. Known as the "Great Fire of 1901", it was one of the worst disasters in Florida history and the largest urban fire in the southeastern United States. In just eight hours, it destroyed the business district and left approximately 10,000 residents homeless. It is said the glow from the flames could be seen in Savannah, Georgia, and the smoke plumes seen in Raleigh, North Carolina. Architect Henry John Klutho was a primary figure in the reconstruction of the city. More than 13,000 buildings were constructed between 1901 and 1912.

In the 1910s, New York aebased filmmakers were attracted to Jacksonville's warm climate, exotic locations, excellent rail access, and cheap labor. Over the course of the decade, more than 30 silent film studios were established, earning Jacksonville the title of "Winter Film Capital of the World". However, the city's conservative political climate [according to whom?] and the emergence of Hollywood as a major film production center ended the city's film industry. One converted movie studio site, Norman Studios, remains in Arlington; It has been converted to the Jacksonville Silent Film Museum at Norman Studios.

During this time, Jacksonville also became a banking and insurance center, with companies such as Barnett Bank, Atlantic National Bank, Florida National Bank, Prudential, Gulf Life, Afro-American Insurance, Independent Life and American Heritage Life thriving in the business district. The U.S. Navy also became a major employer and economic force during the 1940s, with the construction of three naval bases in the city.

Jacksonville, like most large cities in the United States, suffered from negative effects of rapid urban sprawl after World War II. The construction of highways led residents to move to newer housing in the suburbs. After World War II, the government of the city of Jacksonville began to increase spending to fund new public building projects in the boom that occurred after the war. Mayor W. Haydon Burns' Jacksonville Story resulted in the construction of a new city hall, civic auditorium, public library and other projects that created a dynamic sense of civic pride. However, the development of suburbs and a subsequent wave of middle class "white flight" left Jacksonville with a much poorer population than before. The city's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic white, declined from 75.8% in 1970 to 55.1% by 2010.

Much of the city's tax base dissipated, leading to problems with funding education, sanitation, and traffic control within the city limits. In addition, residents in unincorporated suburbs had difficulty obtaining municipal services, such as sewage and building code enforcement. In 1958, a study recommended that the city of Jacksonville begin annexing outlying communities in order to create the needed tax base to improve services throughout the county. Voters outside the city limits rejected annexation plans in six referendums between 1960 and 1965.

In the mid 1960s, corruption scandals began to arise among many of the city's officials, who were mainly elected through the traditional old boy network. After a grand jury was convened to investigate, 11 officials were indicted and more were forced to resign. Consolidation, led by J. J. Daniel and Claude Yates, began to win more support during this period, from both inner city blacks, who wanted more involvement in government, and whites in the suburbs, who wanted more services and more control over the central city. In 1964 all 15 of Duval County's public high schools lost their accreditation. This added momentum to proposals for government reform. Lower taxes, increased economic development, unification of the community, better public spending and effective administration by a more central authority were all cited as reasons for a new consolidated government.

When a consolidation referendum was held in 1967, voters approved the plan. On October 1, 1968, the governments merged to create the Consolidated City of Jacksonville. Fire, police, health & welfare, recreation, public works, and housing & urban development were all combined under the new government. In honor of the occasion, then-Mayor Hans Tanzler posed with actress Lee Meredith behind a sign marking the new border of the "Bold New City of the South" at Florida 13 and Julington Creek.

The Better Jacksonville Plan, promoted as a blueprint for Jacksonville's future and approved by Jacksonville voters in 2000, authorized a half-penny sales tax. This would generate most of the revenue required for the $2.25 billion package of major projects that included road & infrastructure improvements, environmental preservation, targeted economic development and new or improved public facilities.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 874.3 square miles (2,264 km2), making Jacksonville the largest city in land area in the contiguous United States; of this, 86.66% (757.7 sq mi, 1,962 km2) is land and ; 13.34% (116.7 sq mi, 302 km2) is water. Jacksonville completely encircles the town of Baldwin. Nassau County lies to the north, Baker County lies to the west, and Clay and St. Johns County lie to the south; the Atlantic Ocean lies to the east, along with the Jacksonville Beaches. The St. Johns River divides the city. The Trout River, a major tributary of the St. Johns River, is located entirely within Jacksonville.

The state of Florida, including Jacksonville, is a huge flat plateau with a high water table, and surface lakes are very shallow. The United States Geological Survey states that the highest point in Jacksonville is only 40 feet (12.2 meters) above sea level, making the area susceptible to flooding and storm surge. Soil composition is primarily sand and clay rather than limestone, so very few sinkholes develop; however deep, large diameter sinkholes do occur.

Jacksonville has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa), with mild weather during winters and hot weather during summers. High temperatures average 64 to 92 °F (18 to 33  °C) throughout the year. High heat indices are not uncommon for the summer months in the area, with indices above 110 °F (43.3  °C) possible. The highest temperature recorded in was 105 °F (41  °C) on July 21, 1942. It is common for thunderstorms to erupt during a typical summer afternoon. These are caused by the rapid heating of the land relative to the water, combined with extremely high humidity.

During winter, there can be hard freezes during the night. Such cold weather is usually short lived, as the city averages only 10 to 15 nights below freezing. The coldest temperature recorded at Jacksonville International Airport was 7 °F ( na14  °C) on January 21, 1985, a day that still holds the record cold for many locations in the eastern half of the US. Even rarer in Jacksonville than freezing temperatures is snow. When snow does fall, it usually melts upon making contact with the ground. Most residents of Jacksonville can remember accumulated snow on only two occasions ae-the first was a thin ground cover that occurred December 23, 1989. The second event happened on December 26, 2010, when measurable snow fell for the first time in 21 years across metropolitan Jacksonville. Occurring in the morning, it also marked the first time since 1989 that the official National Weather Service recording equipment at Jacksonville International picked up frozen precipitation.

Jacksonville has suffered less damage from hurricanes than most other east coast cities, although the threat does exist for a direct hit by a major hurricane. The city has only received one direct hit from a hurricane since 1871, although Jacksonville has experienced hurricane or near-hurricane conditions more than a dozen times due to storms passing through the state from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, or passing to the north or south in the Atlantic and brushing past the area. The strongest effect on Jacksonville was from Hurricane Dora in 1964, the only recorded storm to hit the First Coast with sustained hurricane force winds. The eye crossed St. Augustine with winds that had just barely diminished to 110 mph (180 km/h), making it a strong Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Jacksonville also suffered damage from 2008's Tropical Storm Fay which crisscrossed the state, bringing parts of Jacksonville under darkness for four days. Similarly, four years prior to this, Jacksonville was inundated by Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jeanne, which made landfall south of the area. These tropical cyclones were the costliest indirect hits to Jacksonville. Hurricane Floyd in 1999 caused damage mainly to Jacksonville Beach. During Floyd, the Jacksonville Beach pier was completely destroyed. The rebuilt pier was later heavily damaged by Fay, but not destroyed. Tropical Storm Bonnie would cause minor damage in 2004, spawning a minor tornado in the process. On May 28, 2012, Jacksonville was hit by Tropical Storm Beryl, packing winds up to 70 mph (110 km/h which made landfall near Jacksonville Beach.

Rainfall averages around 52 inches (1,300 mm) a year, with the wettest months being June through September.

Downtown Jacksonville has a skyline with the tallest building being the Bank of America Tower, constructed in 1990 as the Barnett Center. It has a height of 617 ft (188 m) and includes 42 floors. Other notable structures include the 37-story Wells Fargo Center (with its distinctive flared base making it the defining building in the Jacksonville skyline), originally built in 1972-74 by the Independent Life and Accident Insurance Company, and the 28 floor Riverplace Tower which, when completed in 1967, was the tallest precast, post-tensioned concrete structure in the world.

Bank of America (1990)

Wells Fargo Center (1974)

AT&T Tower (1983)

The Peninsula at St. Johns Center (2008)

Riverplace Tower (1967)

The Carling (1925)

121 Atlantic Place (1909)

There are more than 500 neighborhoods within Jacksonville's vast area. These include Downtown Jacksonville and its surrounding neighborhoods, including LaVilla, Brooklyn, Riverside, Avondale, Springfield, Eastside, and San Marco. Additionally, greater Jacksonville is traditionally divided into several amorphous areas, comprising large parts of Duval County. These are Northside, Westside, Southside, and Arlington, as well as the Jacksonville Beaches.

There are four municipalities that have retained their own governments since consolidation; these are Baldwin and the three Jacksonville Beaches towns of Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, and Jacksonville Beach. Four of Jacksonville's neighborhoods, Avondale, Ortega, Springfield, and Riverside, have been identified as U.S. historic districts and are in the National Register of Historic Places.

Jacksonville operates the largest urban park system in the United States, providing facilities and services at more than 337 locations on more than 80,000 acres (320 km2) located throughout the city. Jacksonville enjoys natural beauty from the St. Johns River and Atlantic Ocean. Many parks provide access for people to boat, swim, fish, sail, jetski, surf and waterski. Several parks around the city have received international recognition.

Tree Hill Nature Center is a nature preserve conveniently located five minutes from Downtown Jacksonville. Tree Hill is home to an environmental education center, a wildlife area, a Butterfly Center and 50 acres (200,000 m2) of nature trails surrounded by hilltop and wetland areas consisting of southern mixed hardwood forest, mixed hardwood swamp and freshwater streams. Serving the Jacksonville community for 40 years with important environmental education programs, Tree Hill also hosts a popular Butterfly Festival on the last Saturday of every April in the Joseph A. Strasser Amphitheater.

Hemming Plaza is Jacksonville's first and oldest park. It is downtown and surrounded by government buildings.

The Jacksonville Arboretum & Gardens broke ground on a new center in April, 2007 and held their grand opening on November 15, 2008.

The Ronnie Van Zant Memorial Park in suburban Green Cove Springs was opened in 1996. Located on Sandridge Rd, the park is dedicated to the memory of rock legend Ronnie Van Zant, lead singer and songwriter of The Lynyrd Skynyrd Band. Killed in the tragic 1977 crash of the band's private plane along with guitarist Steve Gaines, back-up singer Cassie Gaines, assistant road mgr. Dean Kilpatrick and the plane's two pilots, Van Zant grew up on the west side of Jacksonville and graduated (along with most of the band) from Robert E. Lee High School. The park features a 27 hole disc golf course, tennis courts and several fishing ponds.

The Veterans Memorial Wall is a tribute to local servicemen and women killed while serving in US armed forces. A ceremony is held each Memorial Day recognizing any service woman or man from Jacksonville who died in the previous year.

The Treaty Oak is a massive, 250 year-old tree at Jessie Ball DuPont Park in downtown. Office workers from nearby buildings sit on benches to eat lunch or read a book in the shade of its canopy.

The Jacksonville-Baldwin Rail Trail is a linear city park which runs 14.5 miles (23.3 km) from Imeson Road to a point past Baldwin, Florida.

The Florida Theatre, opened in 1927, is located in downtown Jacksonville and is one of only four remaining high-style movie palaces built in Florida during the Mediterranean Revival architectural boom of the 1920s.

Amity Turkish Cultural Center was established in 2006 as one of the major Dialogue and Cultural organizations in Jacksonville. Theatre Jacksonville was organized in 1919 as the Little Theatre and is one of the oldest continually producing community theatres in the United States.

Sun-Ray Cinema, formerly the 5 Points Theatre and Riverside Theatre, opened in 1927. It was the first theater equipped to show talking pictures in Florida and the third nationally. It is located in the Five Points section of town and was renamed the Five Points Theater in 1949.

The Ritz Theatre, opened in 1929, is located in the LaVilla neighborhood of the northern part of Jacksonville's downtown. The Jacksonville music scene was active in the 1930s in LaVilla, which was known as auHarlem of the South au. Black musicians from across the country visited Jacksonville to play standing room only performances at the Ritz Theatre and the Knights of Pythias Hall. Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong were a few of the legendary performers who appeared. After his mother died when he was 15, Ray Charles lived with friends of his mother while he played piano at the Ritz for a year, before moving on to fame and fortune. The Ritz Theatre was rebuilt and opened in October 1999.

The Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts consists of three distinct halls: the Jim & Jan Moran Theater, a venue for touring Broadway shows; the Jacoby Symphony Hall, home of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra; and the Terry Theater, intended for small shows and recitals. The building was originally erected as the Civic Auditorium in 1962 and underwent a major renovation and construction in 1996.

The Jacksonville 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. It replaced the outdated Jacksonville Coliseum that was built in 1960 and demolished on June 26, 2003.

The Alhambra Dinner Theatre, located on the Southside near the University of North Florida, has offered professional productions that frequently starred well-known actors since 1967. There are also a number of popular community theatres such as Players by the Sea at Jacksonville Beach. Atlantic Beach Experemental Theatre (ABET), and Orange Park Community Theatre.

In 1999, Stage Aurora Theatrical Company, Inc. was established in collaboration at Florida State College at Jacksonville (North Campus). Their goal is to produce theatre that enlightens, and it is the most popular theatre on the Northside, located at Gateway Town Center.

Jacksonville native Pat Boone was a popular 1950s singer and teen idol. During the 1960s, the Classics Four was the most successful pop rock band from Jacksonville. Southern Rock was defined by the Allman Brothers Band, which formed in 1969 in Jacksonville. Lynyrd Skynyrd achieved near cult status and inspired Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet and .38 Special, all successful in the 1970s. The 1980s were a quiet decade for musical talent in Jacksonville.

The next local group to achieve national success was the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, formed in 1994. Other popular Hip Hop acts in the 1990s included 95 South, 69 Boyz and the Quad City DJ's. The bands Inspection 12, Cold and Yellowcard were also well known and had a large following. Following the millennium, Burn Season, Evergreen Terrace, Shinedown, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Black Kids, Allele, are notable bands from Jacksonville.

In the early 20th century, New York-based moviemakers were attracted to Jacksonville's warm climate, exotic locations, excellent rail access, and cheaper labor, earning the city the title of "The Winter Film Capital of the World". Over 30 movie studios were opened and thousands of silent films produced between 1908 and the 1920s, when most studios relocated to Hollywood, California.

Since that time, Jacksonville has been chosen by a number of film and television studios for on-location shooting. Notable motion pictures that have been partially or completely shot in Jacksonville since the silent film era include Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (1988), Brenda Starr (1989), G.I. Jane (1997), The Devil's Advocate (1997), Ride (1998), Why Do Fools Fall In Love (1998), Forces of Nature (1999), Tigerland (2000), Sunshine State (2002), Basic (2003), The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Lonely Hearts (2006), Moving McAllister (2007), The Year of Getting to Know Us (2008), The Ramen Girl and Like Dandelion Dust.

Notable television series or made-for-television films that have been partially or completely shot in Jacksonville include Intimate Strangers (1986), Inherit the Wind (1988), Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer (1989), A Girl of the Limberlost (1990), Orpheus Descending (1990), Pointman (1995), Saved by the Light (1995), The Babysitter's Seduction (1996), Sudden Terror: The Hijacking of School Bus #17 (1996), First Time Felon (1997), Gold Coast (1997), Safe Harbor (film) (2009), The Conquest of America (2005), Super Bowl XXXIX (2005), Recount (film) (2008), and American Idol (2009).

The NPR and PRX radio show, State of the Re:Union, hosted by performance poet and playwright, Al Letson, is headquartered and produced in Jacksonville.

Throughout the year, many annual events of various types are held in Jacksonville. In sports, the annual Gate River Run has been held annually since March 1977. It has been the US National 15-kilometre (9.3 mi) road race Championship since 1994 and is the largest race of its distance in the country with over 13,000 runners, spectators, and volunteers, making it Jacksonville's largest participation sporting event. In college football, the Gator Bowl is held on January 1. It has been continuously held since 1946. Also, the Florida aeGeorgia game (also known as the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party"), the annual college football game between the rival Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs has been held in Jacksonville almost yearly since 1933. For six days in July the Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament is held for fishermen of all skills. With $500,000 of prizes up for grabs, up to 1000 boats participate with almost 30,000 spectators watching.

A number of cultural events are also held in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Jazz Festival, held downtown, is the second-largest jazz festival in the nation, while Springing the Blues, one of the oldest and largest blues festivals, has been held in Jacksonville Beach since 1990. The World of Nations Celebration has been held in Metropolitan Park since 1993, and features a number of events, food and souvenirs from various countries. The Jacksonville Film Festival, held at seven historic venues in the city, has been held since 2003 and has featured a variety of independent films, documentaries and shorts.

Other events include the Blessing of the Fleet held in March since 1985 and the Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fair in November at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds and Exposition Center featuring games, rides, food, entertainment and livestock exhibition. Holiday celebrations include the Freedom, Fanfare & Fireworks celebration on July 4, the lighting of Jacksonville's official Christmas tree at the Jacksonville Landing on the day after Thanksgiving and the Jacksonville Light Parade of boats the following day.

The city center includes the Jacksonville Landing and the Jacksonville Riverwalks. The Landing is a popular riverfront dining and shopping venue, accessible by River Taxi from the Southbank Riverwalk. The Northbank Riverwalk runs 2.0 miles (3.2 km) along the St. Johns from Berkman Plaza to I-95 at the Fuller Warren Bridge while the Southbank Riverwalk stretches 1.2 miles (1.9 km) from the Radisson Hotel to Museum Circle. Adjacent to Museum Circle is St. Johns River Park, also known as Friendship Park. It is the location of Friendship Fountain, one of the most recognizable and popular attractions for locals as well as tourists in Jacksonville. This landmark was built in 1965 and promoted as the auWorld aos Tallest and Largest au fountain at the time.

The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens is an art museum in Jacksonville's Riverside neighborhood. It was founded in 1961, following the death of Ninah Mae Holden Cummer, who willed her collection, home, and gardens to the museum. Its galleries display one of the world's three most comprehensive collections of Meissen porcelain as well as large collections of American, European, and Japanese art. The grounds also contain two acres of Italian and English gardens begun by Ninah Cummer.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville (MOCA Jacksonville) is a contemporary art museum funded and operated as a "cultural resource" of the University of North Florida. Tracing its roots back to the formation of Jacksonville's Fine Arts Society in 1924, it opened its current 60,000-square-foot (6,000 m2) facility next to the Main Library downtown in 2003. The museum features eclectic permanent and traveling exhibitions and a collection of over 700 works.

The Museum of Science & History (MOSH), located in downtown's Southbank Riverwalk, specializes in science and local history exhibits. It features a main exhibit that changes quarterly, plus three floors of nature exhibits, an extensive exhibit on the history of Northeast Florida, a hands-on science area and the area's only astronomy theater, the Bryan Gooding Planetarium.

Alexander Brest, founder of Duval Engineering and Contracting Co., was also the benefactor for the Alexander Brest Museum and Gallery on the campus of Jacksonville University. The exhibits are a diverse collection of carved ivory, Pre-Columbian artifacts, Steuben glass, Chinese porcelain and Cloisonne, Tiffany glass, Boehm porcelain and rotating exhibitions containing the work of local, regional, national and international artists.

The Jacksonville Maritime Museum, located in the Jacksonville Landing, includes models of ships, paintings, photographs and artifacts dating to 1562.

Three other art galleries are located at educational institutions in town. Florida State College at Jacksonville has the Kent Gallery on their westside campus and the Wilson Center for the Arts at their main campus. The University Gallery is located on the campus of the University of North Florida.

The Jacksonville Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum is a branch of the world's largest private collection of original manuscripts and documents. The museum in Jacksonville is in a 1921 neoclassical building on the outskirts of downtown. In addition to document displays, there is also an antique-book library, with volumes dating from the late 19th century.

The Catherine Street Fire Station building is on the National Register of Historic Places and was relocated to Metropolitan Park in 1993. It houses the Jacksonville Fire Museum and features 500+ artifacts including an 1806 hand pumper.

The LaVilla Museum opened in 1999 and features a permanent display of African-American history. The art exhibits are changed periodically.

There are also several historical properties and items of interest in the city, including the Klutho Building, the Old Morocco Temple Building, the Palm and Cycad Arboretum, and the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center, originally built as Union Station train depot. The Jacksonville Historical Society showcases two restoration projects: the 1887 St. Andrews Episcopal Church and the 1879 Merrill House, both located near the sports complex.

The Art Walk, a monthly outdoor art festival on the first Wednesday of each month, is sponsored by Downtown Vision, Inc, an organization which works to promote artistic talent and venues on the First Coast.

The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens boasts the second largest animal collection in the state. The zoo features elephants, lions, and, of course, jaguars (with an exhibit, Range of the Jaguar, hosted by the former owners of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Delores and Wayne Weaver). It also has a multitude of reptile houses, free flight aviaries, and many other animals.

Adventure Landing is an amusement park with locations in Jacksonville and Jacksonville Beach. The Jacksonville Beach location contains Shipwreck Island, Duval County's only waterpark.

Jacksonville has two fully enclosed shopping malls. The oldest is the Regency Square Mall, which opened in 1967 and is located on former sand dunes in the Arlington area. The other is The Avenues Mall, which opened in 1990 on the Southside, at the intersection of I-95 and US 1. The Orange Park Mall is another mall located just south of the city in the suburb of Orange Park, Florida, in Clay County, off of Blanding Boulevard (Florida State Road 21).

The end of the indoor shopping mall may be indicated by the opening of The St. Johns Town Center in 2005 and the River City Marketplace, on the Northside in 2006. Both of these are "open air" malls, with a similar mix of stores, but without being contained under a single, enclosed roof. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), only one enclosed mall has been built in the United States since 2006.

The Avenues, Orange Park Mall, and St. Johns Town Center are all owned by Simon Property Group; Regency is owned by General Growth Properties; River City Marketplace is owned by Ramco-Gershenson.

Jacksonville is home to one major league sports team, the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). The Jaguars joined the NFL as an expansion team in the 1995 season; they play their home games at EverBank Field. The PGA Tour, which organizes the main professional golf tournaments in the U.S., is headquartered in the suburb of Ponte Vedra Beach, where it holds The Players Championship every year.

Jacksonville is also home to several minor league-level teams. The Jacksonville Suns, a class Double-A baseball team, have played in Jacksonville continuously since 1970, longer than any other Double-A team has been in its city, and are the top-selling franchise in the Southern League. The Jacksonville Sharks, who began play in 2010, are the current champions of the Arena Football League. The Jacksonville Axemen are a semi-professional rugby league team founded in 2006, and now play in the USA Rugby League. The Jacksonville Giants basketball team started play in the new American Basketball Association in December 2010. FC JAX Destroyers are a soccer team that launched a men's franchise in the USL Premier Development League in the 2011 season, and plans a women's franchise for 2012. The Jacksonville Bullies indoor lacrosse team are scheduled to begin play in the North American Lacrosse League in its inaugural 2012 season.

College sports, especially college football, are popular in Jacksonville. The city hosts the Florida aeGeorgia game, an annual college football game between the University of Florida and the University of Georgia, and the Gator Bowl, a post-season college bowl game. Jacksonville's two universities compete in NCAA Division I: the University of North Florida Ospreys and the Jacksonville University Dolphins, both in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

The Florida Times-Union is the major daily newspaper in Jacksonville and Jacksonville.com is its official website. Another daily newspaper focused on the legal community is the Financial News and Daily Record.

The city's chief alternative newsweekly is Folio Weekly. Others include EU Jacksonville, Buzz Magazine and the Jacksonville Observer. The Jacksonville Business Journal is a weekly paper that focuses on the local economy and business community. The Jacksonville Free Press is a weekly paper serving the African-American community.

Jacksonville is the 47th largest local television market in the United States, and is served by television stations affiliated with major American networks including WTLV (NBC/The Country Network), WJXX (ABC/NBC Weather Plus), WTEV (CBS/Cool TV), WAWS (Fox/My Network TV), WJCT (PBS),and WCWJ (CW). WJXT is a former longtime CBS affiliate that turned independent in 2002.

Jacksonville is the 46th largest local radio market in the United States, and is dominated by the same two large ownership groups that dominate the radio industry across the United States: Cox Radio and Clear Channel Communications. The dominant AM radio station in terms of ratings is WOKV 690AM, which is also the flagship station for the Jacksonville Jaguars. In September 2006, WOKV began simulcasting on 106.5 FM as WOKV FM. There are two radio stations broadcasting a primarily contemporary hits format; WAPE 95.1 has dominated this niche for over twenty years, and more recently has been challenged by WFKS 97.9 FM (KISS FM). WJBT 93.3 (The Beat) is a hip-hop/R&B station, WWJK 107.3 is an oldies station. WXXJ 102.9 is an alternative station, WFYV 104.5 aeRock 105 Jacksonville Classic rock, WQIK 99.1 is a country station as well as WGNE-FM 99.9, WCRJ FM 88.1 (The Promise) is the main Contemporary Christian station operating since 1984, WHJX 105.7 and WFJO 92.5 plays music in Spanish like salsa, merengue, and reggaeton, and WJCT 89.9 is the local National Public Radio affiliate. Local Jones College also hosts an easy listening station, WKTZ 90.9 FM.

Jacksonville is the most populous city in Florida, and the eleventh most populous city in the United States. As of 2010, there were 821,784 people and 366,273 households in the city. The largest ancestries include: German (9.6%), American (9.3%), Irish (9.0%), English (8.5%), and Italian (3.5%). Jacksonville has the country's tenth-largest Arab population, with a total population of 5,751 according to the 2000 United States Census. Jacksonville has a large Filipino population, in part related to their tradition of service with the Navy. In addition, there is a large Serbo-Croatian population, located mostly on the south side of Jacksonville, and Russian population. Jacksonville also has a large and growing Puerto Rican population.

As of 2010, there were 366,273 households out of which 11.8% were vacant. As of 2000, 33.9% of households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were married couples living together, 16.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.07. In the city, the population was spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.6 males.

In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $40,316, and the median income for a family was $47,243. Males had a median income of $32,547 versus $25,886 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,337. About 9.4% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.7% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those age 65 or over.

As of the 2006 ae2008 American Community Survey, 88.1% of Jacksonville's population age five and over spoke only English at home while 5.2% of the population spoke Spanish at home. About 3.2% spoke other Indo-European languages at home. About 2.5% spoke an Asian language at home. The remaining 0.9% of the population spoke other languages at home.

As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language accounted for 90.60% of all residents, while those who spoke Spanish made up 4.13%, Tagalog 1.00%, French 0.47%, Arabic 0.44%, German 0.43%, both Vietnamese and Serbo-Croatian at 0.31%, Russian was 0.21% and Italian made up 0.17% of the population.

Jacksonville has a diverse religious population. The largest religious group is Protestants; according to the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), in 2000 the Jacksonville metropolitan area had an estimated 265,158 Evangelical Protestants, over 70% of whom were Southern Baptists, and 89,649 Mainline Protestants, attending around 700 congregations. Several of these are megachurches, including Bethel Baptist Institutional Church, First Baptist Church downtown and Christ's Church (formerly Mandarin Christian Church) on Greenland Road. The Episcopal Diocese of Florida has its see in St. John's Cathedral, the current building dating to 1906.

Jacksonville is part of the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine, which covers seventeen counties in North Florida and has 171,000 registered members attending 52 parishes. One notable Catholic church in Jacksonville is the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. There are also two Eastern Catholic parishes, one of the Syriac Catholic Church and one of the Maronite Church. According to ARDA, in 2000 there were 3,090 Eastern Orthodox Christians representing seven churches in the Eastern Orthodox communion, as well as one congregation of 200 Syriac Orthodox Christians.

There were also 7,734 members of the LDS Church (Mormons) and 404 Unitarian Universalists, who have worshiped at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Jacksonville since 1906. The Jewish community, which numbered 7,300 in 2000, is largely centered in the neighborhood of Mandarin. There are two Reform, two Conservative, and four Orthodox synagogues (three of them Chabad-affiliated), and two more synagogues in St. Augustine. The Muslim community numbered 2,182 in 2000, and had three congregations, including the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida, the region's largest mosque.[100]

The most noteworthy feature of Jacksonville government is its consolidated nature. The Duval County-Jacksonville consolidation eliminated any type of separate county executive or legislature, and supplanted these positions with the Mayor of Jacksonville and the City Council of the City of Jacksonville, respectively. Because of this, voters who live outside of the city limits of Jacksonville, but inside of Duval County, are allowed not only to vote in elections for these positions, but to run for them as well. In fact, in 1995, John Delaney, a resident of Neptune Beach, was elected mayor of the city of Jacksonville.

Jacksonville uses the Mayor-Council form of city government, also called the Strong-Mayor form, in which a mayor serves as the city's Chief Executive and Administrative officer. The mayor holds veto power over all resolutions and ordinances made by the city council, and also has the power to hire and fire the head of various city departments. The current mayor is Alvin Brown, who assumed office on July 1, 2011.[101][102]

Jacksonville and Duval County historically maintained separate police agencies: the Jacksonville Police Department and Duval County Sheriff's Office. As part of consolidation in 1968, the two merged, creating the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO). The JSO is headed by the elected Sheriff of Jacksonville, currently John Rutherford, and is responsible for law enforcement and corrections in the county.

In 2010, Duval County's crime rate was 5,106 per 100,000 people, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. 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 to deal with the problem. 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 that of Miami-Dade County.[103]

Some government services remained  ae as they had been before consolidation  ae independent of both city and county authority. In accordance with Florida law, the school board continues to exist with nearly complete autonomy. Jacksonville also has several quasi-independent government agencies which only nominally answer to the consolidated authority, including electric authority, port authority, transportation authority, housing authority and airport authority. The main environmental and agricultural body is the Duval County Soil and Water Conservation District, which works closely with other area and state agencies.

Public primary and secondary schools in Jacksonville and Duval County are administered by Duval County Public Schools, which is governed by an elected, seven-member Duval County School Board. In the 2009-2010 school year the district enrolled 123,000 students. It administers 172 total schools, including 103 elementary schools, 25 middle schools, 19 high schools, 3 K-8 schools, and 1 6-12 school, as well as 13 charter schools and a juvenile justice school program.[104] Of these, 62 are designated magnet schools.[104]

Two of Jacksonville's high schools, Stanton College Preparatory School 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, coming in respectively at #3 and #8 in the 2010 edition.[105] Five other schools, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts (#33), Mandarin High School (#97), Duncan U. Fletcher High School (#205) Sandalwood High School (#210), and Englewood High School (#1146) were also included in the list.[105]

The Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine operates a number of Catholic schools in Jacksonville, including two high schools, Bishop Kenny High School and Bishop John J. Snyder High School.[106] Other private schools in Jacksonville include Arlington Country Day School, the Bolles School, and the Episcopal School of Jacksonville.[107]


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