Duval Folx Dance Party at
Legacy Studios

Cities everywhere are asking the same question: How do we grow without losing what makes a place feel like home?

At the Phoenix Arts & Innovation District (PHXJAX), we’re living inside that question every day.

Generation Regeneration, Co-Designing the Future of Cities Through Regenerative Placemaking, isn’t a theory here. It’s a practice. PHXJAX is a living example of what happens when a district isn’t simply revitalized, but regenerated socially, culturally, economically, and ecologically. In Jacksonville’s North Springfield neighborhood, we’re proving something important: the future of cities isn’t built for communities. It’s co-authored with them.

A Demonstration Project Rooted in Place and People

PHXJAX is the first demonstration project in North Springfield, but this work has never been just about real estate. It’s about people. It’s about treating place as an ecosystem—where artists, entrepreneurs, neighbors, students, and local institutions all play a role in shaping what comes next.

For me, this work is deeply personal.

I’m a third-generation Jacksonvillian. I’ve spent more than two decades working in arts, culture, retail, and community-based development here. I’ve built businesses, produced events, activated spaces, and watched neighborhoods change, sometimes thoughtfully, sometimes not. That lived relationship to this city, its buildings, its stories, its people, shapes everything I bring to PHXJAX.

Regeneration doesn’t start with erasing what exists. It starts by honoring it.

A “Yes” Moment That Became a Mission

My journey with PHXJAX began with a gut feeling that something different was being imagined.

The first time I met Tony Cho, I felt it immediately. His energy and vision were magnetic. After about an hour of conversation, I knew he was someone I wanted to work with, not because the idea was flashy, but because it was grounded in values and passion.

*Artist Jarrett Walker discusses his work at Legacy Studios.*

Later that evening, I sent an email and told him plainly: “If and when you’re ready to build a team in Jacksonville, I want to be a part of it.”

A year later, I joined the Future of Cities team as Director of Community Engagement for PHXJAX. From day one, the goal was clear: don’t just attract investment, cultivate belonging.

Nearly five years after that first meeting, both the district and my role within it have grown. Today, I serve as Vice President and Chief Experience Officer, and as a partner in the project. That evolution reflects something essential about regenerative placemaking: it takes time. It requires continuity, shared accountability, and leadership that grows from within the work itself.

What Regenerative Placemaking Looks Like on the Ground

Regenerative placemaking asks harder questions than traditional redevelopment ever has:

How do we restore buildings while also restoring trust?
How do we create economic opportunity without erasing cultural identity?
How do we design districts that give more back than they take?

At PHXJAX, the answers show up in tangible ways: the restoration of Emerald Station, the launch of artist studios and creative offices, cultural programming that centers community voices, youth education initiatives, and ongoing work toward green infrastructure and sustainable systems.

For me, PHXJAX is about more than redevelopment. It’s about regenerative placemaking creating an ecosystem where artists, innovators, and change-makers can truly thrive.

That word, ecosystem, matters. It speaks to relationships, not just projects. To stewardship, not just short-term wins.

Co-Designing the Future Means Sharing the Author’s Seat

At the heart of Generation Regeneration is co-design—shifting power so communities aren’t consulted at the end, but engaged from the very beginning.

At PHXJAX, participation isn’t performative. It’s foundational. We’re building an organic, community-driven model where people are invited to bring their ideas, their art, their businesses, and their hopes—and to see those contributions shape the physical place itself.

We empower visionaries to co-author the future of this district.

That’s regenerative placemaking at its most honest.

“If You Dream It, Then Create It”

Regeneration requires imagination but not the vague kind. The practical kind. The kind that turns creative possibility into real-world form.

My philosophy is simple: if you dream it, then create it.

In a city-making context, that belief becomes a framework. PHXJAX isn’t waiting to be saved. It’s being built, collectively, through shared agency, creativity, and care.

A Precedent for Jacksonville and for Cities Everywhere

PHXJAX is proudly Jacksonville made but it’s also part of a bigger shift. It’s one where cities embrace regeneration as a strategy for resilience, cultural vitality, and equitable growth.

This work isn’t just about Jacksonville. It’s about setting a precedent for how cities everywhere can approach development differently, by centering people, honoring places, and designing for long-term impact.

That’s why PHXJAX belongs in the Generation Regeneration story. It shows how a district can become a platform for community-led future-making where restoration meets experimentation, and place becomes a catalyst for people.

The Invitation

We’re not just building a district. We’re building a shared belief: that cities can be redesigned around creativity, sustainability, and community authorship.

If the future of cities is regenerative, then the work starts here by restoring what matters, and by creating together what comes next.