 when it comes to those retail shops in downtown Jacksonville. As the city transforms, there are still barriers for businesses to start up or to decide to relocate downtown. WJCT's Lindsay Kilbride looks into the pros and cons of opening up shop downtown. I have recently purchased a building in Springfield right on the cusp of downtown, which is perfect. It's the entryway to the neighborhood. And I'm turning it into a really cool co-op art space with an event space and a vegan restaurant and a beer garden and shared studio space. Alyssa Key grew up here, but moved away in 2003, ended up in New York, and never thought she'd come back. But on a visit home, she went to Jacksonville's monthly art walk and noticed a change. And downtown was flooded with people. What is this? This doesn't happen. This is Jacksonville's downtown. And I mean, it was the first sign to me that things had changed. Key says she purchased her building for under $300,000, but she sees overpriced buildings all around her. And it's like, where are these buildings that are between $300,000 and $600,000? There's none. Oliver Barracat is on the Downtown Investment Authority Board. He says for developers and business owners looking to enter the urban core, it's many unused buildings may look appealing, but many of them aren't being kept up with. And the owners are asking unrealistic prices in some cases. And the city may put a lien on the property, or the property may not be compliant with the codes, but the city does not have the audacity to foreclose on the property. Barracat says it would benefit everyone if the city took ownership of these properties and sold them for reasonable prices. Entrepreneurs want to get their hands on them. The biggest change that I've noticed is that entrepreneurs are willing to risk more capital and make more of a bet on downtown. And it's getting easier. I would say that it open a business downtown is to be tenacious and have confidence and know that there are a lot of others that are doing it. You're not alone, like you were 10, 20 years ago, and that you're part of a movement. But businesses here still have some issues. Stores and restaurants have trouble attracting customers on evenings and weekends. Part of the reason why there's not a lot of demand in the evenings and on the weekends is because of parking, to some extent, and because of the perception of safety. So statistically, downtown is safe. It's just a perception issue. When the streets are void of people, it just, there's a sense of blight. But he says the cities with the most interesting downtowns have sparse parking. You have to trade character and diversity for convenience. And I think that Jacksonville slowly recognizing that that exchange is worth it, but we're not there yet. In Springfield, Key is bringing that character. The only real barriers that have tried to bring themselves so far are a few concerned people within the neighborhood, which I understand. I think it rubbed a few people the wrong way because they're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We've been here forever. Now she says the neighbors seem to get what she's doing. For Community Thread, I'm Lindsay Kilbride.