Jackson Jambalaya

It's in Jackson.

What’s wrong with the zoo?

It’s in a DMZ. A run down ghetto.

This smart mouthed mayor wants to act cute by saying how do you get it to fit on a 25 acre site. Well, a scaled back zoo there is 100 times better than that crumbling shit hole where it currently stands and throwing 50 million dollars at it won’t fix it.

For generations that part of town has been a ghetto, yet NOW everyone that lives there is concerned?

People in that area of town are to lazy to even cut their grass. Jeez...

Wait...we have blight elimination money? Is that a fund? How much is in that acct? Antar saying $50mil would do a lot in west Jackson is correct. However, it’s the return on investment of the $50mil that matters. If not, then you’re just giving $50mil to your buddies and walking away.

The same thing is wrong with the MetroCenter Mall. This is the largest shopping center in the state but it is dead. People with money didn't want to go there anymore. People who have choices choose to spend their money where they are comfortable and convenient. Unless they have no choice at all. The Jackson Zoo is not a necessity and people choose to spend their money on other things because they are not comfortable there. Duh. If it were private enterprise the decision would have been made years ago. Just like MetroCenter. Move it or stop wasting money on a dead horse.

It is looking like there will be no zoo. No one is coming up with $50 million for a new zoo and the current location will probably be closed with the animals sent to other zoos. I've been going there since I was a child, but never think about taking my grandchildren there.

Does the Mayor imagine the proposed $50 million would go to rehabbing houses in the vicinity, or will rehabbing the zoo magically upgrade the community?

I blame all the "people" that left Jackson for Rankin and Madison County. They left Jackson and took all their resources with them. Leaving poorly conditioned houses to rent to make a buck while they lived in their stucco palace. Now they sit on blog sites and reminisce of olden days, but don’t blame themselves for their economic part of the problem. Sit high in your stucco mansions, lakes of Caroline and lost rabbit. You’re stuck between a rock (Jackson) and a hard place (Canton). In 20 years Madison will be Jackson and “Sure as shooting, I’ll probably see you there.”

You would have to be a complete idiot to take the chance driving your family to the existing Zoo. Are the leaders of Jackson just one step off the short bus.

The Zoo is dead.

Give it the funeral it deserves.

Build a new facility combining the zoo with additional revenue generating attractions Except, do not locate it in Hinds county.

Can we get a collection going to pay Kingfish to stop forever posting threads about this damned zoo?

The area is not that bad. We usually rope in from a blackhawk, then set up a defensive perimeter until ground support rolls up in armored humvees. After an hour looking at the animals, we evac in a convoy. My wife usually mans the 50 caliber on the way out. The rally point is in the suburbs. My kids love it, but my daughter says the Kevlar is too heavy. Spoiled suburban kids I guess.

4:48, then I must be a complete idiot. Not that I drive to the zoo - not traveling for a weekend activity - but do have to drive in that area quite regularly. Is it (can I say it?) black? Absolutely. Are there crumbling houses/businesses? Well, it depends on which way one goes to get there; traveling down West Capitol, once one of the finest streets in the city, it is absolutely a disaster. But to travel down Woodrow Wilson, or to approach from 220, its not the zoo (pun intended) that many want to try to make it one this site. Wouldn't send my children out that area at night - absolutely. But, if that money that is wanted to be spent on moving the zoo was spent on a bulldozer to clear out the abandoned structures and make a several hundred acre park, it might actually work.

R.I.P. Jackson Zoo.
There a new Zoo in Brandon. McClain General Store has opened a petting zoo Friday, which features exotic animals like camels, zebras a baby giraffe and kangaroo. 874-A Holley Bush Rd. Brandon, MS

ONLY A MORON WOULD WANT THE Z O O
TO REMAIN IN IT's CURRENT LOCATION. jxn Sucks

Jackson Can Not Afford a Zoo!!! Period

5:26 please elaborate why a zoo should not go anywhere in Hinds County.

This appears to be a no-win situation for the Zoo. No amount of investment at the current location is likely to save it. But the Jackson City government will not support moving to a more suitable location because it is now a race issue. Mayor Lumumba is smart enough to know that the only fighting chance the zoo has is to move closer to Rankin/Madison . This move however is untenable with his constituents so he will oppose it 100%. The zoo is lost. RIP.

Btw 6:10 PM, the Zoo’s future is 100% a relevant issue for the Jackson metro area that needs to be discussed. The issues surtounding it represent the larger issues for the city of Jackson. Economic stagnation, racial identity politics, white flight and a hemoraging tax base leaving fewer resources each year.

What does it say about people (they're not homeowners - about 75% of them are renters) who live near the zoo if they so identify with the zoo that they can't bear to think of life without it or if they think it enhances the quality of their lives...?

Sad...

Ole chuck wagon needs to give up this fight. The limited funds of the city needs to be allocated to more critical needs. This issue didn’t happen overnight. To fix this blighted area will take years or even decades if all resources are poured into it. Which the city and the people of that area will never do. What is best for the zoo and all people of the Jackson area is the question. Not a turf war. Chuck, the I just got here answer is getting old. You are a great orator, but you are not making any decisions. Forget your new world order and get to work.

All these haters talking about stucco, I wonder if they know when EFIS was no longer allowed in the building code?

To 4:43. All the shootin' is why we left.

Economic stagnation, racial identity politics, white flight and a hemoraging tax base leaving fewer resources each year.

White flight from where?

Restating an old position.

It will take Hinds-Madison-Rankin counties, the state, Entergy, Nissan, Tyson, Sanderson,Cooper Tires, the casino's, BC/BS, MS banks, Toyota, MS lawyer groups and others. Money first then sponsorship of the shows, events and exhibits. Find a central location (a problem)maybe on the banks of the Pearl River. Give it a generic name or hell call it the Mississippi State Zoo. The potential is with the people of the state to work together to make something special happen, will it be hard damn straight but worth it in the end. Local entertainment, regional attraction and national positive publicity.

I-55 and I-20 traffic diversion alone to a world class zoo would do wonders for the hospitality business in the area.

I guess we will see who the leaders are in trying to get the zoo just moved or making it a very special moment in the lives of Mississippi children and out of town and out of state guest.

Aside from the fact that responsible parents would not take their kids there except on a large scale "zoo day" Saturday afternoon, you have to take into account that most kids these days would rather stay inside, play video games, and eat fattening snack foods. I don't blame the kids for that, either. We, as parents, let that happen.

Can Jackson be saved? Absolutely, but Democrats will never be part of any solution for that to happen. Witness all of the other larger Democrat run cities, they are verifiable proof that Democrats are bad people and have no clue how to make anything into a success.

I am genuinely curious if the violent crime or white flight came first? I ask because I am only 35 years old and remember spending the beginning of my childhood in Jackson. Most relatives left when my grandparent's neighbor was shot to death through her carport door for daring to turn on her carport light during a robbery. I believe that the neighbor who was murdered was black. My grandparents didn't leave when when the demographics on their street changed. The last of my relatives cut their losses and fled the City of Jackson for the safety of Rankin County in the late 90's.

I don't think they're bad people, they just believe in failed processes that have been proven not to work.

Crime came first. I know several people who lived off West Capitol. Some held out as long as they could and all wish they could live still there but the crime forced them out. It was a great place at one time and so convenient to downtown.

Why can't the MS Department of Wildlife and Fisheries take over the zoo? They do a great job with the Natural Science Museum.

White flight?? What you talking about Willis? Anyone with enough resources is always searching to move on up to the East side. George Jefferson taught us that! Blacks want to blame whites, but it’s classism, not race. Any black family with enough resources is scrambling to leave as fast as whites, if not faster. Look at Madison/Rankin school demographic makeup, blacks are increasing ten-fold.

10:26 is spot on.
Culley Drive, off I-55 behind the old chuck-e-cheese is where I grew up. The whole street/neighborhood was mostly white and the houses were nice little single family starter homes with nice size yards! Manhattan park was an every weekend thing! Picnics, bikes, football, soccer, baseball, hiking over the ditch in the woods, etc etc. Our neighbor who we considered our grandparents even had a pool!
My parents started Rainbow Wholefoods. We all cared and loved Jackson and the people. My father started and sold his Environmental Engineering consultant firm. Most off all that was late 80's through 1995 when we moved to Northbay in Madison. There's no white flight it's merely continuing success lends to "moving on up" no matter your race. My father and his friend run a solar business in Jackson now. A white and a black man. Together. Jackson is the most racist city towards whites I've ever seen. Blatant too. My parents moved us after a coke dealer (he was white) and a few other unsavory people (gunshots, people just starting to mill around with no purpose or drive) moved into the neighborhood. Crime, not race led to us moving. My father and mothers success led to us moving.

I'm white. Born in '87 in Jackson. First pres. prep. Madison central. Hinds CC. Ole miss alum. I'm 30yrs old living in Sarasota, FL now after 5 years in CO. I love and hate Jackson. I tell everyone I meet about the pros and cons. I worry about my family members that remain in "little Detroit" everyday. Jackson BLOWS my mind how the city "operates" or better yet "doesn't operate".

The United States Census officially recognizes six racial categories: White American, Black or African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.

Good luck to all y'all that remain. Don't worry I know the feeling isn't mutual.

Well, when that day does come, at least the Zoo will have Judge Tomie T. Green to sign off on the paperwork to release the animals, right? She's pretty efficient about that kind of thing, right?

Yep, this report was done by Scott Simmons..... leftist media. It seems he would really be asking hard questions like “why do we need the zoo when we have crime problems and infrastructure issues that need to be addressed first”? Just keep kicking that can down the road, soon Scott you will be in the same boat as Howard “Bellafonte” Ballou.

So Paul how can Jackson be saved. All the voters are Ds and not going to change.

What "white Flight"?
Clinton, Ridgeland, Terry and Pearl public schools are majority black now. Sounds like economic flight. If you can get out, you get out (sans the groovy 39202 folk).

1:30 is right. Scott Simmons is terrible. I quit watching WAPT because of him.

1:34 PM I'm not Paul, but the only thing that can save Jackson would be if the volcano woke up and a new city was built upon the cold lava. That is God's truth.

SoufSide Dufus @ 4:43 is the total problem with Jackson. Just wants to point fingers, but accept no blame.

When I sold my place and left Jackson/Hinds county. my neighbor hood had no rental houses. All the houses were maintained, along with the yards. No junk cars in the yards, no burglar bars on the windows and all the streets were drivable.

Everything south of Hwy 80 was thriving. I can think of seven shopping centers that had at least two grocery stores in them, two movie theaters and restaurants in them and every neighbor hood had a mom & pop store in it.

No, we left the city in good shape!!

The problem with Jackson as with every other dim-o-krat controlled city is you. You don't have the guts to look in the mirror and ask, "What did you do? How have I/We let things get this bad?"

There is no one to blame, but your selves. When you stop electing idiots like Kennuf Stokes, then one day maybe you'll see some progress, but I doubt it. Keep on keeping on....you reap what you sow. You're the problem and your own worst enemy.

Anyone who can follow trends and comprehend the concept of 2 + 2 = 4 knows where this story ends, and it’s not on Lefluer’s Bluff.

Moving it to that location with the city’s finances is a pipe dream. The zoo will probably be gone in 5 years or so.

To my knowledge, Jackson doesn’t have a movie theatre nor a shopping mall. Don’t ask why the zoo is dying. You know why. They run people off and wonder why they don’t have anything of note in their city. I’m amazed that the ballet competition still comes to town. That will come to a screaching half if one of the competitors/visitors gets killed for no good reason or for any reason. The newer generation of kids in Jackson don’t even know that they don’t have anything. It’s worse than pitiful.

In human nature, we all have survival instincts. After so long of people being robbed and/or killed, your instincts just says “stay away.”

Jackson can be saved by encouraging investment in downtown while cutting off the fringe benefits of a city that can’t afford them. When there are enough jobs, which requires commerce far beyond a strip mall, you might get people to stay IF you can at least keep the murderers locked up. If you can stop the hemorrhaging and reverse course, Jackson might have a sizable tax base to take care of the basics.

The only thing keeping Jackson relevant are colleges/universities, hospitals, car lots, what’s left of law offices, and government-state or federal.

Y’all do realize that between Rankin and Madison counties, a sprawled out complex of development is further expanding only to avoid Jackson. It’s not because Rankin and Madison are really that great. They’re just safer, and a little bit more sane. That’s all.

All you verbose quitters that hate Jackson. Knock yourselves out. I love it here, warts and all. Love it. Keep up with the novel size comments, but know that at the end of the day, we Jacksonians that live here do it by choice, and don't give a shit what you think. In other words, phuck you.

White flight? Ha.

I'm absolutely floored that all of you concealed carry folks are afraid to reclaim *YOUR* city and visit *YOUR* zoo. Give me a break! You're going to have potholes in every city, and (you might not believe it, but it's true) you're also going to have black people and poor people in every city.

6:25PM I guess you watched Death Wish last night too, huh? Not everyone with a Concealed Carry permit is a Paul Kersey vigilante. Most people carrying just want a chance to defend themselves if needed.

I decided to go to the zoo today to see it for myself. I went to it via Capital Street and out via Woodrow Wilson. The area going in off 220;had a stripped car at the intersection. Between 220 and the zoo were many abandoned houses and terrible roads. It had changed a lot in the past few years. The zoo was really nice and clean, and I really enjoyed the animals. I was at the giraffe exhibit and heard one gunshot and then about 6 from an automatic weapon. I waited to hear sirens, but never did. I guess this is the norm over there. It s time to move it for sure. I am deeply saddened at the state of our city. I am a strong proponent of revitalization, but I would be scared for children to go there.

@ 6:08.
People that say they are in love with the current situation are smoking that shit way to often. Your obviously not a business owner. I literally have a collection of blue index cards Jpd gives me when my business is broken into. And yes. I have it fenced with razor wire, security cameras, and a security system. Doesn’t slow them down a damn bit. I don’t know about the other detectives but the business burglary guys don’t give a shit about me or my property. The judges are way to lenient. Nevermind the water, schools, potholes, etc. The sheriff is a joke. Letting murderers accidentally go.

5:29 should be a columnist. Excellent insight.

"All you verbose quitters that hate Jackson. Knock yourselves out. I love it here, warts and all. Love it. In other words, phuck you."

Cool! And you work where? The Clarion Ledger? Saltines? Backyard Burger across from UMMC? Hal & Mals? "Nowhere right now but looking"? And how many months ago did your bicycle disappear from under the stairs at the apartment?