Springfield is Jacksonville's oldest surviving neighbourhood, a grid of late Victorian and early Edwardian houses immediately north of downtown that has gone through decline and is now partway through a gradual revival. The housing stock is extraordinary — Italianate, Queen Anne, Craftsman, and Colonial Revival houses on tree-lined streets, many of them in the process of being restored by a new generation of residents who came for the low prices and stayed for the architecture.
It is not a polished destination. Some blocks are beautifully kept; others are rough around the edges. But for anyone interested in American vernacular architecture and the texture of a neighbourhood in mid-restoration, Springfield is more interesting than anything Jacksonville's sunnier, tidier districts have to offer. The Springfield Preservation and Revitalization Council runs occasional walking tours.