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atp4984

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Posts posted by atp4984

  1. I hate reading quotes about residential "nostalgia" for waterside and really hearing about any community input at all. If these residents loved Waterside so much, maybe it wouldn't have tanked the way it did.

    Cordish's plan is no different than what Waterside already is/was. I don't see what they will do any different. In 5 years when it tanks again as a restaurant and entertainment venue, they will leave and the city will be stuck with the same dead weight as they are now.

    At least Harvey Lindsay's plan creates office buildings with guaranteed tenants (clark nexsens) and creates the convention center space the city has been pining for.

    If the city were smart, they would try to let Cordish have waterside and let HL build on the empty Westin hotel lot...

    Anyway, we'll probably get the Cordish plan. It seems to be the most probable result based on the city leader's quotes.

    I think Waterside would have been and could be more successful in its current or similar incarnation with a private business managing it. I think it failed because it wasn't run by professionals, not because there's no demand for food, drink, and entertainment with a nice view.

  2. Listen, I agree with many of your points, but I'd like to refute one thing. I'm not trying to berate you, I'd just like to make it more well known. People use the "18th Century technology" line a lot to bash transit. I mean, we tore it out once, why rebuild it? right?

    Do you know why most streetcar systems were torn out mid-twentieth century? Because car companies bought the transit companies, liquidated them, destroyed the infrastructure, and burned the streetcars. The idea was that it's kind of hard to get around when there's no alternative to owning a car.

    Also, I absolutely love getting into with people on that site. There's something about the "I-have-an-opinion-so-I'm-an-authority/expert-on-the-matter, -oh, -and-here's-a-made-up-statistic-" kinda people that absolutely set me off.

  3. Well, I post there a lot! (Ethan is my name on there.) At the end of the day, the project is riddled with fraud. People stole lots of taxpayer money with the project. They personally took YOUR money and put it in THEIR pocket, and didn't work to earn it. That actually does make some people mad.

    Currently, the way things are headed, America is going to fail. Yes, fail.

    You can pretend that the gov't wasting tons of people's personal money is going to somehow make the area bigger. Having 2 million people with 1,500,000 of them under the poverty line isn't really going to help.

    I'm against light rail. I think it's stupid. I think it's a total, absolute, waste of money. No technical advances came from it. It's redeployment of something that existed before and was torn out. I was all for maglev research and development. That system is forward looking. It is innovation. It leaves something for future generations to be proud of. It could have spawned new industry in Hampton Roads. It could have shown the world that America still invents stuff other than things to kill people with.

    Listen, I agree with many of your points, but I'd like to refute one thing. I'm not trying to berate you, I'd just like to make it more well known. People use the "18th Century technology" line a lot to bash transit. I mean, we tore it out once, why rebuild it? right?

    Do you know why most streetcar systems were torn out mid-twentieth century? Because car companies bought the transit companies, liquidated them, destroyed the infrastructure, and burned the streetcars. The idea was that it's kind of hard to get around when there's no alternative to owning a car.

  4. Am I the only one who is worried that light rail will fail miserably? Do any of you feel the same way? I use to be excited for this project, but after all the mishaps and cost overruns, Im not too confident that this first line will perform like it should... In hindsight, I actually feel like it was thrown together just to have a line.

    The first line will fail miserably. However, the extensions will save it and position the region for something significantly better in terms of economic and population growth. Blame Meyera Oberndorf for the delay.

  5. I agree with you. But maybe we could do a streetcar up Hampton Blvd?

    Look back at the graphic I posted two pages ago.

    Instead of Hampton Blvd, there should be an extension from SPQ to Ward's Corner via Church St/Granby St. An extension through Ghent to ODU would be feasible along the north side of the Norfolk Southern right-of-way. The ODU station would be on Powhatan, not on Hampton Blvd. There just isn't enough room to accommodate light-rail on Hampton Blvd, and no politician would survive its construction.

  6. Quote from fdm505

    http://hamptonroads....-ahead-schedule

    Ignorance.I seriously cannot see a bunch of "thugs" riding the train to the Beach. The Beach is already thugged out in the summer time. People need to stop acting like Va BEach is some crime-free resort area. If I were to translate this statement, it reads, "Don't build the train to the Beach becasue the black Norfolkians willl come start trouble" SMH.

    I get a huge rise out of mudslinging with those morons.

  7. Norfolk might not ever have a strong core like Denver

    coorsfield_view.png

    Don't let the tall buildings fool you, it's not that big. I stumble around it all every weekend. Give it fifteen more years. With SPQ and Fort Norfolk, downtown Norfolk will have a lot going for it.

  8. Is there another metro in the nation that we can look at that has rail transit with multiple activity centers WITHOUT a main center (downtown)? I know that MetroRail goes to multiple activity centers, but everyone knows the center of the transit system and region is downtown DC . The other areas sprouted up around major rail stations.. I know MTA goes everywhere, but the center is clearly Manhattan. Charlotte will always be able to look to their downtown as the center of the transit system. I'm worried about Hampton Roads set-up and arrangement/geography. We don't have a major downtown with a lot of people commuting from the suburbs into the city. Our largest activity center is the Naval Station. I just don't know how rail is going to work with our poly-centric setup unless downtown Norfolk becomes a stronger urban core. Without a strong core, our transit system will most likely fail.

    Hampton Roads is fairly similar to the Denver Metro area. LoDo (Downtown Denver) is about twice as big and tall as downtown Norfolk, and there are several other nodes around it - The Denver Tech Center to the south, Boulder to the Northwest, etc. They are planning to/already have connected most of these nodes with transit in one form or another, and it has decent ridership. Hampton Roads after one more economic boom will probably be the size that the Denver area is today.

  9. UrbanCorridor.jpg

    Here's the regional concept. It assumes a few things:

    - Some economic catalyst (i.e. real high speed rail between DC, Richmond, and Norfolk)

    - VB urbanizing auto-oriented commercial property along the main light-rail line and Va Beach Blvd

    - Norfolk State getting it together and growing significantly.

    -Increased demand/density in the Industrial Park due to the Craney Island Port Expansion.

    One urban corridor, versus two competing urban cores is the only way Hampton Roads will become a world-class region.

    The rest of my study shows light rail alignments and station configurations, Military Circle redevelopment, and the feasibility of a high speed rail line and terminal where Military Circle is now. I'm aware that the higher-speed rail station is planned for Harbor Park, but I believe by the time High Speed rail in Hampton Roads becomes a reality, this would be more beneficial, both to Norfolk and Hampton Roads in general.

  10. That map is a disaster. I've been working on a number of extension alternatives for my Senior Planning Project. Here are the extensions I recommend:

    - Va Beach Extension along NS R-O-W

    - North from 264 at Military Hwy to Robin Hood Rd. Small two-way single track segment to airport terminal. Follow I-64 along West/South easement to Tidewater Dr. Follow NS R-O-W to Ward's Corner then to the Base.

    - North from SPQ along Church Street. Fork at Granby St. Follow NS R-O-W to ODU/Powhatan Ave through Ghent. Follow Granby north in median to Ward's Corner.

    - Improvements to HRT no. 3 and 8.

    - Park-and-Rides at I-64 and Granby/Tidewater/Chesapeake/Robin Hood Rd/Military Circle.

    There are some pretty epic regional opportunities at the intersection of Military Hwy and Va Beach Blvd, roughly 700 acres of redevelopment possibilities centered around transit and walkability. BTW, an extension along Hampton Blvd is absolutely impossible, and following NS R-O-W's for their entirety through the city ignores some opportunities to strengthen some areas through TOD. Church St/Granby St is the way to go for the west side of Norfolk.

    norfolktransit.jpg

    Ignore the High Speed Rail going to Military Circle, that's for another discussion another day.

  11. I encourage everyone to take time to fill out this form with regards to the Richmond/HR highspeed rail line. Comments are due by February 11, 2010. HR residents, it is imperative that we voice how much HSR is needed for Hampton Roads, southside in particular. I plan to post this link in all relevant HR forums, but please confine your comments to the thread.

    Why they're not considering making the 460 route a 150mph line is beyond me. It's the straightest flatest 50 miles of track in the whole system. Combined with improvements to the DC/Richmond leg, a possible 2 hour commute from Norfolk to DC would be an economic game-changer.

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