Alleri459

Well, an entire transit network does not happen overnight. Maybe this public and private partnership can jumpstart a much needed network.

Very true. I have been spending the last few weeks in Chicago, and although there are the typical iconic architectural landmarks being developed in and around the Loop/Downtown areas, drive a few minutes into the neighborhoods and EVERY multi-family residential development is a brown box looking like it came from the same developer. Very similar to this. This draw into the western side is certainly a bigger story. Underutilized lots, and properties will give the city more revenue, but like Chicago, the story of gentrification and perhaps a "whitewashing" of the western downtown Orlando neighborhoods also worries me.

A Greenwise market recently opened up in Odessa/Land o Lakes though But if even South Florida only has one, then it certainly shows this trend. Maybe more specialty items?

Not including express lane work, most of the general use lanes and bridge work through the entire stretch of this project are in their final configuration. The drive is noticeably smoother and easier. Especially much of the sightline issues that were notorious in the past! There is still lighting, landscaping, additional paving left, but it is nice to see this project towards its latter end.

This is a good thing! It helps in a way to legitimize training and education people have obtained from this university on the island and are living here now. If they do end up doing a bilingual or Spanish-language curriculum it would also better serve the entire Hispanic/Latin community and those arriving from other nations. Whether it is for training, certifications, exchange programs, etc. An example with this is the number of people from Latin America going to school in Puerto Rico to have a U.S. based education, yet it is done in Spanish.

I drove throughout the Downtown Tampa area a couple of weeks ago and thought the same thing. The new construction in Water Street look VERY nice. Lots of detail. There were a few other developments I saw that were nice, including the JW Marriott and pedestrian bridge over to the Water Street Marriott and the Waterfront Park improvements. The big HOWEVER is how disconnected everything is feeling, with the factors you mentioned as well as rail yards and distance. Over time the gaps may be filled if growth and redevelopment continues along with softening and humanizing those "barriers", but it will be a while before all of that occurs.

These buildings are definitely "trust the process" projects because this one came out very nice! I agree we need more of these!

We may not get the sexy urban station, but we'll end up with multiple transit hubs, a maintenance hub, and an additional transit line adding to better regional connectivity. Not going to lie, I'm bummed about not getting an HSR urban downtown station, but I think we may get a pretty nice deal out of all of this in the long run.

I think it is a win/win as well. If it all comes together, it would be interesting to see if any additional tracking, platforms or a general restructuring of the station would occur through the Meadow Woods station. That stretch of railroad with two Sunrail lines, Brighline, and freight would become very busy. That is way down the pipeline though and I am getting ahead of myself.

I personally think it's an apples to oranges comparison since Downtown Orlando is much larger than Downtown Winter Garden and both have experienced very different growing pains. Winter Garden has done great work in revitalizing its corridor with the West Orange Trail, keeping its historic charm while allowing for new development. I do believe the City of Orlando can implement similar practices in its Main streets and neighborhood districts though. Downtown Orlando could find an approach of establishing and focusing on a retail district using some similar placemaking practices, but would have to include more amenities and larger retail establishments, imo.

Absolutely! Being so decentralized over a large area for our population size has hurt that desire/demand for building vertical in the core.

Not to disagree, but you're citing 2010 MSA figures for the Orlando while using more updated estimates for the others. A quick Google search shows the Orlando MSA (Orange, Osceola, Lake, Seminole) estimates at between 2,509,454 and 2,608,147. That, of courses, rises if the suburban/exurban areas of Volusia and Polk Counties (CSA figures) were to be included. CSA seems to be a little bit of a reach in the counties included, but that figure would be close to 4,160,646 putting the Orlando CSA 15th in the U.S.

The way central city limits and their jurisdictions are laid out now in the United States, especially in the sunbelt, makes comparing cities only by their populations and not metro area rather difficult or misleading. Like comparing Jacksonville and Miami or Atlanta. Orlando, although a smaller city proper has a much larger metropolitan area than Nashville or Austin. Orlando, for better or for worse, has numerous nuclei similar to most cities of the Sunbelt.

Although transporting it under/over I-4 may be challenging, a shaded area in a large open space would be nice.

Polk or funds towards the extension to the airport?

Friends and others, myself included, have just referred to the performing arts center as the Dr Phillips Center. I have heard students shorten the UCF building as Academic Commons.

THIS! Also, I think bold design of the museum element is overshadowing other equally important elements, which I believe were designed well. From what I have seen on social media, and here even, has been a great deal of attention on the museum element. The design is supposed to be the bold triumphant element representing how many people, businesses, entities and Orlando came together strong pushing forward despite the tone deaf approach by state leaders. From what I understood, it would tell the full story of the lives and events. This would become the largest LGBTQ museum in the country. The Memorial and Survivors Walk elements on this design were nice, which I really do not hear or see anyone talking about. Other designs seemed war memorial-like, a little "out there", or had very little to no shaded areas. The walk is basically a trail along Orange Ave. As far as tourist attraction comments, tourists or people visiting from out of town already visit the current site, especially members of the LGBTQ+ community, young people and families. The news of this event traveled the world and the desire to pay respect, or even curiosity, will continue to lead people to this site. This is also my own reaction. The approach to "finding what works best" will be a subjective solution, if there is one. I included some pictures and screenshots from the video of the memorial and Survivor Walk. The Survivors Walk

As a student at the new campus, I found it to be less busy than I anticipated. Granted, I take night classes and they do not meet face-to-face every week. Several classmates still live near the main campus since their leases have not ended, but most have expressed interest in eventually relocating within the downtown area. Several I know already made the move. I take the Sunrail and it is very convenient, you just have to stay on top of the train schedule. The walk is similar to the distance from a main campus parking garage to a classroom. As far as safety goes, I have not felt unsafe, it is well-lit and enough pedestrian traffic to give an "eyes on the street" feeling. The walk under I-4 with the construction is still treacherous. Overall, it will be a gradual change, potentially end of the school year(or several) for everything to feel seamless and the perks of relocating the campus downtown to feel noticeable.

I was able to locate this document through Linkedin. It shows everything in detail. Kissimmee is certainly getting it together little by little, I'm all for it.

So based on this report http://www.cflroads.com/asset/file/3515/2018-05_Project_Development_and_Environment_Study_pdf (I believe on page 58 in the recommended alternative) there will be a Sunrail transfer station just north of the OUC rail spur and a separate train will run to the terminal. This allows for greater headways on that route and less of a hassle coordinating around freight and amtrak trains and the very issue of stations being cut off. This alternative proposes two platforms on the main rail line (one for the northbound/southbound trains, and one specifically for OIA trains) with the ability for passengers to cross over to the other platform to transfer. By page 63 the maps tell the tale.

I am definitely excited for MX Taco! The chef/owner has also worked in Mexico and the menu should feature many different styles from various regions. He has put a lot of time and effort into the concept and menu. Wishing him the best!

To increase connectivity, I think having our major roadways, like Semoran, OBT, Kirkman, Mills, Colonial, etc., with a BRT line down the middle with transfer stations to work with all of the rail lines suggested will feed everything and connect a broader system. Other roads where there is already high ridership/high frequency could probably sustain a BRT route as well, like Oak Ridge Road, Silver Star, etc. Having visited Mexico City on several occasions and how well many modes of transit connect smoothly in areas, was a nice experience. This would help the local trips on the roadways. This would have to be specific busses with the doors on the left side, and paying the fare entering an enclosed air conditioned station with the roof reaching over the bus to shelter from rain. We already have wide ROWs, I think it can work hehe On this thoroughfare even with the median being relatively narrow, there are plenty of shade trees: https://www.google.com/maps/@19.4071101,-99.1680312,3a,90y,251.13h,79.19t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1scJh86MRhE5k2G4_1b2sEHg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 TransMilenio in Bogota has nicer, wider stations set in much wider streets which can be mimicked here: https://www.google.com/maps/@19.4071101,-99.1680312,3a,90y,251.13h,79.19t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1scJh86MRhE5k2G4_1b2sEHg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I have been staying with family in the Southchase neighborhood for a couple of weeks and on Wednesday morning decided to ride my bike to the Meadow Woods station since it is less than 10 minutes from the house. I was taking a quick trip on the 8:09 am southbound to the Kissimmee Station, it was just me and another gentleman. The northbound platform though was at least 30 to 40 people and the parking lot was mostly full on both sides. It was mostly commuters in business attire, scrubs, people with briefcases. The train actually hit nearly 80mph before getting to Tupperware. Arriving at the Kissimmee station, a northbound train was arriving and had at least 20 people there waiting, again, obvious commuters, and people running to take the train. The Kissimmee station is beautiful, the greyhound stop, the Lynx superstop, and relatively close to Lakefront park. I took the northbound 8:54 am train back. There were quite a few commuters in scrubs and groups of elderly women excited to board on facebook live taking the train to Winter Park for the day. One of the Lynx employees handing out information on bus connections mentioned the Meadow Station has been very busy, since there are basically riders living 3 minutes from the station and walk now. Arriving back at the Meadow Woods the crowd was again at around 30 to 40 people. This extension was definitely needed with all routes into Orlando from the south getting even more congested over the years.

A dedicated source of funding needs to be established to have everything we want out of Sunrail and Lynx.

It is impressive. It already has a completely different feel. I took the drive about two weeks ago and you are totally right of their fears coming true.