Universe_Explorer

Thanks!

I'm still annoyed the apartments they're building behind the mall took the Cady Way trailhead and parking area. I've been running that trail for years and starting anywhere but the trailhead throws off my OCD-like metrics on the mileage. Does anyone know if they are adding to the trail/rebuilding the trailhead as part of the project? Seems like something the city would demand

I hadn't thought of that perspective. From my seats on the west side of the stadium the downtown high-rises stick up over the roof and it looks really cool. Wonder if the UCF building will be tall enough to peek up over the north side like that care when it's done?

I've been to practically every home game for years, it's very safe. The lack of on-site parking was purposeful, to encourage folks to park and go out downtown then "march" to the match (as is common in most European soccer leagues). OCSC fans got a little comfortable with American football style tailgates at the citrus bowl - which are super fun, don't get me wrong - but wasn't the atmosphere the city or team had in mind. It is very frustrating, however, to walk past the demolished garage that had ground floor retail across from Amway which is now a surface lot, and a little disheartening to then walk past the empty lot next to the stadium (where the stadium would have been, if not for the greedy church). When these lots fill in the walk up Church st will be more aesthetically pleasing, but it's alway full of fans, cops, and revelers on game nights. Geico garage is always open for the matches, but considering your concerns, I recommend parking at the suntrust center garage. You exit onto church st in front of 55 west with plenty of people eating and drinking for those blocks, cross under i4 (they took down the pretty lights for the I4 ultimate, but I assume they will be back) and march with a few 100 others up to the stadium. Alternatively, you can park in one of the "ghetto??" lots being operated by business owners north of the stadium (closed stores, mostly) and hang out at the Yard bar before going in the game. It's essentially tailgating. We alternate between those options. My young kids come most games and we've never encountered anything more off-putting than the usual grift of urban living (occasional panhandlers, infrequent strange looking homeless people, and large crowds of drunk fans), but they've always lived in the city and don't pay much attention. Last option: Uber. We do it when the kids aren't coming and I want to be one of those drunk fans...

HCA has plans to build a teaching hospital for UCF Medical school on the Lake Nona medical city campus. Beyond the sizable concerns of a for-profit company running a "teaching" hospital for a state-subsidized medical school, the need for a large hospital on that site remains pretty minimal (doesn't take a big leap to see the connections between our current administration in Tallahassee on this deal...) so it's a long range thing. That said, any company would need a certificate of need to build a full hospital (you don't need one for "free standing" ERs anymore, which is why you send them popping up everywhere to steal market share), and it's doubtful even HCA could get one so close to FHO and ORMC campuses.

As nifty as the rendering is, if you guys think someone's really building a 500ft tall nursing home in downtown Orlando I've got a bridge to sell you. As far as the "medical" part of this is concerned, both OH and FH own lots of land in other parts of the city and wouldn't have a need for such a stand-alone behemoth, and no for profit medical company would plop anything that substantial directly between the two existing medical campuses. That said, I imagine Orlando Health will have another new tower underway on the ORMC campus within a couple of years, and Florida Hospital's master plan for the Princeton St area has a lot of mass to it

I run around Lake Ivanhoe several times a week. There are a couple gaps without sidewalks - going under I4 on the south side you have to cross Lakeview St and back to get back under I4 on the northern side you have to get on New Hampshire Dr . They have build new sidewalks all along the north/western portion of the lake nearly completing the loop of the two larger lobes. I single, unified path would be better, but there's plenty of runners circling it daily. I was under the impression they were putting a fountain in as part of the Ultimate? It's fine I guess, but seems odd for a ski lake with a public boat ramp and separate paddle board access...

I don't think it's fair to call this "mixed use". It's a straight-up apartment building. Don't get me wrong, I'm a CP resident that supported it's construction, and still argue with the NIMBYs here about it, but it doesn't bring any non-residential growth to the area - and that's fine. We're only now finally seeing all the Edgewater retail/restaurant space fill up with coherent, non-pizza related businesses. With Ivanhoe/Virginia nightlife scene doing well, I don't see a need for more retail in the area quite yet - but I'm happy to have more residents walking distance from the existing stuff

I like the juxtaposition with the church. Old cities in the north and mid-Atlantic have lots of old churches that are surrounded by taller (newer) buildings, and I always though it looked cool. If the parking lot across Rosalind ever gets a high rise that could happen here

As a CP resident who supports this project, I'm sort of enjoying the fact that it appears like the NIMBY's worst nightmare has come true (a huge monolithic structure surrounded by wasteland). That said, I'm pretty surprised at how slow progress is on the actual residential structures both here and the Ivanhoe Village project on Alden. Seems like Lucerne and Modera will be done before these and I never would've expected that

I think these are just going to be paved lots around the church until further notice. They plan on having a farmer's market there, which I'm skeptical of, and then using it for pregame festivities or supporter group parking. I'm sure they have some bigger longterm goals, but for the time being that's it from what I know. Also as an update for entry to the stadium - it's still tough but improved. They have employees placed outside now guiding people to the rich place. The C gate is still mostly blocked off by fencing, but the OCSC folks form people into separate lines for gates B and C, which helps a lot. I'm still unsure of the benefit of paperless ticketing - seems similar to SunRail's issue, like they wanted to be futuristic for no good reason. I assume it helps them collect data or something? Don't see how that's different than scanning paper. I don't know Final note: the place rocks. It's loud, intimate, close to downtown, and the skyline peaks over the eastern roofline. Winning doesn't hurt, but honestly it's the antithesis of the gorgeous - yet totally corporate and sterile-feeling - Amway Center.

Yeah, it's much more prominent in real life. I don't really see the utility of this, but honestly, if the lighting is the same as the decorative pylons on the bridge and goes well with the fountains I'm OK with it. It's better than the half-assed, tiny, fake suspension bridge thingy on the 408 by the executive airport.

What's disgusting about the Health Department? It's a well kept building sitting on a complex with the Orange County Medical Clinic that houses a couple hundred jobs and serves the community it's located in, in addition to people throughout the county as a whole. I'm always confused about people that want more "jobs" and services in downtown/parramore but seem to frown upon the jobs and services that actually exist there...I mean, for all the urban planning this board discusses, this is a place where patrons actually take the free Lymmo to (stop right next to it). If your disgusting experience had to do with an experience there (with staff or by virtue of having to deal with a public health issue), than I guess I understand it, but in regards to it actually being located where it is and why that makes the area any less desirable I don't really get it.

I work in the SODO area, and I must admit that I agree - as crazy as it sounds - that there is a lack of bars there. For all the drinking that goes on downtown, there aren't many places to grab a happy hour drink in that area despite all the residents and businesses there. If you want proof, look at how busy Johnny's Filling Station (a mile or more away on Michigan) and even Vanberry's (quite a bit down Orange) get. ORMC is the only hospital I've ever worked at that doesn't have a "hospital bar" (i.e., a dive-like place located relatively close that people hit up after work). That ortho guy tried it with Doctors across the street, but that part of Orange is so pedestrian unfriendly it never took off. Maybe someone will open a bar at the new Lucerne development...

Not to be too dorky, but I think a Marriott flag is good for downtown. How many reasonable cities don't have a Marriott downtown? I realize our flagship hotels are always going to be in the attractions areas, but I'm not convinced the boutique hotels are going to suffice if we ever want downtown to thrive as a center for business and small convention activity

I run by there quite a bit, they've been doing drainage work by Lake Formosa for awhile, and now seem to be doing site work. They also ripped up the road next to Alden (Philadelphia?) so I guess the realignment will occur

The paperless ticket system didn't seem to be the problem creating lines - once I got to the scanning portion it went really fast. There seemed to be three factors. First, the layout of the entrances (3 on the east side handle almost the entire stadium, one on the west for the rich folk, and one on the north for the supporters), many people did not know this was the case and had toward the west side if there seats were on the west - in the Citrus bowl you were only allowed to enter on the side of your tickets. This will take time, and may not have been the best design - although it makes sense since almost all parking is to the east of the stadium. Second, construction fencing along the north and east of the stadium blocked what will be access to the "C" gate, forcing people to either wait in an insane line at the "B" gate or go all the way around and get in the supporters section line at the north side, where eventually they told people they needed to pass this crowd and move ahead. I honestly think this fencing made the "C" gate almost unusable and caused the massive lines at the other 2 regular entrances. Third, the security checks - bag check, empty wallets, and full wanding for everyone - can't really change this, but took longer for my family of four than the paperless ticketing. Add the overall newness confusion and there you have it. I don't tink the problem will be solved until they finish the lot construction next door and have full access to the "C" gate on the Northeast corner.

Heck, the city subsidized those minority-owned businesses across the street through the entire construction of the Amway Center and then bulldozed the whole building once both stadiums were complete! I believe there is enough evidence out there to believe that building sports venues will not necessarily improve a neighborhood. That said, OCSC has a unique situation with a completely privately owned building, they actually have a lot of incentive to make the area more palatable and encourage use of their facility. I'm not sure if there is anything comparable in the entire country. The next step for the city is incentivizing the right kind of development in the creative village and ensuring some connectivity down Parramore Ave (even if it is stuff that caters to students like cheap food and booze - just keep them on the "wrong" side of I4 so the businesses there can thrive

I think GOAA knew all along this was a long shot but decided to use the momentum to build while they had the cash and an agreeable board. To be honest, the Sunrail and convention center connection means a million times more to this community than a non-high speed train to S. Florida. The only true benefit for Central Floridians of this proposed line is the MCO - Cruise Terminal portion, in my opinion. The S. Florida connection is nice but not necessary. That said, having the station already built will go a LONG way toward actually realizing the Sunrail and I4 connections. Once it's done GOAA and their political might will be behind the projects so it doesn't look like a boondoggle

Most of them weren't gas stations originally. I grew up in suburban Philadelphia, and WaWa's were essentially the corner store. Where I come from, people talk about WaWa "hoagies" the way Floridians wax poetic about Public subs...the addition of fuel pumps came as you drove closer to the Jersey shore (gas was cheaper in Jersey so everyone waited to fill up). The whole computer ordering system didn't exist at all as far as I remember until they moved here - I assumed they changed to that paradigm in the years between me living there and them moving here. I don't like it as much - seems cheap and more gas station-like.

A portion of the NIMBY crowd is now focused on getting someone to run against Commissioner Stuart because he backed it. It mostly misplaced anger, and I doubt they will get much support to oust him. Unlike the East Orange County folks that pushed Edwards out for his support of the Lake Pickett area developments, the anti-growth college park crowd is a vocal minority. Most - including the business owners on Edgewater - seem to agree that this is definitely better than what was there

Considering all the noise my neighbors made about this when it was proposed, I haven't heard a peep since they started to build it. There's was plenty of speculation that even the construction process would make Princeton traffic unbearable and kill the businesses near it on Edgewater...unsurprisingly, that has not been the case. Personally, I'm looking forward to bringing some more folks into that area and cleaning up that blighted piece of property

Why did they interrupt the green stripe at every intersection? It's still a bike lane. Heck, that's probably the most dangerous section! It's already driving me nuts

I don't think the Baldwin Park retail was ever meant to be a destination - it was designed specifically for those who lived in the neighborhood - likely with artificially high hopes that they alone could support the businesses. I've always been under the impression that the rent for these locations was astronomically high, since even the places that seem to be doing good business eventually shut down (and later all say the rent was what killed them). I absolutely think the neighborhood could support a handful of good restaurant/bars, and the typically American necessities (drycleaner, pizza shop, ice cream shop, nail salon, hair place, grocery store, pharmacy), and it basically does. The restaurant and bar concepts that rotate in and out, but that's not unusual. It's the other random retail shops that never seem to make sense. That said, I think organic growth of these things is always better, and the success of audobon park, college park, and Ivanhoe/Virginia demonstrate that.

There has been heavy equipment and pipes on that patch of land for the last few months, I can't tell when I run by if they are installing storm water stuff or if it's another patch of land being used by I4 Ultimate for storage. I've also fantasized about condos in the OUC plant - it's exactly the kind of building that would be turned into sweet high-end lofts in NYC. I know the interior structural issues make it very unlikely, and the train running right behind it doesn't help. It could also be converted to a museum, but there's not enough parking. Maybe a small garage on that land behind it and a pedestrian bridge over the tracks entering the museum...Oh well