orlandocity87

I always park at 302 East Pine Street. It's not the cheapest, but you have really good access to 408 via Summerlin. You can snake your way through Thornton Park instead of trying to cross Orange.

Right, because they're policies that have worked elsewhere. "Affordable" is determined by the AMI (area median income). Depending on what % of the AMI you make determines what level of affordability you qualify for. Likewise, developers gain certain benefits by offering affordable options. (Florida Housing) Going back to the original comment that started this discussion: Why does Orlando keep missing entire growth cycles? Why is Orlando development so much less urban than what's happening in other Florida cities? Why are we being outpaced by cities this board was literally making fun of 5-10 years ago? Interest rates and construction costs were relatively low for years and we didn't take advantage of them. If property owners can have Homestead exemption, why can't renters have rent control or at least rent stabilization? We're seeing the real-world results of policy failures like these. I wouldn't underestimate the possibilities. Hundreds of additional 1-BR apartments would be the equivalent of multiple new apartment complexes. Except the property owners would be able to set competitive pricing since big developers wouldn't have the monopoly. Some home values more than doubled in the last 10 years, so there's a lot of equity to take advantage of. They copied the idea directly form ASU. Except that Phoenix-Tempe planned it in conjunction with a new light rail system. Since 2008, that system has been expanded four times. (Crazy what can happen when cities and counties actually approve half-penny taxes for transit...) This is true.

I don't think connecting the city's only intercity train station with its main businesses/entertainment hub is madness. Orlando had absolutely no foresight when it decided to have an intercity train station south of downtown, its main bus/SunRail station north of downtown, Greyhound out in Pine Hills, and the newest station down by the airport. A "major investment" would be an actual streetcar. But I do like your idea of improved stops and more informative branding around the existing bus lines.

There's no magic wand, but there's a lot of policy the City could have put into place: Promote a range of housing options and incentivize developers -> have a critical mass of diverse downtown residents -> promote commercial and business opportunities -> have a critical mass of retail and services for downtown residents -> demand for downtown residential and commercial grows -> provide transportation options to get people in and out of downtown easily. Creative Village isn't perfect, but at least there was a master plan that included diverse housing options, education/office/commercial plans, a greenspace, a Lymmo expansion, etc. The City has been so focused on Lake Nona and the Packing District that they've forgotten to provide any vision for the Sentinel property, the vacant and underutilized lots bordering I-4, or the empty lots around the soccer stadium.

Since I've been such a negative Nancy in other threads this week, I'll surprise everyone here by saying: I think it turned out better than I thought it would, based on the renderings. I'm mostly just impressed they're almost done. It looks sleek and new, and compliments the library and Modera. (Although I also have feelings about the strange tree choices...)

Not really. People arriving at the Amtrak have no easy way to get to Downtown (an occasional weekday SunRail or one hourly bus that takes you to Lynx Central). Not to mention all the residents who have to drive two-three miles and find parking just to do anything downtown. Likewise, the whole Ivanhoe Lake area (North Orange and Virginia) has seen hundreds of new units go up and is served by one bus route and an inconveniently located SunRail station.

I sure hope we see an acceleration in improvements. Unfortunately, Brightline has already changed its Premium Class 10-mile Uber pickup perk to 5 miles. Downtown Orlando is 13+ miles from MCO.

So all this work on South Orange Ave and North Orange by Ivanhoe, and they're not doing anything with the Lymmo North-South expansion plans...

I like your points about city size vs. metro size. And your comparisons with SunRail/Tri-Rail and Brightline/Acela are good. Nonetheless, I've heard nearly two decades of talk about diversifying our economy, promoting traditional main streets, expanding "last mile" transportation options, etc. But what's my reward for living within the City limits, paying City and County taxes, having my AirBnB guests pay rental and tourism development taxes on their stays, investing heavily in a historic home, and supporting local businesses? We're supposed to be "Unbelievably Real," but there's no reward for trying to keep Orlando authentic.

No, I get it. The City of Orlando and Orange County aren't responsible for private development. But they are responsible for creating demand and promoting smart development. Orlando missed a whole swath of demographics in the last 10-15 years because we're focusing on infrastructure in the suburbs instead of in the core and core-adjacent neighborhoods. It's hard to tell how many young grads, retiring boomers, startups, headquarters, etc. aren't choosing Orlando because we're seen as suburban and stale. Zoi House might have been viable if demand and demographics were different.

I kind of agree with that statement, though. I've been here 18 years. If you told me in 2010 that by 2024 we still wouldn't have SunRail on weekends or to the airport, no OBX, no high(er)-speed rail to Tampa, no Lymmo expansions to SoDo and Ivanhoe, no entertainment district across from the Amway Center etc etc etc, I would have probably reconsidered investing as much in my house here as I did. (I won't go off-topic and rehash the same list of dead projects mentioned recently, but my personal list is in the dozens.)

Was that just for freight or were there any plans for passenger rail?

Why does this look so home-made It's like somebody gave me and my dad $1,000 and a weekend to "just figure something out for that corner."

https://mymaps.google.com/ As the link mentions: $1.7M for a study they didn't even finish. Such a shame it never materialized, especially because they could have built it for $55M at the time—a price we'll never see again. If I remember correctly, they ended up recommending bus rapid transit, which is silly to me with all the existing rail infrastructure. But (surprise!) that didn't come to fruition either.

Moreover, they were all build around rail. There are so many corridors primed for renovated/replaced tracks. Unbridled development throughout unincorporated county areas and with little to no growth boundaries—instead of within the limits of these traditional towns and cities—really did a disservice to the historic towns and beautiful nature that makes Central Florida special. Just for fun, a while back I traced some existing rail lines to see what kind of a system you could get out of it. Other than running an elevated train down Colonial and Semoran, everything else should be easy to accomplish on existing tracks / in existing right-of-ways.

So they've completely abandoned the idea of their downtown Ft. Lauderdale Wave Streetcar?

This article is pretty optimistic: https://www.thenextmiami.com/brightline-revenue-ridership-continues-surging-as-new-orlando-station-opens/

Thanks! "Proposed surface lot" yikes Sidenote: thenextmiami.com includes a live Google Maps insert with each article, which is helpful.

Somehow ended up on MapQuest for the first time in a decade. I was surprised to see that their satellite images are much more recent than Google or Bing, showing some progress in Creative Village and Lake Nona.

Looks like a slightly value-engineered version of what was reported in 2020. Glad to see it's moving forward! https://bungalower.com/2020/12/21/mixed-use-project-coming-to-hourglass-district/

Would it kill OBJ to include an address or cross-streets in any of its reporting?

One of Orlando's biggest disadvantages is that most of the assets that typically make up a downtown aren't in our downtown. Imagine if all of UCF (second-largest university in the country) were downtown-adjacent, if the Orange County Convention Center (second-largest in the country) were downtown, if more of our hotels (largest number of rooms in the country) were downtown, if our hospitals and research centers (Advent, Orlando, everything at Lake Nona, UCF Research Park) were in downtown proper, or if our museums and smaller theaters were downtown. And while I'm glad we have a good amount of separation from the tourism corridor, better transit to Disney Springs, Universal City Walk, and all of our malls would be beneficial. I've been rooting for downtown Orlando for years (and still work there and live close by), but the missed opportunities, lack of progress, and broken promises are really adding up.

Very slow. Seem like vanity projects for a couple nice but disconnected neighborhoods. Don't see this adding to real mobility. That said, if they used those same routes for rubber tire trolleys (Miami) / Lymmo (Orlando), they would have more visibility, speed, and capacity.

Totally agree. Unfortunately, Lake Highlight Prep keeps a lot of its land vacant for parking or storage...