orlandocity87

TriRail is fine, but it's so far inland that it's basically suburb to suburb, instead of city center to city center. They've had plans for a Coastal Link forever, but little has been done outside studies. However, Tri-Rail should link up to the Miami Central station downtown sometime next year.

That style of shopping cart is so ingrained in German culture that a lot of folks have these keychains:

This might be some of the worst urban planning I've seen lol

[Originally posted in the Downtown thread instead of here.] The article notes that the Modera portion will have on the ground floor 6,369 sq ft of retail, a lobby, and live-work units, while the Commons portion will have offices and 6,000 sq ft of restaurant. The buildings will be separated by a pedestrian-oriented "via." Could be a cool little street if done right.

The article notes that the Modera portion will have on the ground floor 6,369 sq ft of retail, a lobby, and live-work units, while the Commons portion will have offices and 6,000 sq ft of restaurant. The buildings will be separated by a pedestrian-oriented "via." Could be a cool little street if done right.

I think the washing machine is my favorite new building.

Pitiful.

"Summer 2023" ... Have you heard anything about a timeline for La Femme du Fromage?

I'll soften my earlier message by reiterating how great the terminal looks, especially once completely finished. And thankfully the interior signage is mostly digital and easy to tweak. But first impressions matter...

Had two pick-ups at Terminal C last week. Beautiful facility, but whoever did the signage must have been off their rocker. They somehow didn't follow the clear lane signs from Terminal A/B, where you know exactly which lanes will eventually lead to Arrivals, Departures, and Parking. It's just "Terminal C" until almost the end and you better be in the correct lane. The internal signage was inconsistent and unclear. Instead of saying "Parking Garage C →, ← Tram to Terminals A & B" they say things like "Parking A B C →" and "Train Station →" which gives you no indication that you're a few steps from Parking C and a train ride away from A & B. They insist on calling the tram/terminal train "APM" and I heard one family say "What the hell is APM?" Virtually no maps or site plans. And for an international terminal, writing "You Are Here" on elevators (instead of using a symbol) isn't helpful. Oh, and luggage took 1 h 15 mins to arrive. /rant

Fair points. Still, having worked with multiple contractors in Orlando—from small to substantial home projects, both for myself and others—I can say that my experience has ranged from disorganized amateurs to straight up conmen.

Honest question here: Where does all this hate for the City planning/code department come from? When I've pulled residential permits, they've always been approved within 3 days and scheduling an inspector to come out never took more than a week. Are business owners not hiring real architects to design their build-outs or contractors to handle paperwork? I've literally seen hand-drawn plans get approved with no fuss.

A couple from my walk yesterday around 3:00PM. Two big oaks down at Lake Highland Park: Flooded Lake Ivanhoe in front of The Pinery / Greek Corner: Lake Ivanhoe at Russell's: Marks Street at Orange Avenue:

A few shots from last night.

Not sure if this has been posted, but a good look at Terminal C: https://thepointsguy.com/news/first-look-orlando-international-airport-terminal-c/

Is that moat there on purpose?

What on earth are you going on about? Have you been Downtown at night in the last two decades? Sure, it gets loud and pretty ratchet from 11:00pm - 2:30am. But that's a few days a week in a very concentrated area. We're not talking about a nightly Bourbon Street experience. And if you're referencing Times Square in the '70s, I haven't seen any prostitutes or people shooting up on Orange Ave. It's completely possible to grab dinner and drinks at nice places until at least 11:00pm, if not later. I'm not sure how an isolated event at 3:00am is painting all of Downtown's nightlife with a certain brush.

While it's an improvement, the first guerilla urbanism / pilot project crosswalk was done 2013. It took 9 years to get one permanent crosswalk. It'll take another 5-10 years for the full design to be implemented. How can it take almost 20 years to fix 2 miles of road??

"Our massive 19 ft x 10 ft LED video wall will be used for digital art, YouTube events, streaming music festivals and other events, gaming tournaments, and of course, movies nights."

Remember, years ago, when there were preliminary designs for a redevelopment of the Winter Park City Hall / Winter Park Post Office? Now there's talks of preserving that overcrowded, suburban-looking City Hall. Preserving the old out-of-place, suburban-style library—and letting it sit empty for a decade or two—is par for the course in Winter Park.

Quick office snap:

It's not bad for that lot: https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1724-N-Mills-Ave-Orlando-FL/23250323/

Love The Courtesy, but two anecdotes from years of going there: Once, we tried to go for an after-work happy hour and the bar was dead silent because they were hosting a movie showing. The audience gave us dirty looks for whispering too loud so we left. Another time, this past NYE, we got fairly expensive tickets that included drinks and snacks from 8:00pm - 12:30am. The drinks and service were great, but some tables literally left by 11:00pm because the mood was so quiet and the DJ (who I usually love for art openings and similar events) only played loungy lo-fi beats without words. I mention all this because I think some concepts just don't work in a downtown's main party strip and that's OK--and doesn't necessarily mean downtown Orlando is doing anything wrong. Some bars are just better designed to be in the surrounding neighborhoods (as mentioned) or should close at midnight if they don't want to deal with partygoers.