Cool Stuff in Other Cities

[dcluley98]

Yup. 

I don't know that they would call themselves "Dems" if there were another option, however. 

I was surprised to find out Tulsi was the second most candidate to my personal beliefs last presidential election. I did not know much about her, but I did a couple of online polls and questionnaires and compared and read the platforms, and I suddenly found out. Seems like a pretty amazing person too. 

Edited July 3, 2021 by dcluley98

[spenser1058]

A developer in Surfside destroyed a landmark hotel* because he could, despite promising otherwise:

Surfside residents fight to keep their town’s character, worry about the future after condo collapse
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/03/surfside-history-preservation/

My, that sounds familiar…
 

*One of the three noted architects of the Biltmore Terrace was Morris Lapidus, which makes it akin to tearing down the Fontainebleau or Eden Roc (did you know Lapidus also had a hand in designing the original Colonial Plaza?)

 

 

 

Edited July 3, 2021 by spenser1058

[spenser1058]

I confess I really like the old terminal (especially that glass arch) but I thought it was interesting that New Orleans went with a celebrity architect for their new terminal. Keep in mind, New Orleans is smaller than Orlando and with less tourist traffic than us. 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/amp/new-orleans-old-msy-abandoned-terminal/index.html

From CNN
 

[spenser1058]

How ‘bout one of Elon’s tunnels between downtown and the beach in FLL?

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/07/07/tech/musk-boring-fort-lauderdale/index.html

From CNN

[prahaboheme]

7 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

I confess I really like the old terminal (especially that glass arch) but I thought it was interesting that New Orleans went with a celebrity architect for their new terminal. Keep in mind, New Orleans is smaller than Orlando and with less tourist traffic than us. 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/amp/new-orleans-old-msy-abandoned-terminal/index.html

From CNN
 

The new terminal in NOLA is impressive by American design standards in general — much less Orlando. 
Much of what is coming out of the Big Easy these days within the public realm is admirable. 

[spenser1058]

It’s the end of an era in Buckhead. The “Disco Kroger”, which has a disco ball and a mural of once hallowed nightclub Limelight (which was next door in the same strip center) is being torn down as the center is refurbished.

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/beloved-disco-kroger-closing-buckhead-location/XTJ5H4K54VCZJKYTFXR5ZNWGHM/?outputType=amp
 

From WSB

Edited July 9, 2021 by spenser1058

[JFW657]

Thought this might be of interest.

Canadian artist Emilie Fantuz paints highly detailed urban scenes with a palette knife.

Enjoy.....

[JFW657]

Just saw this on TV.

It's a soda pop store called Pop's 66 Soda Ranch.

It's out in the middle of nowhere on Rt 66 in Arcadia, OK, just NE of Oklahoma City.

We need one of these right off of I-4 on I-Drive!!!! 

Right near the giant Ferris wheel etc. 

It would fit right in!!! 

[spenser1058]

1 minute ago, JFW657 said:

Just saw this on TV.

It's a soda pop store called Pop's 66 Soda Ranch.

It's out in the middle of nowhere on Rt 66 in Arcadia, OK, just NE of Oklahoma City.

We need one of these right off of I-4 on I-Drive!!!! 

Right near the giant Ferris wheel etc. 

It would fit right in!!! 

I like that!

[jgardnerucf]

Pop Century has had that, for what a decade? Or 2?

Edited July 31, 2021 by jgardnerucf
Length

[spenser1058]

7 minutes ago, jgardnerucf said:

Pop Century has had that, for what a decade? Or 2?

LOL - But Pop doesn’t have the cool lighting. That really does it for me.

[JFW657]

36 minutes ago, jgardnerucf said:

Pop Century has had that, for what a decade? Or 2?

Do they have a 60 ft tall, computer controlled, lighted pop bottle?

Is it highly visible from I-4?

If so, I can't find any pictures of it.  

[jgardnerucf]

Just be happy with your asparagus.

[spenser1058]

San Diego doesn’t mess around with its new venue:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/10/arts/music/san-diego-rady-shell.html?referringSource=articleShare

From The New York Times 

[Uncommon]

41 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

San Diego doesn’t mess around with its new venue:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/10/arts/music/san-diego-rady-shell.html?referringSource=articleShare

From The New York Times 

I adore San Diego.

[prahaboheme]

Comparisons to the Hollywood Bowl is a tall order. That venue is just spectacular on a regular LA night. 
I was big fan of the LA Phil’s summer series there — especially the 2000 A Space Odyssey nights. 

[dcluley98]

I had to do a little tour today of Imperial Polk County, going through backroads to and from Orlando. Went through Auburndale, Inwood, Bartow, Winter Haven, and Lake Alfred (somebody jack-knifed a pull behind camper trailer in the Median of I-4, rolled it a couple of times and scattered said trailer and contents of said trailer about a quarter mile long in the median/fast lane).  

I must say, it has been a while since I have been through those parts, and Auburndale looked like it has a surprisingly quaint little downtown/main street area.  Bartow is garbage, as I remembered, and Winter Haven has a nice downtown area with a couple of hills, but more sprawl north and south than I remembered. 

[spenser1058]

1 minute ago, dcluley98 said:

I had to do a little tour today of Imperial Polk County, going through backroads to and from Orlando. Went through Auburndale, Inwood, Bartow, Winter Haven, and Lake Alfred (somebody jack-knifed a pull behind camper trailer in the Median of I-4, rolled it a couple of times and scattered said trailer and contents of said trailer about a quarter mile long in the median/fast lane).  

I must say, it has been a while since I have been through those parts, and Auburndale looked like it has a surprisingly quaint little downtown/main street area.  Bartow is garbage, as I remembered, and Winter Haven has a nice downtown area with a couple of hills, but more sprawl north and south than I remembered. 

As fast as Polk is growing (and given how Republican the county commission is), I’m afraid the sprawl is gonna take over. Fortunately, some of the towns like Lakeland are fighting it in the city limits at the grassroots level.

[spenser1058]

In 1980, new Orlando Mayor Bill Frederick announced his goal to ditch the wig shops multiplying in the moribund downtown. Their quick disappearance heralded the renaissance of a core on the way back.

Now, it looks like downtown Tampa is noting the passage of its last wig shop…

https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2021/09/01/in-downtown-tampa-marie-antoinette-and-her-wig-are-gone-is-this-a-good-sign/

From The Tampa Bay Times 

[spenser1058]

Is West Palm Beach turning into Wall Street South? Bloomberg thinks so (and Mike should know, right?)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-09-01/florida-real-estate-will-nyc-bankers-move-to-west-palm-beach

[JFW657]

23 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

In 1980, new Orlando Mayor Bill Frederick announced his goal to ditch the wig shops multiplying in the moribund downtown. Their quick disappearance heralded the renaissance of a core on the way back.

Now, it looks like downtown Tampa is noting the passage of its last wig shop…

https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2021/09/01/in-downtown-tampa-marie-antoinette-and-her-wig-are-gone-is-this-a-good-sign/

From The Tampa Bay Times 

Well, apparently said core is still on the journey, with a way to go before it can claim it's completely "back" from it's former state of  moribundity. 

[spenser1058]

32 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

Well, apparently said core is still on the journey, with a way to go before it can claim it's completely "back" from it's former state of  moribundity. 

Downtown was still in good shape when Mayor Bill left office. Sadly, we haven’t seen that same level of progress in his successors. Glenda concentrated on the neighborhoods and then was sidetracked with the conversion of NTC to Baldwin Park (which worked out better than anyone expected) and shot down by her own party on light rail.

Buddy just decided to take The Simpsons’ Springfield approach to downtown, “can’t someone else do it?” And so it goes.

You make a valid point, however. By 1992, Orlando was regarded as the example of how to bring back Florida’s downtowns. Today, most of the other cities have taken those lessons to heart. Their downtowns are improving while ours has slipped into mediocrity due to a lack of leadership.

One reason it hasn’t been smooth sailing is that just about every mayor in my lifetime (I was eight when Carl became mayor and he’s the first one I remember) stayed too long. 13 years for Carl, 12 for Bill, 10 for Glenda and Dear Leader Buddy seems to plan on staying for life. Every one  of them would have been considered more successful if they had passed the baton after eight years. To his credit, Mayor Bill acknowledged as much (although he thought 10 should be the max).

Edited September 2, 2021 by spenser1058

[spenser1058]

Here’s a quote from UCF Athletics Director Terry Mohajir that Buddy just doesn’t get (and why UCF is so much more dynamic than the city of Orlando at the moment):

“The impact for us is really just trying to be the best we can possibly be,” Mohajir explained. “We have a strong foundation. But we’re not caretakers here. We have a lot of work to do still. We can still be the first to do a lot of things.”

From The Sentinel 

When Mayor Bill was in office (or at least the first two terms), there was that tangible sense of getting things moving again. Buddy’s crew would just rather take a nap. It seemed at least during the work on the venues and SunRail that a similar sense of moving forward was taking place (although we now know the goal in both cases was to line the pockets of billionaires and corporations, which is why each of the venues is mediocre and SunRail is on a slow track to nowhere).

We should expect better.

 

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by spenser1058

[AmIReal]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

Downtown was still in good shape when Mayor Bill left office. Sadly, we haven’t seen that same level of progress in his successors. Glenda concentrated on the neighborhoods and then was sidetracked with the conversion of NTC to Baldwin Park (which worked out better than anyone expected) and shot down by her own party on light rail.

Buddy just decided to take The Simpsons’ Springfield approach to downtown, “can’t someone else do it?” And so it goes.

You make a valid point, however. By 1992, Orlando was regarded as the example of how to bring back Florida’s downtowns. Today, most of the other cities have taken those lessons to heart. Their downtowns are improving while ours has slipped into mediocrity due to a lack of leadership.

One reason it hasn’t been smooth sailing is that just about every mayor in my lifetime (I was eight when Carl became mayor and he’s the first one I remember) stayed too long. 13 years for Carl, 12 for Bill, 10 for Glenda and Dear Leader Buddy seems to plan on staying for life. Every one  of them would have been considered more successful if they had passed the baton after eight years. To his credit, Mayor Bill acknowledged as much (although he thought 10 should be the max).

I don't have many issues with Mayor Frederick, but downtown Orlando was definitely NOT in a better position in '92 than it is now. Just consider the number of residents (which he opposed downtown residents), the number of buildings, the diversified tax base. Much better now.

[orange87]

I'd be curious for people on here to look up Hartford and give their impressions of it. Check it out on Google Maps 3D view, look at it's Wikipedia page etc. I moved back to Connecticut a few months ago and I live in the metro area of Hartford, in one of the surrounding suburbs. I'd be interested to see an outsiders opinion on Hartford, and possibly how it compared to Orlando.