spenser1058

This might be good - Too Much Sauce at Mills Park. Roasted meats, seafood and veggies - yummy! https://m.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/09/18/too-much-sauce-in-mills-park-is-now-in-soft-opening-mode From Orlando Weakly

A great article in today's Sentinel about preservation vs. demolition: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/classified/realestate/os-bz-orlando-historic-buildings-20170915-htmlstory.html Most interesting is that the Ivanhoe OUC power plant is apparently about to be in play. Here's hoping we get Good Buddy instead of Bulldozer Buddy to guide OUC to a great decision on this one.

As you can see from this article on "poo-lution," fellow UP'er Brendan O'Connor has been on a roll lately. The latest pieces have been Moe pithy than before and sometimes downright hilarious. I'm not sure what got us this recent version of "Brendan Unplugged" but it's been fun (not to mention there seems to be more news stuffed in as a bonus.) It's as though Brendan is channeling the much beloved Billy Manes at his finest. Keep up the good work! http://bungalower.com/2017/09/17/crapstorm-irma-keep-city-beautiful-conserve-water/

At the end of the day, Lynx will never be successful until it has a dedicated funding source (the OCLS has one and has long been one of the best lending libraries in the country as a result by way of comparison.) Nevertheless, Lynx' current leader (btw, if you're a MARTA fan, Edward Johnson has a background there) has been reimagining the authority to bring it kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Some of the ideas proposed here on UP are on the agenda for discussion at public forums being held, so here's your chance: http://orlando-rising.com/lynx-creating-transit-connections-strategic-plan/ From Orlando Rising

We do indeed, but the reality is that, even if Orange County were to be as pure as the driven snow, the sprawl just moves to the next county over (not to mention fighting the power the Deseret Ranch owners have in Tallahassee.) Until there are significant changes in both the executive and legislative branches at the state capital, that's not changing. We HAD significant growth management legislation passed in the 1980's (it was by no means perfect, but it was a great start) but subsequent administrations gutted those rules. Yes, one particular party led the charge to do that but we aren't allowed to discuss that here. (Full disclosure: the state senator I worked for back then was a leader in growth management legislation so I'm very familiar with what happened before and after.) Within Orange County, Linda Chapin tried hard to draw the line on the urban service area but as the first county chair under the new charter, her power was not yet fully entrenched to do it. The next county leader, Mel Martinez, tried an end run by requiring concurrency with OCPS and some of the roads, but he headed off to DC before those rules got traction. His replacement, Rich Crotty (appointed by Jeb Bush), simply had no interest in the issue as it got in the way of his career plans. We had hoped Teresa Jacobs, whose brand was all about preserving neighborhoods, would be different, but trying to hold back growth wasn't a recipe for success following the Great Recession. More recently, Teresa seems to have been preoccupied with other issues. Buddy's approach in the City seems to be to split the baby: his administration values density in the core but, in the 'burbs, his approach seems to be that we need the tax revenue through annexing and that won't happen if we get too far ahead of the county. Next year's OC mayoral election needs to address the issue; so far, we're only hearing names, not policies, though.

Bulldozer Buddy is remaining way too quiet about the city's interest (or lack thereof) in Grand Avenue Elementary. This 1925 gem should be the focal point of a revitalized Holden Heights (a twin of College Park's much beloved Princeton Elementary), but, as is often the case at City Hall, it's the sound of crickets until it's too late when it comes to preservation. If Buddy refuses to stand up here, it's up to OCPS chairman Bill Sublette to do the right thing, particularly as he eyes a run at OC mayor next year. Show the love, guys! http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/political-pulse/os-grand-avenue-school-demolition-20170914-story.html From the Sentinel

What's interesting is that, perhaps more than any other MSA in the country, we know exactly what it's like to go after a mega-project and then watch it happen. In our case, it didn't involve a few hundred acres but 43 square miles. We also granted the company all the powers of a county. This ain't our first rodeo.

Where Shopping Is A Pleasure. The Keys believe! https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=497634907273478&id=100010809197498&set=p.497634907273478&source=47

Eeeeek! I'm good with everything but Southeast Steel. That's an institution! (Fun Fact: it was also one of the first Scotty's home improvement stores, a local version of Home Depot, if you remember those.)

My cousin Rusty is the mayor of Ocoee - I'll have to get him on that! <g>

I think that's what we've seen with the explosion of Main Streets and the revitalization of WG, (Delightful!) DeLand and Kissimmee. Now the issue is connectivity between those places. I rarely use my car when I'm downtown and not at work - it's the commute that requires a vehicle (we also need better trail connections to the beach.)

There's been something of a consensus for a while among the environmental community that inland Florida (particularly north of the Wekiva Parkway and south of the Polk Porkway) is the line in the sand where they'll say "NO MORE" after watching the coastal areas destroyed, particularly since 1999. I haven't paid attention to the details yet (I've learned Tallahassee is a lost cause and now concentrate on what we can save locally). If it's a good idea, more power to it. Just don't expect it to be easy to get approval though without a tussle, especially if it becomes a political football in 2018, particularly in the Democratic primary (so far, 3 left of center potential candidates and one moderate with John Morgan being a wild card other than his signature issue.)

If that's the route, stay tuned for a major environmental battle. A proposal for a limited access highway in that general area got absolutely nowhere.

C'mon everybody here we go! (Apologies to Peter Pan) "Orlando to bid on new Amazon headquarters, officials confirm" http://bit.ly/2y3YOB0 From the Sentinel

I know folks on this board have an aversion to the Sunbelt model of urban development, wishing we could turn back time (with Cher!) and be more like NYC or Boston. Generally, that won't happen where there is lots of land. Orlando has an unlimited amount available in all directions. Miami, by contrast, is more like the NE model of very limited space (an ocean to the east and the Everglades to the west.) So, they're going vertical. The NYTimes also did an article at one point noting that many of those purchasing from South America prefer towers while our most popular international housing buyers (the Brits) prefer low-rise suburbs. Ironically, between 2010 and 2016, Miami grew by 9.02% while Orlando blew them out of the water at 14.38%. Orlando's doing just fine thank you; it's just going to be a long time before space is at enough of a premium to require the verticality many want so badly.