THE Orlando Photo Thread

[sunshine]

I went to the Magic vs Hawk preseason game Monday nit. Here are a few pics.

Thunderstorm moving in

I didnt use flash and the people wont stand still...so the pics are a bit blurry..pardon

Dwight Free throw

Former Magic SG vs New Magic SG

[mrh3]

Nice shots sunshine and bic. I can't believe how green it still is Orlando. Funny how few people are actually walking in any of those shots. Empty sidewalks are kind of creepy.

[JFW657]

Nice pics, bic.

[JRS1]

Funny how few people are actually walking in any of those shots. Empty sidewalks are kind of creepy.

those shots are misleading. the two Orange Ave. shots are 1) Jefferson & Orange, & 2) South and Orange. The major foot traffic is between Jackson and Washington, to a lesser degree up to and past Jefferson. During lunch hour it is packed between the Courthouse and City Hall on Orange and those other cross streets. Noone is ever on Magnolia or at Boone & South St., nor on the construction site for the plaza facing the future dpac, or at Anderson & Orange where the cylinder bldg. is currently at. But there's always people on Church, Central & Pine. Time of day is key too.

[bic]

Time of day is key too.

It was about 4:30pm, so the roads were crowded with cars leaving downtown but the only people I saw on the streets were the people getting out of work to walk to their cars and maybe a few people who got out of work early already going for a stroll or walking their dog. Traffic-wise, Orange Ave. and its intersection with South Street felt a lot like a northern city.

[VistaLakes01]

It was about 4:30pm, so the roads were crowded with cars leaving downtown but the only people I saw on the streets were the people getting out of work to walk to their cars and maybe a few people who got out of work early already going for a stroll or walking their dog. Traffic-wise, Orange Ave. and its intersection with South Street felt a lot like a northern city.

There is more foot traffic in Orlando's CBD than most any other city in Florida or elsewhere, even cities that are larger in population due to the fact that Orlando has over 22,000 residents within 1 mile of it's CBD. While after hours say workout and dinner time a large portion of center city residents are in the Thornton Park and Lake Eola area. But the CBD is opening more businesses that cater to the neighborhood residents and activity is really picking up. (By comparison Dallas, TX only has 1300 people living within 1 mile of it's CBD, so can you imagine how much of a ghost town such cities are after 6 pm? Tampa has only 3,000 residents. I don't know the numbers living at the heart of Miami's downtown, and Miami Beach is more like a little Manhattan, but it's hard telling if the crowds of people walking around are actual residents or the people staying in all those hotels or people driving in from other areas of South Florida for dinner, clubbing, shopping, etc. Downtown Orlando is not a tourist destination like South Beach but at least it has a large number of people living downtown and a growing number of people living downtown. So if things look dead in the pictures, it's misleading. Actual downtown residents may even work in the suburbs. But it is an increasingly active city center in comparison to even many larger cities.)

[spenser1058]

There is more foot traffic in Orlando's CBD than most any other city in Florida or elsewhere, even cities that are larger in population due to the fact that Orlando has over 22,000 residents within 1 mile of it's CBD. While after hours say workout and dinner time a large portion of center city residents are in the Thornton Park and Lake Eola area. But the CBD is opening more businesses that cater to the neighborhood residents and activity is really picking up. (By comparison Dallas, TX only has 1300 people living within 1 mile of it's CBD, so can you imagine how much of a ghost town such cities are after 6 pm? Tampa has only 3,000 residents. I don't know the numbers living at the heart of Miami's downtown, and Miami Beach is more like a little Manhattan, but it's hard telling if the crowds of people walking around are actual residents or the people staying in all those hotels or people driving in from other areas of South Florida for dinner, clubbing, shopping, etc. Downtown Orlando is not a tourist destination like South Beach but at least it has a large number of people living downtown and a growing number of people living downtown. So if things look dead in the pictures, it's misleading. Actual downtown residents may even work in the suburbs. But it is an increasingly active city center in comparison to even many larger cities.)

I think our closest competition, comparing apples to apples, is St. Pete, which has also capitalized on a downtown ignored from the late 60's through the 80's, and with a significant residential component close at hand. While we have the county seat and more businesses, St. Pete has done an excellent job of promoting the USF/St. Pete campus as well as St. Pete College (the former juco which is now offering four year degrees), and of course its stunning location surrounded by water.

Interestingly, and this ties into what I think many may have missed in Parramore, is that the resurgence of both downtown O-town and downtown St. Pete, originating in many ways from the bottom up, by residents who moved back into town and began fixing things up, then followed by small business owners who did the same. Those are the folks, because of their great passion and direct investment in the community, bring the cachet and the success that are later used by the larger developers.

Other places, downtown Tampa being an excellent example, that have relied primarily on attracting larger developments, have not seen the success. There are a lot of big buildings and plans, but there are not the folks who are building a liveable community every day from street level. That, too, has, I believe been a problem in Parramore - there were too many industrial properties and rental properties with absentee landlords for the area to develop stakeholders who would turn it around. Compare that with the west side of downtown Winter Park for another example. The resurgence of South Beach followed a similar pattern.

When it's done the right way, it sticks. Try to start by throwing money at the top and you often end up with a lot of drive by buildings.

[bic]

There is more foot traffic in Orlando's CBD than most any other city in Florida or elsewhere, even cities that are larger in population due to the fact that Orlando has over 22,000 residents within 1 mile of it's CBD. While after hours say workout and dinner time a large portion of center city residents are in the Thornton Park and Lake Eola area. But the CBD is opening more businesses that cater to the neighborhood residents and activity is really picking up. (By comparison Dallas, TX only has 1300 people living within 1 mile of it's CBD, so can you imagine how much of a ghost town such cities are after 6 pm? Tampa has only 3,000 residents. I don't know the numbers living at the heart of Miami's downtown, and Miami Beach is more like a little Manhattan, but it's hard telling if the crowds of people walking around are actual residents or the people staying in all those hotels or people driving in from other areas of South Florida for dinner, clubbing, shopping, etc. Downtown Orlando is not a tourist destination like South Beach but at least it has a large number of people living downtown and a growing number of people living downtown. So if things look dead in the pictures, it's misleading. Actual downtown residents may even work in the suburbs. But it is an increasingly active city center in comparison to even many larger cities.)

I know that Downtown Orlando can be very vibrant and is doing better in the residential/pedestrian department than most other American downtowns, but the pictures really weren't misleading. When I took that drive yesterday, there were A LOT of people downtown, but most of them were in their cars. I saw very few people on the sidewalks and I even drove down Summerlin, and throughout the South Eola neighborhood. But yeah, a weekend night in downtown is another story. Very few American cities can match the amount of activity in Downtown Orlando on a Saturday night.

[bulldogger]

For the guy thinking about moving to Orlando, I just saw this last night in College Park. The buyer seems motivated.

For Sale - College Park

[tennis32801]

For the guy thinking about moving to Orlando, I just saw this last night in College Park. The buyer seems motivated.

For Sale - College Park

^Too funny.

Heres is a photo taken with camera phone of friday's shuttle about to take off and a full moon just to the left.

[bulldogger]

How far were you for the launch? I just saw it from Orlando and it was amazing. It is worth dealing with the traffic snarls to at least go to the Cape for a night launch. You get a Doppler Effect of air waves before the sound actually hits and it can only be described as the feeling of sound coming at you.

With regards to the house for sale in College Park, that was picked up by local news and subsequently picked up by CNN.

[tennis32801]

How far were you for the launch? I just saw it from Orlando and it was amazing. It is worth dealing with the traffic snarls to at least go to the Cape for a night launch. You get a Doppler Effect of air waves before the sound actually hits and it can only be described as the feeling of sound coming at you.

With regards to the house for sale in College Park, that was picked up by local news and subsequently picked up by CNN.

I usually watch it where S.R. 50 dead ends into US-1, next to the Banana River. I used to work for NASA and had witness spectacular launches. FYI, that was the last night launch for the current shuttle program

[bulldogger]

I wish that weren't a sad truth.

[Boomer136]

^ Well as currently funded. Perhaps when the new systems do not come online as we need them, and we face the prospect of China launching our satellites for us, we may not face the dearth of Canaveral launches as we currently envision. No inside info, BTW.

[bulldogger]

On the same subject, didn't India just send something to the moon? Also, don't you think we would work with Russia on space issue before China?

[WeNeed2Progress]

I usually watch it where S.R. 50 dead ends into US-1, next to the Banana River. I used to work for NASA and had witness spectacular launches. FYI, that was the last night launch for the current shuttle program

It was said on NPR in an interview that there are 2 additional night-launches planned before the end of the shuttle program. Was this incorrect?

[codypet]

It was said on NPR in an interview that there are 2 additional night-launches planned before the end of the shuttle program. Was this incorrect?

My understanding is that Friday was the last scheduled night launch. Now whether scheduled day launches that are postponed can be launched at night is a possibility. Maybe that's the possible 2 launches that can occur at night. I'd hate to see the shuttle go away at all.

[JFW657]

So anyway...

[NewsDude]

Great angle.

[demon]

Here are some pictures of the new facilities at UCF.

[demon]

[prahaboheme]

Impressive complex, generally. The retail sections look a bit too Florida strip mall-ish.

[bulldogger]

Were these pictures from a 5k or something?

[JRS1]

Great shots.

What UCF really needs to do is forget that its in Orlando and invest in some brick veneers and start cladding all non-brown sections of those dorm bldgs with it. I was watching a TCU commercial during the game last night and man was that campus pretty with fairly ornate brick bldgs with cornerstones etc., like what UF and FSU have.

On bldgs over 3 stories, there's no place for stucco on a college campus.

BUT

balance that against the fact that UCF built all that recently to go from commuter school to on-campus school.

great shots nonetheless

[demon]

Were these pictures from a 5k or something?

Yes. The UCF U Can Finish 5 mile run.