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In 1926, Jacksonville would see construction begin on a record 7 buildings of 10 stories or more (10 stories or so was pretty much the standard for high rises at the time outside the biggest cities).

Jacksonville was at the time Florida’s largest city (it still is because of a sleight of hand merger with Duval County but is by no means the largest MSA).

Imagine our excitement if 7 tall buildings were all actually under construction in the same year! Of course, it was short-lived as the Great Florida Land Boom was about to bust and set the stage for the Great Depression.

After that, tall buildings in Florida were mostly delayed because of the Depression, World War II and post war material shortages until the 1950s.

Can you imagine if our UP fanboys had to go 25+ years without a tall building to enthuse about? Oh, the humanity!

https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/the-ghost-signs-of-jacksonville/

From The Jaxson

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  • 2 weeks later...

I find this interesting.

Parking garages being repurposed. The article has a tie in to autonomous vehicles and ride sharing saying that costs per mile is currently 2x to 3x costs of ownership (roughly $1). As auto-autos become the norm those costs will go down. They say  “peak car ownership in the United States will occur around 2020 and will drop quickly after that.” When that occurs, they surmise, metros will be left with a surplus of parking spaces.

None of that was surprising, but the next step is "a growing number of developers, architects and engineers have started building new garages with the capacity to be switched to other uses"  and I find that to be pretty intriguing. Developers are building garages with higher ceilings, flat floors and more steel for support. The idea being, “What’s the most sustainable building? It’s the one that already exists, right?”

https://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-infrastructure/gov-garages.html

 

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54 minutes ago, Dale said:

In NYC right now. Hudson Yards and the Highline are spectacular. But my God the city is trashy.  And some of the subway stations are borderline third-world.

Is this your first time in NYC? If by trashy you are referring to literal trash piled up on sidewalks for pickup that’s because of a very well documented design flaw in the grid system that did not accommodate trash collection in alleyways.

“New York City has been struggling with trash ever since the Dutch started making it. By the early 19th century, real estate was at such a premium in the city that planners didn’t bother building back alleys as in other cities, a decision that led to the mounds of trash — 12,000 tons a day, citywide — that we see on today’s sidewalks”

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/06/04/will-nyc-finally-get-garbage-out-of-pedestrians-way/

Edited by prahaboheme
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9 hours ago, prahaboheme said:

Is this your first time in NYC? If by trashy you are referring to literal trash piled up on sidewalks for pickup that’s because of a very well documented design flaw in the grid system that did not accommodate trash collection in alleyways.

“New York City has been struggling with trash ever since the Dutch started making it. By the early 19th century, real estate was at such a premium in the city that planners didn’t bother building back alleys as in other cities, a decision that led to the mounds of trash — 12,000 tons a day, citywide — that we see on today’s sidewalks”

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/06/04/will-nyc-finally-get-garbage-out-of-pedestrians-way/

Been to NYC several times and have never seen it this bad, whether piled in bags or loose on sidewalk. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

6 projects underway at the Jax Beaches:

https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/six-major-projects-currently-underway-at-the-beaches

From The Jaxson

What’s interesting to me is what a change this is. As an Orlando kid, we did what Orlandoans do and spent a lot of weekends and summers at Daytona and NSB.

In the summer before my senior year in hs, my dad was transferred to Jacksonville and I got to know a lot more about North Florida over the next half-dozen years.

The Jax Beaches were, to me, a lot more residential and laid back than Daytona or even NSB. As a teenager, I might even go so far as to say a tad dull.

So, all this activity up there is so different than what I grew up with. It’s just one more way to notice that Daytona’s powers that be seem to have a decided blind spot these days when it comes to the beachside.

 

 

 

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12 hours ago, dcluley98 said:

https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/12/chinas-trackless-trains.html?utm_source=digg

This could work very well in Central Florida if it is a viable solution. 

This looks cool. I'd like to see how it operates when crossing traffic lanes. Would it be just like train tracks?

Also, where would you envision this being best used here?

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It is possible to fight the bureaucrats whose goal in life is to pave paradise, usually at the behest of politicians lining the pockets of themselves and their patrons.

Here’s a look at how San Francisco did it. It also notes that turning back the freeways also led to the rise of transit systems like BART.

Here in Central Florida, we’re only beginning to reach the point California was at half a century ago so their battles are still relevant for us.

We’re also told by some that Florida isn’t dense enough for non-auto solutions. But think about this: Florida is only the 22nd largest state in area but #3 in population. We’re filling up quickly.

Another thought: Texas only has 1/3 more people than Florida but is 4 times the size. It’s time to do something.

https://youtu.be/_nSvy8jcNbU

From the City Beautiful 

Also note that two projects mentioned , the Embarcadero Freeway in SFO and the Alaskan Way Viaduct in SEA have since been recognized as destructive to their cities and demolished at huge cost.

Think of the ridiculous amounts spent to build and later tear down roads that never should have been built in the first place.

Edited by spenser1058
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Just got back from Dallas and it drove me nuts how great that city is at letting businesses do whatever they want to their spaces. All the exteriors were different, many with cool murals. The signage was big and bright and engaging. Orlando's weird desire to keep everything uniform is a huge detriment. Not everywhere but there is no reason Mills can't have weird neons and stuff all up and down.

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5 minutes ago, popsiclebrandon said:

Just got back from Dallas and it drove me nuts how great that city is at letting businesses do whatever they want to their spaces. All the exteriors were different, many with cool murals. The signage was big and bright and engaging. Orlando's weird desire to keep everything uniform is a huge detriment. Not everywhere but there is no reason Mills can't have weird neons and stuff all up and down.

Dallas is one of those cities I expected not to like ... but did.

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6 minutes ago, Dale said:

I do like the “Don’t Mess With Texas!” persona that still pervades there.

That is a cool slogan - I wish there were more of that kind of pride about Florida.

The cool thing about “Don’t Mess With Texas” is that it came from an anti-litter campaign and only later grew to be a more or less statewide tagline.

Edited by spenser1058
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Just now, spenser1058 said:

That is a cool slogan - I wish there was more of that kind of pride about Florida.

The cool thing about “Don’t Mess With Texas” is that it came from an anti-litter campaign and only later grew to be a more or less statewide tagline.

I didn’t know that! Florida can’t use the excuse of having a transient population. New movers to Texas readily assimilate the persona of that state. 

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