Cool Stuff in Other Cities

[spenser1058]

Tampa's TECO Line Streetcar to be free for three years:

http://amp.fox13news.com/news/local-news/free-streetcar-rides-in-downtown-tampa-for-three-years

From FOX 13 News

[aent]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

Tampa's TECO Line Streetcar to be free for three years:

http://amp.fox13news.com/news/local-news/free-streetcar-rides-in-downtown-tampa-for-three-years

From FOX 13 News

They need to do this on Sunrail, help save some money and boost ridership.

[spenser1058]

7 minutes ago, aent said:

They need to do this on Sunrail, help save some money and boost ridership.

I don't know the answer to this because MARTA rail, the only system I ever used, always charged. If you go free, are there significant drop offs from commuters due to increases in transients? One selling point for rail has always been that it's considered an upgrade to lure people who wouldn't ride a bus out of their cars. Would negating the fare neutralize that advantage (if it indeed exists?)

Edited October 8, 2018 by spenser1058

[prahaboheme]

54 minutes ago, aent said:

They need to do this on Sunrail, help save some money and boost ridership.

Orlando already has a free circulator with LYMMO, serving about 1.2 million riders FY2017.  Tampa is likely looking to boost its ridership numbers on the TECO line which at the moment serves about 250k riders a year.

 

[spenser1058]

4 minutes ago, prahaboheme said:

Orlando already has a free circulator with LYMMO, serving about 1.2 million riders FY2017.  Tampa is likely looking to boost its ridership numbers on the TECO line which at the moment serves about 250k riders a year.

 

Thanks for this. Everything I've read in the Times suggested Lymmo had more riders. Admittedly, it doesn't have the cute factor of the trolley (after all, Mayor Bill's idea was OSCAR), but I keep running into the idea here that anything Orlando does just isn't good enough, even when the numbers say otherwise. It confuses the heck out of me but I know I'm just a good ol' boy from the orange groves.

[prahaboheme]

27 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Thanks for this. Everything I've read in the Times suggested Lymmo had more riders. Admittedly, it doesn't have the cute factor of the trolley (after all, Mayor Bill's idea was OSCAR), but I keep running into the idea here that anything Orlando does just isn't good enough, even when the numbers say otherwise. It confuses the heck out of me but I know I'm just a good ol' boy from the orange groves.

Here’s some ridership numbers for LYMMO  - hopefully that year over year downward trend is just a fluke (page 2)

https://www.golynx.com/core/fileparse.php/143255/urlt/2017-LYNX-RIDERSHIP-YEAR-END-REVIEW.pdf

[aent]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

I don't know the answer to this because MARTA rail, the only system I ever used, always charged. If you go free, are there significant drop offs from commuters due to increases in transients? One selling point for rail has always been that it's considered an upgrade to lure people who wouldn't ride a bus out of their cars. Would negating the fare neutralize that advantage (if it indeed exists?)

I highly doubt it, you'll gain far more commuters then you'll lose from it being free, and the transients will be a very small minority. Plus one policy that could help eliminate them riding the train is require everyone to get off at the last stop and not reboard the same train, making it more of a pain in the ass to get a return trip. Lymmo will be far more convenient for the transients. I don't know if this changed with the new phase, but Sunrail is LOSING MONEY ON THE PROCESS OF FARE COLLECTION, so it'd be a budget cut I doubt very many would miss at all. Once you get people addicted, looking at readding the fare in a couple years when it appears it would start to subsidize the service.

[sunshine]

Meanwhile in downtown Miami..      Okan Tower 70 stories breaking ground soon

 

[JFW657]

Good looking building.

I wonder if they'll start calling it "The Surfboard Building"?

Or just "The Surfboard"...

[sunshine]

Foster and Partners twin towers in Miami. 1049 ft. Tallest building on the east coast south of Manhatthan.

[JFW657]

Apparently that Foster & Partners design was first proposed in 2016, so it's anybody's guess as to whether or not it ever gets built.

Interesting snippet from the release announcement:

"Building heights are restricted in Miami due to the proximity of its international airport.

However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently raised the limit, meaning that each of the proposed structures will become the tallest on the US East Coast outside of New York."

https://www.dezeen.com/2016/11/01/towers-foster-partners-supertall-skyscrapers-brickell-miami-usa/

That brings up a couple of points. First of all, I didn't know Miami also had FAA restrictions on building heights, and second of all, if Miami got their FAA height restriction raised, is there a chance that we could too?

[spenser1058]

2 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

Apparently that Foster & Partners design was first proposed in 2016, so it's anybody's guess as to whether or not it ever gets built.

Interesting snippet from the release announcement:

"Building heights are restricted in Miami due to the proximity of its international airport.

However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently raised the limit, meaning that each of the proposed structures will become the tallest on the US East Coast outside of New York."

https://www.dezeen.com/2016/11/01/towers-foster-partners-supertall-skyscrapers-brickell-miami-usa/

That brings up a couple of points. First of all, I didn't know Miami also had FAA restrictions on building heights, and second of all, if Miami got their FAA height restriction raised, is there a chance that we could too?

We already have once (for SunTrust.) We probably can again if anyone ever gets serious enough to need it.

[JFW657]

Re: the Miami project, it looks to still be alive, but no permits have been applied for yet...

https://www.thenextmiami.com/engineer-places-sign-at-the-towers-by-foster-and-partners-property/

[spenser1058]

24 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

We already have once (for SunTrust.) We probably can again if anyone ever gets serious enough to need it.

We'll probably need to raise it on Vertical Medical City so donkeys can fly...

(sorry, just couldn't resist  - I'm so evil)

[dcluley98]

The Waldorf Astoria upthread was also 1049', and the tallest building south of Manhattan on the East Coast is the  Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia I posted upthread at 1121', also designed by Foster+Partners.

Edited October 10, 2018 by dcluley98

[mdeancherry]

Wait, Sunrail loses money on collecting money? So the maintenance on the ticket machines and the cost of having someone vaguely possibly checking to see if you have a ticket costs more than the money generated from the tickets? Or am I missing some expense?

That would never have crossed my mind as even being a possibility. TIL, etc. 

[aent]

1 hour ago, mdeancherry said:

Wait, Sunrail loses money on collecting money? So the maintenance on the ticket machines and the cost of having someone vaguely possibly checking to see if you have a ticket costs more than the money generated from the tickets? Or am I missing some expense?

That would never have crossed my mind as even being a possibility. TIL, etc. 

As of before phase 2 launched, that is correct. I don't know if its changed with the launch of phase 2 south, but I also found that insane.

[spenser1058]

More on the Tampa Trolley (Totally Tampa!) Its schedule seems pretty limited compared to Lymmo - it will be interesting to see how conversion to free works out

https://www.tampabay.com/blogs/baybuzz/2018/10/12/free-rides-for-now-hopes-of-a-bigger-future-for-tampas-streetcar-line/?template=amp

From the St. Pete Times

[sunshine]

Archictecture Digest picked the New World Center as the most beautiful theatre in the state of Florida.

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/most-beautifully-design-theater-each-state

[orlandouprise]

4 hours ago, sunshine said:

Archictecture Digest picked the New World Center as the most beautiful theatre in the state of Florida.

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/most-beautifully-design-theater-each-state

I disagree, ours imo is a much nicer design. this is just because of Miami cache

[JFW657]

4 hours ago, orlandouprise said:

I disagree, ours imo is a much nicer design. this is just because of Miami cache

A plain white box with a glass facade and trees on the roof....

BFD.

[prahaboheme]

Someone at architectural digest must really have a thing for Frank Gehry.  

The Walt Disney Concert Hall the best in CA? That’s not even the best in DTLA (not to mention the number of historic and active theatres in Hollywood). Heck, the Hollywood Bowl, an amphitheater, outdoes the Disney concert hall on almost all levels. Not surprising the LA Phil spend much of their season there.

[JFW657]

41 minutes ago, prahaboheme said:

Someone at architectural digest must really have a thing for Frank Gehry.  

The Walt Disney Concert Hall the best in CA? That’s not even the best in DTLA (not to mention the number of historic and active theatres in Hollywood). Heck, the Hollywood Bowl, an amphitheater, outdoes the Disney concert hall on almost all levels. Not surprising the LA Phil spend much of their season there.

More like Frank Gimmickry.

[dcluley98]

That style has not aged well. And the "award-winning" theater above does not look appealing to me other than the leafy trees. (needs more leafy trees and less palm trees)

We could do very well with some live oaks planted on either side of the DPAC promenade. 

The "development" for those grassy areas seems to be stalled, so might as well see some "Organic Growth" there in the interim: 

Edited October 19, 2018 by dcluley98

[spenser1058]

The St. Pete Times reports SPP and Jeff Vinik have bought the Depression-era flour mill still in operation in order to expand downtown Tampa's Water Street project.

Personally, I'd like to see them incorporate elements of the mill into the new project as a nod to Tampa's industrial, portside past. It doesn't sound like that's what is likely to happen, though.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/realestate/Water-Street-Tampa-developers-buy-ConAgra-flour-mill-for-future-expansion-of-their-3-billion-project_172999662