Land market 'poised to grow'

[stjoe]

http://www.tdo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A.../603170345/1003

"We need to make downtown desirable for people to live there," Hartung said. And that includes creating an arts-and-entertainment district, making downtown easy to walk - projects that are currently being explored by the city."

They are? I thought that was what the Gaines Street Revitalization project was supposed to be....wasn't it supposed to be a "destination area"?

I feel like I am living in the twilight zone sometimes in Tally.

[JBarber]

Anybody wandered around Atlantic Station in midtown Atlanta? I briefly drove through last weekend getting from I-85 to Ikea, and back. It is a little leary, almost Disney-ish looking, but the vibe is cool and seemed to be full of people. You probably leave to go to work, but everything else is right there, including a Publix Neighborhood market (or whatever it is called.)

This is the first, working application I have seen of the city within a city concept that we hear about and coud be a good model for us. It would never happen in Tallahassee on the scale of Atlantic Station, but maybe we could pick up on some of the finer points.

Here is what they are about: "What could you do with an extra hour a day?...an extra day a month?...an extra week a year?...Anything you want. The average Atlantan spends more time commuting to work than most anywhere in the world. Wouldn't you rather work two blocks from home and shop around the corner? In Atlantic Station you will.

Atlantic Station is the national model for smart growth and sustainable development. Picture a community with unsurpassed architectural quality, a fusion of functionality and finesse that combines an attractive mix of affordable, middle-income, and up-scale housing with world-class restaurants, theaters, and retailers.

Providing homes for 10,000 people, employment opportunities for 30,000, with shopping and entertainment for millions more, this 24-hour community will buzz with pedestrian traffic on its wide boulevards and the crowd of people in the sidewalk cafes and expansive parks. The result? A quality of life unmatched in the Southeast."

Great website. Atlantic Station

[DaiDreamer5]

http://www.tdo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A.../603170345/1003

"We need to make downtown desirable for people to live there," Hartung said. And that includes creating an arts-and-entertainment district, making downtown easy to walk - projects that are currently being explored by the city."

They are? I thought that was what the Gaines Street Revitalization project was supposed to be....wasn't it supposed to be a "destination area"?

I feel like I am living in the twilight zone sometimes in Tally.

You would think the big developers and real estate people would know more about what is going on in the area...

[stjoe]

I have been to Atlantic Station....it is nice. A bit too sterile, but I do like it.

Dai,

Perhaps they do know and just do NOT see it happening. Gaines Street Renovation project has been in progress since 1993. They used the project to make the area a "destination spot" as one of the pushes for the Blueprint 2000 tax (it was THE reason I voted for the tax). I don't know if anyone knows this (developers, the Democrat, etc) or perhaps they have lost faith that after 14 years the COT cannot deliver what it promised.

I am only 1 taxpayer who voted for it, but I feel robbed to this point. All we have is that hotel which is average at best and frankly I think it would be put to better use in FSU's hands (it is on the area FSU wants to expand to). Perhaps they should of sold it to FSU with the demand of putting a dorm there that would of given the area density...and the brick buildings along tree lined streets that would of brought cafes, etc. So all we got since 93 and a ton of tax payer money is a stucco mid level hotel. Not a stellar track record here for the city.

All Saints is nice, but that is due to the developers there...not anything the city has done. Where is all this tax money and time that has gone to this? This is really unacceptable IMHO.

[Glenn]

Anybody wandered around Atlantic Station in midtown Atlanta? I briefly drove through last weekend getting from I-85 to Ikea, and back. It is a little leary, almost Disney-ish looking, but the vibe is cool and seemed to be full of people. You probably leave to go to work, but everything else is right there, including a Publix Neighborhood market (or whatever it is called.)

I've been to Atlantic Station...it's pretty neat what they've done with an old industrial site in the middle of town. Now they just need to get that old, run down saw mill/lumber company on the backside by the RR tracks to sell out so they can complete the project...it's an eyesore at the moment. The sawmill owners are probably just waiting out the developers to drive the price up. The comparison of Atlantic Station to Disney is something I'd never thought about but it is sort of like you're in a different world & oblivious to everything on the outside while you're there. I really do like the Publix neighborhood market there in Atlantic Station...I think one of those would fit in very nicely in our own downtown. There really should be something grocery store related in our downtown so all the new residents don't have to get in their cars just to go shopping for food. I've also been inside the new "12" Hotel/Condo project there in Atlantic Station...very nice & modern. Great restaurant in there as well. The developers of "12", The Novare Group, are planning an identical tower to the South, presently a parking lot, in the next 2-3 years.

[Florida]

December 19, 2007

Leon County Limit?

By: Tom Dardenne

[poonther]

You know I read that entire article and I'm not much of a fan of those two guys representing Tally in the article. They just sounded "old-guard" "old-school" and rather provincial IMHO. They just don't seem to want to sell our area of even think outside of the box. This IMHO is our biggest problem w/this region. I've run into it so many times lately w/different things. I use to find it upsetting, now I just find it depressing.

To excel our region needs to new leaders and biz people who are progressive and forward thinking...you know, more Bill Laws and Rick Kearny's otherwise we'll continue to just spin our wheels.

[Florida]

You know I read that entire article and I'm not much of a fan of those two guys representing Tally in the article. They just sounded "old-guard" "old-school" and rather provincial IMHO. They just don't seem to want to sell our area of even think outside of the box. This IMHO is our biggest problem w/this region. I've run into it so many times lately w/different things. I use to find it upsetting, now I just find it depressing.

To excel our region needs to new leaders and biz people who are progressive and forward thinking...you know, more Bill Laws and Rick Kearny's otherwise we'll continue to just spin our wheels.