Creative Village

[Uncommon]

2 minutes ago, IAmFloridaBorn said:

Downtown Tampa is a ghost town. I never thought of Orlando's downtown to be a ghost town in the daytime. interesting perspective. 

It wasn’t before COVID. It wasn’t the most bustling place or anything but it had some life to it. Now, it’s a dead zone. I went a couple days ago and it was bone dry. I then went a little later at night and it was still lifeless.

I’m really hoping when school starts, it will look better. 

[jgardnerucf]

14 hours ago, nite owℓ said:

Hope you don't mind if I pick your brain... As you are a student in the Creative Village, I'm curious if you live on campus?

Works in Lynx, hence the window shots...

[jrs2]

20 hours ago, Uncommon said:

It wasn’t before COVID. It wasn’t the most bustling place or anything but it had some life to it. Now, it’s a dead zone. I went a couple days ago and it was bone dry. I then went a little later at night and it was still lifeless.

I’m really hoping when school starts, it will look better. 

well, I work in downtown so I'm here every day even now.  during covid it was a dead zone.  but there are currently people walking up and down sidewalks near Pine st, Court, Central, Publix,  Orange Ave during the day.  At night, Court is hopping, Central, Orange Ave near the Plaza, Pine st, and Orange Ave near Central.  Pine is always busy with people as is Central.  Not sure where you go, but these corridors are always with people.

The Robinson on Pine is always attracting activity.  Kress on church is always busy.  the bars on Central are always busy- near Magnolia and Court.  Corona at Pine & Orange is always busy. Gitto's just across from there is always busy. the NY Pizza place south of Pine on Orange- same. Columbia Rico at Central and the parking garage is always super busy. Mecatos on Orange and Central is always busy. the Skybar at CSP at night is usually very busy.  Mathers is always busy on Magnolia; Robinson Room on Pine- same.   Dunkin at Citrus Center is usually busy.  Natures Table at Lincoln Tower/Suntrust is always busy.

Publix is busy.  the eatery across the street is always busy.  the French bakery on Magnolia is usually busy under Solaire.  Gringos on Washington is always super busy.  the Jamaican place around the corner from there usually has people there.  the Irish pub further south from there always has people there.  the two places on the west side of Orange between Pine and Central are usually busy.

in general, at night, there are pedestrians all up and down Pine, Court, Central, Orange, to make you nervous as a driver not to hit any of them.

Where do you go in downtown to make you think its a dead zone?

[TRENCH]

On 7/14/2021 at 10:26 AM, nite owℓ said:

Hope you don't mind if I pick your brain... As you are a student in the Creative Village, I'm curious if you live on campus? Do you and others meander into downtown during your free time or do you tend to stay on campus mostly? Is the campus full or is it still kind of empty? Humor me and tell us what your experience has been like so far now that you've been there for a while.

Downtown has always been a bit of a ghost town during the day even when offices were open. The City used Arizona State University as a template for revitalization and I was hoping UCF/Valencia would breath some new life into downtown. I'm sure the pandemic slowed things down, but to be honest I really haven't noticed much of a difference during the day and was expecting more of a noticeable contrast in street activity. I know these things take time, but I'm impatient lol.

I graduated December 2020 [and was a commuter]. I was one of the first to attend when the campus opened in Fall 2019 as my minor moved there. In Spring 2020 it became more active but covid obv. killed that. In Fall 2020 i only had one onsite class and its was pretty much empty since on-campus classes offered students to attend via zoom at the same time [so most people did that].  I dont think this past spring there was much activity going on either but itll pick up soon. But before covid, many of the student who live there did walk over to CBD 

I currently work as an intern in downtown so I get to see DT more often than i've ever had as someone who lives in the suburbs

Edited July 15, 2021 by W7edwin

[Uncommon]

40 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

well, I work in downtown so I'm here every day even now.  during covid it was a dead zone.  but there are currently people walking up and down sidewalks near Pine st, Court, Central, Publix,  Orange Ave during the day.  At night, Court is hopping, Central, Orange Ave near the Plaza, Pine st, and Orange Ave near Central.  Pine is always busy with people as is Central.  Not sure where you go, but these corridors are always with people.

The Robinson on Pine is always attracting activity.  Kress on church is always busy.  the bars on Central are always busy- near Magnolia and Court.  Corona at Pine & Orange is always busy. Gitto's just across from there is always busy. the NY Pizza place south of Pine on Orange- same. Columbia Rico at Central and the parking garage is always super busy. Mecatos on Orange and Central is always busy. the Skybar at CSP at night is usually very busy.  Mathers is always busy on Magnolia; Robinson Room on Pine- same.   Dunkin at Citrus Center is usually busy.  Natures Table at Lincoln Tower/Suntrust is always busy.

Publix is busy.  the eatery across the street is always busy.  the French bakery on Magnolia is usually busy under Solaire.  Gringos on Washington is always super busy.  the Jamaican place around the corner from there usually has people there.  the Irish pub further south from there always has people there.  the two places on the west side of Orange between Pine and Central are usually busy.

in general, at night, there are pedestrians all up and down Pine, Court, Central, Orange, to make you nervous as a driver not to hit any of them.

Where do you go in downtown to make you think its a dead zone?

This is all surprising. I just usually go down Orange from north quarter to Anderson and it’s been dead the past couple of months. Creative Village is a ghost town. Magnolia, Rosalind, Church St are typically devoid of street activity when I’ve gone there recently. Lake Eola Park usually has some decent activity but I went on July 5th at sundown because I figured everyone would be off due to the holiday and enjoying the park and it was DEADDDD. I had a friend visiting from Tampa staying downtown and he just kept remarking, “where are all the people?”

[jrs2]

23 minutes ago, Uncommon said:

This is all surprising. I just usually go down Orange from north quarter to Anderson and it’s been dead the past couple of months. Creative Village is a ghost town. Magnolia, Rosalind, Church St are typically devoid of street activity when I’ve gone there recently. Lake Eola Park usually has some decent activity but I went on July 5th at sundown because I figured everyone would be off due to the holiday and enjoying the park and it was DEADDDD. I had a friend visiting from Tampa staying downtown and he just kept remarking, “where are all the people?”

don't know what to tell you.  every time I drive down Court and pass Pine and Central, I'm getting marauded by peds.  Also at Central and Rosalind.  I also forgot to mention the building across 55W and the UCF building where Blue Room used to be...there's always a night crowd there too.  don't know what was going on the 5th, but every night  the core is full of ped activity and the bars are mostly full.

I don't work for the city and I'm not emissary for DTO, but these are my observations.  I can take photos if you like.

[spenser1058]

@jrs2FOR MAYOR!

[Uncommon]

1 hour ago, jrs2 said:

don't know what to tell you.  every time I drive down Court and pass Pine and Central, I'm getting marauded by peds.  Also at Central and Rosalind.  I also forgot to mention the building across 55W and the UCF building where Blue Room used to be...there's always a night crowd there too.  don't know what was going on the 5th, but every night  the core is full of ped activity and the bars are mostly full.

I don't work for the city and I'm not emissary for DTO, but these are my observations.  I can take photos if you like.

Maybe I just picked a bad week. I mean, I’m thrilled downtown still has life. I’ve heard nothing but bad, like high vacancy rates and a lack of street activity since COVID. But this definitely is promising.

Hopefully Creative Village can follow suit soon. That area has nothing but potential.

[jrs2]

17 minutes ago, Uncommon said:

Maybe I just picked a bad week. I mean, I’m thrilled downtown still has life. I’ve heard nothing but bad, like high vacancy rates and a lack of street activity since COVID. But this definitely is promising.

Hopefully Creative Village can follow suit soon. That area has nothing but potential.

on the 5th, I know for a fact that Church St. was dead in the afternoon, but if you went around the corner there was a lot of activity down Orange; there was some event going on...

which hotel was your friend staying at? 

Because when you break it down, AC Hotel does not front a busy part of downtown.  Neither does Aloft or the Doubletree in the North Quarter.  Neither does Hilton Garden Inn on North Magnolia.  the new dual brand at Liv & Magnolia is also not in the core.  I would say Embassy Suites may not be fronting alot of activity either at street level. along Pine  Grand Boh is right at Orange & South, and if the City is closed that day, crickets...  There is no hotel directly in the heart of alot of activity in downtown I don't think; every one of those hotels are kind of a block or two off.  Even the Marriott in CV; nothing going on at the corner of Liv & Hughey.  The Crown Plaza- even less so.

Case in point:  in Chicago, if you are at the Peninsula, you're right on Mich Ave in the center of it all( same with Four Seasons & Ritz); if you're at the Trump, the lobby is on a side street even though the building is just two blocks from Michigan Ave.  Marriott Marquis is right smack dab in the center of Times Square NYC but NY Palace is near Park Ave which, albeit very nice, is dead.  That really cool Hyatt with the atrium in SF that was in High Anxiety is off the beaten path of the business district in no man's land compared to the St. Regis in Union Square.

None of the hotels in downtown front a really busy part of downtown when the City is closed and there is no shows playing at Dpac.  So, it is easy to think downtown is dead when it really isn't.

...from years of experience...

[jgardnerucf]

What in the hell was Uncommon talking about. Sheesh.    :::Thumb on nose fart noise:::

[Uncommon]

3 hours ago, jrs2 said:

on the 5th, I know for a fact that Church St. was dead in the afternoon, but if you went around the corner there was a lot of activity down Orange; there was some event going on...

which hotel was your friend staying at? 

Because when you break it down, AC Hotel does not front a busy part of downtown.  Neither does Aloft or the Doubletree in the North Quarter.  Neither does Hilton Garden Inn on North Magnolia.  the new dual brand at Liv & Magnolia is also not in the core.  I would say Embassy Suites may not be fronting alot of activity either at street level. along Pine  Grand Boh is right at Orange & South, and if the City is closed that day, crickets...  There is no hotel directly in the heart of alot of activity in downtown I don't think; every one of those hotels are kind of a block or two off.  Even the Marriott in CV; nothing going on at the corner of Liv & Hughey.  The Crown Plaza- even less so.

Case in point:  in Chicago, if you are at the Peninsula, you're right on Mich Ave in the center of it all( same with Four Seasons & Ritz); if you're at the Trump, the lobby is on a side street even though the building is just two blocks from Michigan Ave.  Marriott Marquis is right smack dab in the center of Times Square NYC but NY Palace is near Park Ave which, albeit very nice, is dead.  That really cool Hyatt with the atrium in SF that was in High Anxiety is off the beaten path of the business district in no man's land compared to the St. Regis in Union Square.

None of the hotels in downtown front a really busy part of downtown when the City is closed and there is no shows playing at Dpac.  So, it is easy to think downtown is dead when it really isn't.

...from years of experience...

Not sure about the hotel. I wanna say something in the Aloft area but idk for sure.

Idk if we can post links to other forum websites but he created this Reddit post asking why is downtown Orlando so dead, which got deleted but the comments are still up: 

https://www.reddit.com/r/orlando/comments/of4qbj/are_there_young_professionals_in_dto/

He’s looking to move here and that was his first time downtown. He was baffled as to why downtown was so empty. I just attributed it to Covid.

 

EDIT: he didn’t just linger in front of the hotel lol he walked around most of downtown and then created this post.

Edited July 15, 2021 by Uncommon

[jrs2]

17 hours ago, Uncommon said:

Not sure about the hotel. I wanna say something in the Aloft area but idk for sure.

Idk if we can post links to other forum websites but he created this Reddit post asking why is downtown Orlando so dead, which got deleted but the comments are still up: 

https://www.reddit.com/r/orlando/comments/of4qbj/are_there_young_professionals_in_dto/

He’s looking to move here and that was his first time downtown. He was baffled as to why downtown was so empty. I just attributed it to Covid.

 

EDIT: he didn’t just linger in front of the hotel lol he walked around most of downtown and then created this post.

oh, ok.

on your prior post, I don't know what the vacancy rates are downtown.  All we know is that they keep building more and more apartment buildings (as we know on these boards).  we assume there's more people here as a result to add to the crowds that come into downtown to go out.  People coming downtown to go out hasn't changed for the most part, btw.  When a bar closes, there's another one right behind it waiting to open to take it's place.

[bqknight]

1 hour ago, jrs2 said:

oh, ok.

on your prior post, I don't know what the vacancy rates are downtown.  All we know is that they keep building more and more apartment buildings (as we know on these boards).  we assume there's more people here as a result to add to the crowds that come into downtown to go out.  People coming downtown to go out hasn't changed for the most part, btw.  When a bar closes, there's another one right behind it waiting to open to take it's place.

I think it depends on which day you're downtown. A couple of weeks ago I was contemplating coming to the forum to say how nice it is to see people out and about downtown again during the work week. Today, however, was more dead. There's people, don't get me wrong, but not as bustling as I've seen it recently. 

South Eola is usually buzzing with people, no matter what day. There's always people around when you go outside and on the weekend, the crowd really picks up. 

People definitely seem to be moving/living in the apartments around downtown, Camden Thornton Park raised our rent, so we looked elsewhere, but availability is pretty tight and pricing is skyrocketing. 

[OrlandoBeaver]

47 minutes ago, bqknight said:

I think it depends on which day you're downtown. A couple of weeks ago I was contemplating coming to the forum to say how nice it is to see people out and about downtown again during the work week. Today, however, was more dead. There's people, don't get me wrong, but not as bustling as I've seen it recently. 

South Eola is usually buzzing with people, no matter what day. There's always people around when you go outside and on the weekend, the crowd really picks up. 

People definitely seem to be moving/living in the apartments around downtown, Camden Thornton Park raised our rent, so we looked elsewhere, but availability is pretty tight and pricing is skyrocketing. 

Yea a lot of my friends who are in there early 20s live in either the Camden's, Citi tower, Modera or 55w. I think most of them really only stay around lake eola/thorton park unless they are going out at night or if they work in CBD. But I think now that radius, MAA Robinson and society are bringing more apartments in northern/central part of downtown there will be more action during the daytime in the CBD. 

And imagine if the Orlando Sentinel site actually sees some 'relatively creative' development. Like a grocery store, park, housing or retail... pretty much anything other than what it is now. That could really help boost the downtown action during the day.

[dcluley98]

Sentinel site could be a gamechanger if it had the right plan. It would be the connector in between North Quarter, CV and the new projects on Livingston. 

If there were a grocery store or Urban Target type store there it would be ideal for a lot of residents in the area and soon to be in the U/C buildings. 

[Uncommon]

Something outdoorsy like an urban park would be amazing. Or a small market area. I would kill for something like a 3rd Street Promenade in LA.

[prahaboheme]

A 3rd Street Promenade could happen in Orlando — Magnolia.

It has been discussed, studied, discussed again, etc. 

[AmIReal]

From The Community Paper... CV Phase 1 will be complete with Luminary Green (Q4),EA (Q4) and Modera (Q2 22). I've started seeing plans for Phase 2 which may begin by summer next year.

https://www.yourcommunitypaper.com/articles/creative-village-nears-phase-i-completion/

[IAmFloridaBorn]

On 7/18/2021 at 8:04 PM, AmIReal said:

From The Community Paper... CV Phase 1 will be complete with Luminary Green (Q4),EA (Q4) and Modera (Q2 22). I've started seeing plans for Phase 2 which may begin by summer next year.

https://www.yourcommunitypaper.com/articles/creative-village-nears-phase-i-completion/

Interesting.

[spenser1058]

On 7/16/2021 at 1:20 PM, bqknight said:

I think it depends on which day you're downtown. A couple of weeks ago I was contemplating coming to the forum to say how nice it is to see people out and about downtown again during the work week. Today, however, was more dead. There's people, don't get me wrong, but not as bustling as I've seen it recently. 

South Eola is usually buzzing with people, no matter what day. There's always people around when you go outside and on the weekend, the crowd really picks up. 

People definitely seem to be moving/living in the apartments around downtown, Camden Thornton Park raised our rent, so we looked elsewhere, but availability is pretty tight and pricing is skyrocketing. 

I’m in town this weekend and as has often been the case lately, at 10am there are scads of pedestrians in Thornton Park/ South Eola, lots of cars along most of the grid and Publix at the Paramount is slammed. Of course, the farmers’ market attracts lots of attention but east of Rosalind seems to be the place to wander around downtown these days. 

A few more trees and more diversity in places to go (yes, Virginia, there are too many bars west of Rosalind unless you’re in the party ‘til you puke crowd - it reminds me of when the Brat Pack traded their bar for Bennigan’s at the end of St. Elmo’s Fire because they realized they were growing up) might be just the thing over there.

Edited July 25, 2021 by spenser1058

[AmIReal]

I thought I already posted this, but couldn't find it...  The City approved construction of the 3rd affordable housing project in CV. 190 unit directly behind the Julian.

https://www.wftv.com/news/local/orange-county/third-affordable-housing-parcel-approved-orlando/5BTZX5DDIBFKHGN62OX2BEMU4U/

[nite owℓ]

On 7/14/2021 at 1:56 PM, IAmFloridaBorn said:

Downtown Tampa is a ghost town. I never thought of Orlando's downtown to be a ghost town in the daytime. interesting perspective. 

Yeah my comment was a bit tongue in cheek, but I wouldn't describe our typical downtown activity as bustling if you know what I mean. "Where are all the people?" is a common remark from visitors expecting more from a downtown core. Sometimes I encounter more homeless people than residents on the street during off peak hours. Before a white knight comes rushing to defend downtown's virtue--we already know weekends/club/event nights are busy, but that's not what I'm talking about. I was hoping we'd experience the Arizona State University effect and have more bodies on the street much sooner after the opening of the Valencia/UCF, but as usual everything in DTO progresses at a snail's pace. Just my perspective as a downtown resident.

I keep hearing Tampa is a ghost town, but Hyde Park/Channelside and Ybor all seemed to have a similar amount of pedestrian activity as our downtown (at least when I visited years ago).

Edited July 27, 2021 by nite owℓ

[Uncommon]

8 minutes ago, nite owℓ said:

Yeah my comment was a bit tongue in cheek, but I wouldn't describe our typical downtown activity as bustling if you know what I mean. "Where are all the people?" is a common remark from visitors expecting more from a downtown core. Sometimes I encounter more homeless people than residents on the street during off peak hours. Before a white knight comes rushing to defend downtown's virtue--we already know weekends/club/event nights are busy, but that's not what I'm talking about. I was hoping we'd experience the Arizona State University effect and have more bodies on the street much sooner after the opening of the Valencia/UCF, but as usual everything in DTO progresses at a snail's pace. Just my perspective as a downtown resident.

I keep hearing Tampa is a ghost town, but Hyde Park/Channelside and Ybor all seemed to have similar pedestrian activity to our downtown (at least when I visited years ago).

I lived in Tampa for 3 years. Actually just went back two weeks ago. Tampa itself is not a ghost town at all. Generally, Ybor has good activity.  SoHo is usually packed with pedestrians. Hyde Park is hit or miss. Channelside is still dead based on what I saw. These areas are not in downtown though. Downtown Tampa was and still is a ghost town. I honestly do think people in that area just go to downtown St. Pete. I always did and ignored downtown Tampa because it’s boring.

If we are comparing the two downtowns, Orlando’s has much more activity on non-event days. 

[prahaboheme]

Despite new developments, Ybor seems to share a similar fate to downtown Orlando in that the nightlife scene really casts a seedy element over the district.  Actually, Ybor seems much worse because the daytime activity really thins out whereas downtown Orlando continues to function in other industries. Generally speaking, downtown Orlando is also much cleaner. I realize I’m not comparing apples to apples. 

Ybor has had so much potential for decades and never seems to get to another level in becoming a truly dynamic neighborhood despite its very strong bones.

[IAmFloridaBorn]

1 hour ago, Uncommon said:

I lived in Tampa for 3 years. Actually just went back two weeks ago. Tampa itself is not a ghost town at all. Generally, Ybor has good activity.  SoHo is usually packed with pedestrians. Hyde Park is hit or miss. Channelside is still dead based on what I saw. These areas are not in downtown though. Downtown Tampa was and still is a ghost town. I honestly do think people in that area just go to downtown St. Pete. I always did and ignored downtown Tampa because it’s boring.

If we are comparing the two downtowns, Orlando’s has much more activity on non-event days. 

I purposely bypass downtown Tampa to go to Downtown St. Pete when going to the Bay Area