How would you make Orlando Better?

[alex]

The Valencia Film Celebration (April 1 and 2, 2011) is comprised of films that VCC students have worked on. It is not a film festival in the sense that they accept submissions from outside sources. Full Sail and UCF students regularly have their short films showcased at the Enzian Film Slam which runs every month except December when the winners from the year screen at the Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase along with shorts from other indie and student filmmakers. The latest news regarding the Film Slam - Vestiges Wins March Film Slam

On a side note, FSU has one of the best film schools in the country.

Cool, thanks for the info.

- Retrofit the ailing Fashion Square Mall into the East Orlando Community Center. It is already starting to move away from a retail mall and putting in more services and even office space. Why not add the Herndon branch of the Library and Post Office? Add buildings along Colonial in front of the mall and then into the mall parking lot. It has more than it needs and it has a garage. This would also serve to better connect Baldwin Park to downtown.

I've been to the mall a dozen times over the past few years I've lived here and just last week saw that it had a parking garage. I agree, they should stress the parking garage (it has what, two connecting walkways into the mall?) and redevelop some of the parking lot space bordering Colonial. It's a pretty nice area compared to a lot of Colonial (i.e. actually has trees).

Public art: Don't forget The Leaper in front of the Orange County building on Rosalind near Church. Look for it next time you're there in traffic!

Speaking of public art, I really like what they put on the side of the Geico garage by the new Amway. Nice way to fill up a blank wall without resorting to giant panels.

[cloudship]

So one of the industries that Orlando is trying to attract (as are several other cities) is the game design industry. Orlando has Full Sail going for it here, but here's a question - what kind of environment do game designers like? Some industries tend to pop up in certain types of environments. For instanc4e architecture firms, at least the higher end ones, really look for the vibrant city environment. Graphic design, I find, likes the urban environment too, but they like the more creative neighborhoods. Biotech, on the other hand, seems to like the more rural areas, but want fairly easy access to the city. The larger computer companies, however, seem much more likely to want a suburban campus. If you were involved in the game design industry, what type of place would you want to live and work in?

[aent]

So one of the industries that Orlando is trying to attract (as are several other cities) is the game design industry. Orlando has Full Sail going for it here, but here's a question - what kind of environment do game designers like? Some industries tend to pop up in certain types of environments. For instanc4e architecture firms, at least the higher end ones, really look for the vibrant city environment. Graphic design, I find, likes the urban environment too, but they like the more creative neighborhoods. Biotech, on the other hand, seems to like the more rural areas, but want fairly easy access to the city. The larger computer companies, however, seem much more likely to want a suburban campus. If you were involved in the game design industry, what type of place would you want to live and work in?

And UCF's video game graduate school as well, which was ranked #2 in the nation by princeton review this year which will be a part of he creative village... I think video game designers are similar to graphic design as far as lifestyle tastes...

[bulldogger]

Don't forget that Tiburon Studios (EA) was in town before these schools figured out that gaming was something that needed to be taught (UCF had simulation in place, but it was used solely for military). Also, DAVE School on the backlot of Universal Studios teaches animation for film and gaming. Vicon Entertainment is the mocap studio in downtown next to UCF's FIEA. FIEA's program has spurred off a couple companies downtown for gaming, but they really only seem to produce educational "gaming" versus the gaming that we think of when you say the word. Consoles and PC action/adventure... just sayin'.

So no matter what you think of when it comes to what Orlando needs to produce a "gaming industry" environment, Tiburon was here first. They already made the choice of Orlando. Perhaps, the question to be asked is what is it about Orlando that made them choose this area. Maybe the other cities trying to lure gaming companies are trying to be like Orlando.

[Jernigan]

Aren't they in Maitland? Maybe it's Kappys?

[bulldogger]

Technically, they are in Maitland (as well as Kappys), but they are in metro Orlando. Kinda like saying that Harvard is in Boston when it technically is in Cambridge.

[palmtree73]

Trying to keep this thread going, I really wonder how you could tap into the Full Sail student population. There is where I see the most creative potential, but it is kind of out there on its own. How do you bring that downtown? Baring that, how could you create a kind of student based neighborhood. What kind of neighborhood would game designers and graphic artists like anyways?

I think the type of neighborhood game designers and graphic artists like are places with cheap housing, which is why stereotypically you find a lot of creative types in industrial, grungy areas of cities. They have the vision to see past the grit and see an opportunity to create a suitable work or living environment. I'm not entirely sold on the Creative Village because it's an area that technically doesn't even exist right now with the opportunities for it to grow organically one building at a time. Honestly, the city is trying to create readymade office space and saying, "Now go over to this special office park and be creative so we can gentrify this part of town."

The Creative Village may work, but the price has to be right. If the words "boutique hotel" show up on the site plan, then it's over.

[alex]

Something I read said that there will be mixed-income housing at Creative Village. Not sure if that includes regular, cheap apartments or only Section 8 housing. Hopefully this will attract both students and exiting Parramore residents to the area, as well as creative professionals. At the same time, I think they're going for high-paid video game programmers rather than struggling artists.

Continuing with what would make Orlando better, I would say more affordable housing. I realize developers don't want to buy expensive downtown land to build something with low revenue, but it's either "luxury" or far from downtown. I think Mills/50 or South Orange would do well with a couple of 3 - 4 story apartment buildings at street level (not in gated parking lots). Nothing fancy, just some studios and 1-2 bedroom apartments. I think a lot of people (including me) don't mind using a common washer/dryer, not having a pool, and not having a doorman/security if it means paying less but still being close to downtown. St. Regis on Church Street is a good example: not super nice, but fairly priced and a great location. I guess the challenge in that is keeping the wrong crowd from moving in...

[bulldogger]

Alex, I think these types of developments would start sprouting up near SoDo and just north of that area if and when we get commuter rail since a station will be close by.

[prahaboheme]

In the next boom I hope to see more incremental infill projects similar to Osceola Brownstones and Eola South. Some of the proposed but never built projects for Uptown were just what the area needed to bring scale and intimacy to the neighborhood. Too bad we didn't get a few of those off the ground while they were proposed.

[cloudship]

I think the type of neighborhood game designers and graphic artists like are places with cheap housing, which is why stereotypically you find a lot of creative types in industrial, grungy areas of cities. They have the vision to see past the grit and see an opportunity to create a suitable work or living environment. I'm not entirely sold on the Creative Village because it's an area that technically doesn't even exist right now with the opportunities for it to grow organically one building at a time. Honestly, the city is trying to create readymade office space and saying, "Now go over to this special office park and be creative so we can gentrify this part of town."

The Creative Village may work, but the price has to be right. If the words "boutique hotel" show up on the site plan, then it's over.

Building on that then, where would you think a creative village would work? Not talking about a crafts village or overblown crafts fair, but a real creative zone where you have not only the gallerys and restaurants, but housing, creative offices, small businesses, etc?

[go_vertical]

^^ I think the location in Parramore where it is planned is a great spot. It's essentially a blank canvas.

In my opinion a creative, artist-centric neighborhood is not so much about location as opposed to what it consists of. Is it vibrant? Did it develop in an organic manner? Is it a place people want to stop and hang out in? Even if those people don't necessarily live there. Two things that are an absolute must for this neighborhood is open space and plenty of gathering places. The best thing for a creative mind is contact with other creative minds.

One thing I fear is how will this be executed. Now, I'm not saying this thing isn't going to work, but I just have trouble believing it will be a true "creative village". What city leaders are wanting to build is something that is typically developed over time by multiple developers. What I would like to see, instead of one developer constructing the whole thing, is for the city to assign a project manager of sorts to oversee the process and have a few different developers create their own block. Multiple smaller projects working in conjunction with a "mini" master plan for this district. Maybe a plan like this would result in a neighborhood that has cohesiveness yet has a more organic instead of a planned look.

I know this development is supposed to be geared towards tech-oriented arts such as game development and computer graphics, but work in both of those professions typically start as sketches and drawings. Why pigeonhole this project by not providing space for all aspects of the arts. Artist studios, recording studios, heck even dance studios. At least half of the residential units should be VERY affordable. And that would be easy too. Construct open floor lofts complete with minimal partition walls, concrete floors, and exposed ceilings and let the artist that will soon call it home finish it off.

I'm confident this thing will be quite nice when it's complete, but in order for a new, planned community to give off a creative, vibrant vibe then the city's and the developer's mindset need to change for this project because I just don't quite feel they are going to get it right.

[palmtree73]

Building on that then, where would you think a creative village would work? Not talking about a crafts village or overblown crafts fair, but a real creative zone where you have not only the gallerys and restaurants, but housing, creative offices, small businesses, etc?

I actually think there's already a creative zone that encompasses the area from Loch Haven/Fla. Hospital campus to Colonial/Mills. There are quite a few art galleries, ad agencies, publishers/printers mixed in with interior designers, antique stores, furniture makers, architectural firms, and eclectic dining/bar choices and even Orlando Ballet. Virginia Ave. from Orange to Mills feels like ground zero for the creative community because it has everything from light industrial warehouse space to small storefronts. The planned bike trail and mixed-use project at Virginia/Mills will be a huge anchor.

The Creative Village just feels out of the flow of regular traffic into and out of downtown. I can't tell from the early plans if they're planning on punching Edgewater Drive across Colonial, but that would be huge for connectivity. For housing, if UCF establishes dorms in the area, that would be an automatic boon for attracting a certain demographic. I like the idea of not having one developer build everything; especially if Baker Barrios is involved. If Baker builds the Village out, it'll be a bunch of bland office park buildings with funny hats on top. Sorry, I couldn't resist a dig at Orlando's "leading" architectural firm.

I hope the Creative Village works. I'm in the creative field myself and would like to see more job opportunities in this city. I'm just afraid that some non-creative types (read: politicians and bankers) sat through a seminar with Richard Florida and half listened to what he said.

[alex]

Wow, I hope we something similar to this in Creative Village:

FSU, studio expand plans for digital animation college in West Palm Beach

This should've been Orlando!

[bulldogger]

Why should that be in Orlando? FSU's Film School is in another league from anything Orlando can offer and Digital Domain is based in WPB.

[alex]

I didn't know about Digital Domain, that's a good point. But I think this would've be an amazing first piece to Creative Village's plan (wishful thinking). However, the article did say students would still have to take gen-eds either at FSU in Tallahassee or transfer over from another school, so why not partner up with UCF or even Valencia? Orlando's centrally located between Tallahassee and the media industry in South Florida. Also, I just really like the building...

[jack]

Orlando is logical and may come to fruition.

[cloudship]

I am not sure this really would help significantly. It's a nice building - so what?

Even if it were filled with film students, it's still planned in a way that they are all enclosed in their glass and steel cocoon, and at the end of their school day they hop in their cars and drive away. ou dont need a building, you need an environment.