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Downtown Orlando Project Discussion


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With the current funding - they could only run it every 20 minutes peak and 30 minutes off peak...versus the other LYMMO lines which run every 5 minute peak and 10-15 minute off peak.

Certainly it could be increased with a dedicated source of funding but would you ride it in the meantime even if you had to plan your outing downtown within 20-30 minutes depending on time? It would still theoretically run until at least midnight

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Okay.

 

If you are at the Chase Plaza looking north on Orange Ave (sorry, no photos), Crescent and Residence Inn both stick up over the streetscape with Camden inbetween.  Low-rise-wise, they do make a nice dense visual impact.  Granted, if they were a minimum of 12 stories each or greater it would be better, but, at least they do a good job of filling in along Orange Ave.

 

Once Lexington Court tops off, as you drive on I-4, you will "feel' greater density downtown.

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^^

Even without a convention center, look at the list of hotels downtown has (and to the near-in north and south):

1.  Grand Bohemian (Orange & South)

2.  Doubletree (Orange & Ivanhoe)

3.  Aloft (Orange & Anderson)

4.  Embassy Suites (Central & Rosalind)

5.  Renaissance (u/c; renovation of former Marriott/Sheraton)

6.  Courtyard by Marriott (Orange & Park Lake)

7.  Residence Inn (u/c; Orange & Colonial)

8.  Crowne Plaza (Hughey & Colonial)

9.  Hampton Inn (u/c; Columbia/ ORHS)

10.  Comfort Suites (Orange & Rollins (FH South))

 

New Proposals:

11.  Hyatt Place- proposed for South St. & Garland;

12.  Amway proposal for entertainment complex

13.  RIDA hotel proposal for Phase II or III

14.  ORHS hotel at Doc's

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Also multiple B&Bs - EOInn on Eola above Panera and I think one on Summerlin ( Veranda?).

My wedding reception was held at the Dr Phillips House at Lake Lucerne - great B/B though there are weekends there every weekend but they have multiple buildings and would be a prime place to stay if attending a show at DPAC

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I think Ms. Lauten and her committee are on to something. Slowing traffic down on orange will not only benefit pedestrians but also allow those who would otherwise fly through downtown at 30mph to take notice of what's around them (see restaurants, architecture, etc) and hopefully stop or come back. Also she mentioned the possibility of making magnolia closed to cars. This too could make for a very interesting feature in downtown. Imagine that street with more trees and green space which would hopefully attract restaurants and outdoor cafe style patios.

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The news about reworking downtown streets like Orange, Rosalind and Robinson is huge. I've lived in several Southern cities (Tampa, Jax, Atlanta, Nashville) over the past 30 years and the reason I've always come back to downtown Orlando is because in fits and starts we were building one of the most walkable cores in the region. This is the ultimate piece signifying that the automobile is no longer king because we're actually downsizing the space that autos can inhabit.

 

Quite literally (and because the retail piece is still lacking I have to do most of my shopping online), I have reached the point where I do not use my car at all anymore except for work off International Drive (light rail would have taken care of that, but Mel Martinez and Clarence Hoenstine dropped the ball on that some years ago - SunRail is our consolation prize). Whether it's going to Publix, the Y, OPL, church, drinking at the Celt or dining, I am in easy walking distance. I have used Lymmo to get to Carr for the Phil - I won't need to do that to reach DPAC. In fact, I wonder if the very walkable placement of DPAC might lead to a new trend among the boomers - wearing sensible shoes to the theatre!

 

All of the discussions of us vs. Tampa and various other cities are of a piece - Orlando has really moved out front about creating a walkable space for central Floridians. Now we get to see if people will really use it - based on the crowds downtown lately, I'm more hopeful than I ever was when we first started working on downtown back in the early '80s.

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This is certainly big for a city so notorious for the reliance on cars. Magnolia would do very well as a full pedestrian, IMO, so much potential in this stretch. This could be a great shopping district for Orlando with the Dr Phillips Center on one end and various important points along the way up to the courthouse. I was looking at a layout of Lincoln Road in South Beach, and the main pedestrian zone between Washington Ave and Alton Rd is roughly the same distance from Anderson St to Robinson St, a little over half a mile. There are quite a few beautiful, historic buildings and important points along the way. I'm just wondering if and how LYMMO will be rerouted to accommodate Magnolia strictly pedestrian.

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This is a huge opportunity. 

 

1) Move Lymmo from Magnolia to Rosalind

2) Turn Rosalind and Orange into two-way streets from Uptown all the way to Lucerne (create a roundabout at Lucerne where Robinson / Orange merge to ease any congestion there and slow traffic through South Orange)

3) Turn Magnolia into a pedestrian mall akin to Lincoln Rd and aggressively court retail / restaurant opportunities

 

Edit:  Correction -- Rosalind.

Edited by prahaboheme
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^You mean Rosalind?

 

 

Problem with Magnolia has too many existing buildings are breaking up the continuity of restaurants and retail (churches, history center, library, att bulding, post office).  None of them could be repurposed to even give a partial effect of Lincoln Rd.

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Here's a photo I snapped today of the Residence Inn that ate Mama B's.

Discussion point: A friend that runs the WalkableWPB blog responded with this - look familiar? Did Mama B save us/delay us from getting a more obviously auto centric design?

http://walkablewpb.com/2014/09/24/parking-lot-architecture-in-downtown-west-palm-beach/

post-23163-0-87268800-1415231584_thumb.j

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Problem with Magnolia has too many existing buildings are breaking up the continuity of restaurants and retail (churches, history center, library, att bulding, post office).  None of them could be repurposed to even give a partial effect of Lincoln Rd.

 

Even if they took Magnolia and turned into a bike/pedestrian/woonerf situation, it would be a great addition to the urban trail and provide another place for hosting things like the Creative City Project, Halloween, New Year's, etc. 

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While I love the idea of turning Magnolia into a Lincoln Road type of pedestrian mall, I think it's a bit unrealistic at this point in Downtown Orlando's adolescence, unfortunately. As FLHeat mentioned, there are too many obstacles that would get in the way of a continuous flow of retail along Magnolia. Between the different civic buildings, churches, major intersections, useless spaces like the old AT&T building, redirecting Lymmo and luring retail which is already reluctant to set up shop in downtown, I just think it will be too difficult to pull off successfully right now.

 

That said, I'd love to see Magnolia turned into a open-air "restaurant row" between Church St. and Central. The location would be so central to the work crowd, downtown residents, theater- and club-goers. Then once those 2 blocks are bustling, perhaps the concept could be expanded up Magnolia and incorporate some retail.

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