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bobliocatt

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I don't know how having Fallchase Mall would lead to us becoming an Orlando. We've got no major tourist attractions! I wish we could get the tourism that Orlando gets, but its because of people like this that developers don't think we're ready for any excitement. The day will come when they'll shut up and let us grow up.

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Sad thing is, some people didn't and still don't want the downtown to change. I don't understand them. Typical southerners - resistant to change... fortunately there weren't enough of them to make a difference... its all about the new school of progressive people around here.

Careful with your generalizations. Look around and you'll see that southerners have endured more change more rapidly than most, certainly more than most move-down yankees. The desire to resist change and cling to that which is familiar is instinctively human. Not all change is good - 30 years ago Orlando was not much bigger than the Tallahassee area. I would not like to see beautiful Tallahassee end up developed like Central Florida, but it can happen and many southerners have seen it happen, bit by bit. Growth and change must be well-thought-out and managed.

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:D

The comment was intended to shake everyone up! Glad it worked! I like to get people talking... no matter what it takes.

Truth is, southern truly means nothing more than geography to me. If I were to categorize a person from Florida, I'd say Floridian... because there's no group for Floridians... we are a special people.

But I do agree with you Tallaman... we are experiencing a tremendous amount of growth in the South. What's great is we've got the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of northern cities, not to repeat them here locally.

I've at times had concerns about some of the old-school influence over the growth and development of Tallahassee however, most of that influence seems to be gone with the wind, replaced by a new front of progressive thinkers and creative ideas.

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The thing I find about Tallahassee, is the locals' perceptions. Since Tallahassee is the largest city for a good 100 miles, a lot of people up here think that its "soooo big" and that it shouldn't get any bigger, since it's already big enough for their tastes. They think Tally traffic is utter gridlock, for example.

Then, you have (mainly) college students from Tampa, O-town and "Mee-am-ee" who think this is the utter boondocks and that it's too small, and traffic is no problem at all.

In this day and age, and in Florida, it's hard for a city or urban area to grow. Environmental regulations, NIMBYs, and others. Tallahassee will grow, but I don't think it'll ever become another Tampa or Miami, because forces will prevent this from happening. I'd love to see Tally grow, and it will, but not to the extent that other places have.

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I'm from South Florida and I agree that some of the locals are very resistant to change. I was talking to someone the other day and they liked Tallahassee just the way it is. Frankly, I really don't like Tallahassee the way it is right now; I think of it as an over grown little town. (please don't stone me) There is little competition between most major retail stores, which causes poor service. The whole town closes at 9pm and God forbid you want to do anything on a Sunday! When I first moved here there was ONE 24-hour pharmacy. ONE! And I think that it opened soon after I got here. Though I have met many good people around here, I find the majority of the general population either arrogant (college students usually) or happily ignorant (stereotypical Southerners mentioned in this thread).

There are some good things about Tallahassee that I like though. The City of Tallahassee takes care of their residents. Most of the community centers are well kept and put to proper use. The city considers environmental concerns more than what I have observed down in south florida. And from what I have seen from this forum, they are going about developing this town in a methodical way, unlike in South Florida, where if you have the money to buy the land, you can build almost whatever you want on it.

End Rant

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I appreciate your rant, I think its healthy to share what you really feel.

Two questions for you:

When did you move to Tallahassee?

I ask because I've lived here nearly 18 years now and I can't remember a time when there was only 1 24-hour pharmacy. There have been several for as long as I can remember.

My second question is, are the people you refer to actually locals, or a mix of people you've happened to encounter while in school?

Because I too see the arrogance, especially on the campus of Florida State Univeristy. Locals get no respect on the college campuses here in our own city, and many of us suffer from an inferiority complex... I don't. I'm know far too much about Tallahassee and I am far too pround of this community to ever feel ashamed of it.

-------------------------------------------------

I too truly love what Tallahassee currently is, which is why I stayed here after graduating from high school. However, I love Tallahassee's potential most.

I can't allow myself to fall into a complacent state as this city looks toward the future. I always see room for improvement, in everything from the arrangement of my apartment, to the layout of this city. Tallahassee should always seek to remain competitve on every possible front. A friend of the environment, can still be an vibrant-economic oasis.

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I've been in Tallahassee since August 2002. I am a student, but I absolutely love this town! I'm from South Florida, but would never, ever move back down there. Not that I don't love it, but the people are rude, hostile and I'm hell bent on speaking the native tongue of America.

As a student, I have a circle of other students who are from other places. But I also know as many locals, since I also work at FSU, and have friends who are Tally natives. I know a lot of the South is backwards and unchanging, but people in Tally are smart and definitely not stupid. They're not inbred at all. I have a major pet peeve of students and other transplants bashing this town.

Not related, but have a co-worker who's a Blounstown native, and she told us this joke about this extremely hickish town nearby called Altha. What does an Altha girl say after having sex? "Move over Daddy, you're crushin' the cigarettes!".

Which proves not everyone is inbred!

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Not related, but have a co-worker who's a Blounstown native, and she told us this joke about this extremely hickish town nearby called Altha. What does an Altha girl say after having sex? "Move over Daddy, you're crushin' the cigarettes!".

OH My Garra! Thats terrible! :lol:

-----------------------------------------

I think its great you've been able to meet and make friends with so many different types of people. I wish there were more students around like yourself who would say such nice things about Tallahassee.

My thought is... if they're going to come to school here they obviously knew a little about the place before they came. No sane person moves to another city without doing a little homework.

Tallahassee is Tallahassee, not Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, Tampa, Atlanta, Chicago, or Savannah. They knew they before they arrived. The people who come here expecting this city to be something it's not and do nothing more than complain are the worst type of people to know. For the most part here, you can shop, dine, and be entertained much like you can in many other larger cities with few exceptions (we don't have theme parks or large bodies of water within the city limits).

I think its when people come together in constructive dialouge and share ideas is when great things start to happen. One of the greatest things about this community right now is its percieved renewed spirit. Everything seems fresher, brighter, more colorful now that we're focused on becoming a more vibrant city that offers its citizens, new and old, great opportunity.

My hope is we'll get to the point where more alumni of local colleges, successful local business men and women, and the government can all work together to create a job for everyone seeking to work here in town. Putting the right pieces of the puzzle together, Tallahassee is in the position to become the new talk of the southeast... I'm very happy its my home.

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I appreciate your rant, I think its healthy to share what you really feel.

Two questions for you:

When did you move to Tallahassee?

I ask because I've lived here nearly 18 years now and I can't remember a time when there was only 1 24-hour pharmacy. There have been several for as long as I can remember.

My second question is, are the people you refer to actually locals, or a mix of people you've happened to encounter while in school?

Because I too see the arrogance, especially on the campus of Florida State Univeristy. Locals get no respect on the college campuses here in our own city, and many of us suffer from an inferiority complex... I don't. I'm know far too much about Tallahassee and I am far too pround of this community to ever feel ashamed of it.

-------------------------------------------------

I too truly love what Tallahassee currently is, which is why I stayed here after graduating from high school. However, I love Tallahassee's potential most.

I can't allow myself to fall into a complacent state as this city looks toward the future. I always see room for improvement, in everything from the arrangement of my apartment, to the layout of this city. Tallahassee should always seek to remain competitve on every possible front. A friend of the environment, can still be an vibrant-economic oasis.

I moved to Tallahassee about four years ago for college (FSU) from West Palm Beach, Florida. Maybe there were more 24 hour pharmacies, but only one that I knew of was the Walgreens on Monroe. I applied and was accepted to FSU without visiting Tallahassee (my first choice was GA Tech, but money was an issue). But even so, visiting a place is alot different than living there.

The arrogrant people I am refering to are the transplant college students. Some of the college students up here have an idea that they are better than everyone else, especially the locals. I had a similar feeling when I frist got up here unfortunately. However, at working as an OPS for the state (in Innovation Park, in case you were curious) I saw a different side of the locals that most college students don't see.

The 'happily ignorant' people are those locals that like Tallahassee just the way it is and don't really want to change it. These people in some ways scare me because like you, I believe there is always room for improvement. These people realize that there could be better things out there, but for some reason (laziness, fear, stubborness, etc) they rather stay just how they are.

This board has done alot to change my views of Tallahassee. I am still considering moving out of here (more out of the south than out of Tallahassee), but if for some reason I have to stay here, it doesn't seem to be the doom that I thought when I graduated in the spring. Even before I discovered this board, there were alot of things I like about Tallahassee. I like the fact that there are so many hardwoods scattered though out town. In South Florida, all you have is spiney pine trees. I love the brick buildings that dominate most of Tallahassee. I am so sick of pink stucco.

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The arrogrant people I am refering to are the transplant college students. Some of the college students up here have an idea that they are better than everyone else, especially the locals. I had a similar feeling when I frist got up here unfortunately. However, at working as an OPS for the state (in Innovation Park, in case you were curious) I saw a different side of the locals that most college students don't see.

I've bumped into them more than I would like. Those people who will shout out loud to the top of their lungs, "Tallahassee Sucks, There's nothing to do here!" Well by golly, why are you here?!

When I graduated from high school I actually had a choice of any place in Florida to go to school and I chose to stay home because I'm comfortable here - I love it here. I assume the same is the case for the transplanted students who feel the need to bash my home constantly... if they wanted a cement jungle why not choose the Miami area, Orlando, or Tampa? They chose to come to Tallahassee, and like I always say, when life throws you lemons, make lemonade. If all of those who complained would turn their little piece of Tallahassee into something special, this would be a much more exciting city to explore. My only request is that they try to make a difference before they complain, try to see something outside of the college circle, get a job (like you said) join a church, visit one of our Capital Area Beaches just to see how different they are, go fishing, go hiking, go biking, enjoy a park, visit one of our tons of museums... do something! I think its fairly obvious to just about everyone that this isn't a big city or metro region, but do well with what little we have wouldn't you agree?

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The 'happily ignorant' people are those locals that like Tallahassee just the way it is and don't really want to change it. These people in some ways scare me because like you, I believe there is always room for improvement. These people realize that there could be better things out there, but for some reason (laziness, fear, stubborness, etc) they rather stay just how they are.

To these happily ignorant people I say, Its one thing to be peacefully happy with your surroundings, but this is the attitude which is the root of the crisis of complacency that we're recovering from. Tallahassee lost the charm it had in the early 1900s because its people became complacent thinking things would always stay the same, yet in the process this city was surpassed by other cities much smaller in size, and left to now play catch up.

Tallahassee doesn't have to be a big city to be a unique great city. Quite frankly, I don't want to compete with the big city traffic, crime, and higher cost of living index... I just want high paying jobs for our people, good entertainment, a nice skyline, great shopping, and to continue to provide the best quality of life we can give a family. None of that can be done if we stay the same forever, because if we're doing it the best now, someone will catch on and do it better. We've always got to be working on improving our game.

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Its one thing to be peacefully happy with your surroundings, but this is the attitude which is the root of the crisis of complacency that we're recovering from. Tallahassee lost the charm it had in the early 1900s because its people became complacent thinking things would always stay the same, yet in the process this city was surpassed by other cities much smaller in size, and left to now play catch up.

Tallahassee doesn't have to be a big city to be a unique great city. Quite frankly, I don't want to compete with the big city traffic, crime, and higher cost of living index... I just want high paying jobs for our people, good entertainment, a nice skyline, great shopping, and to continue to provide the best quality of life we can give a family. None of that can be done if we stay the same forever, because if we're doing it the best now, someone will catch on and do it better. We've always got to be working on improving our game.

In terms of skyline, are you looking to have a skyline about the size of Columbia's? They are a similarly sized city with a nice skyline for its population.

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Well... not exactly Columbia...

I figure once the projects currently under construction are completed, we won't be far from what they've got (at least according to some of the pictures I've seen.)

The bounaries of the skyline are already defined in my opinion:

skylineboundaries.jpg

The redlines basically outline what I think would make for a perfectly sized downtown and allow room for density given proper building placement, and height.

Hartford, Austin, Birmingham, and Little Rock have impressive downtowns to me. If I had to set a long term goal, it would be to build one comprable to those. A downtown with good density, nicely designed buildings, without the feeling of chasing a never-ending rainbow.

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Hartford, Austin, Birmingham, and Little Rock have impressive downtowns to me. If I had to set a long term goal, it would be to build one comprable to those.

Though I think that those are good goals and so on, I would like to point out that, while most of these cities would make good comparisons, Austin is about 5 times bigger than Tallahassee.

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Birmingham is larger also... and off the top of my head I would say Little Rock too... I don't think that matters.

While that is true, Austin is significantly larger than the others (as in several hundred thousand).

Birminham has about 80,000 on Tally and Little Rock has only about 30,000 on Tallahassee.

Edited by ironchapman
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I'm well aware of the population differences, my focus was on the quality of the skyline. My point being, Austin has a skyline that many cities should respect and admire. I know I do... and yes, Austin is MUCH larger than all of the other cities mentioned here. A city doesn't have to have the same population as another city in order to have a comparable skyline. I'm sure you've seen examples of this on Urban Planet. Its a goal I'm setting, nothing is wrong with setting goals buddy.

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I'm well aware of the population differences, my focus was on the quality of the skyline. My point being, Austin has a skyline that many cities should respect and admire. I know I do... and yes, Austin is MUCH larger than all of the other cities mentioned here. A city doesn't have to have the same population as another city in order to have a comparable skyline. I'm sure you've seen examples of this on Urban Planet. Its a goal I'm setting, nothing is wrong with setting goals buddy.

I know, I know :ph34r::ph34r:

I was just thinking along the lines of population differences, but I do agree with you about skylines :)

I didn't mean to be hostile about it. :)

Edited by ironchapman
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Not to mention the population growth rate differences... i mean, by the time buildings are built we need more... its nice. IF it is sustained (smart people seem to be planning this well enough) we will be comparable in population in two decades, but our DT hopefully will include more dense resedential to presserve the place. Smart planning to help a young city learn from others.

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I agree. One of my girlfriend's chief concerns is that Tallahassee may become "too big". She's from South Florida and doesn't want us to become what she is trying to get away from. I agree with her, but at the same time I try to help her understand that we have to reach a threshold before we can talk about slowing down. Downtown is where Tallahassee's future should be... students, politicians, retirees, singles, and young couples living amongst one another in a diverse neighborhood. As JPL likes to say the 3Ds, Density, Diversity, and Design... we sure could use a heaping bunch of all three ingredients.

Imagine looking outside the window of your Downtown Tallahassee apartment at people dining at street level, or a man and woman reading their news paper on their 4th story patio overlooking the street.

Imagine you can wake up 15 minutes before work and get there on time without a car.

Imagine a hospital in the center of the city or a bakery on every corner. Imagine that book store just down the block or the library across the street....

Our downtown sure has tons of potential. I know this wave of projects currently under construction with be the catalyst for what will drive the development of this city for the next 20-30 years.

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WCTV reported about the Temple that burnt down off appalachee pkwy, threatening to cancel thier holiday celebrations... but my alma got thier backs...

"Temple members say after reports about the fire, they received numerous calls and offers to allow them to use different locations for their Diwali celebration. In the end it was Swift Creek Middle School to the rescue."

Wolf Pack be-otches

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