eurokie

I think if the MLS is smart, Detroit is by far their best expansion option. Large, growing Hispanic population... strong local sports culture... natural rivalries with Chicago and Columbus... so much energy and enthusiasm right now.

The Pizzuti proposal, to me, is truer to Pizzuti's brand than just that of Arquitechtonica. It's actually a very unique design for that firm, which almost never uses brick. I love it because it's the blending of their pizazz with Columbus' dominant neoclassical aesthetic. It belongs, but it elevates. I also chuckled when I read your prediction based on the parking. You're probably right there, and that's a shame that their strength isn't their elegant design, but rather the sheer volume of proposed parking. :roll: If a domineering office tower, no matter how beautiful, is built on this site - especially one without parking - I will give all of Park Street 4 years before every last bar with character is replaced with parking garages. They will first start with Brother's, and people will say "oh it's just this one, and Brother's was never that good anyway, and the building isn't that unique" and then one by one, the rest of Park Street will fall like dominoes. I have always loved these intimate, human-scale streets wedged between more towering properties. Gay Street is kind of like this. If Wood proposed their tower on Gay Street, let's say on the site of the Modern Finance Bldg and Tiptop, that proposal would have ALL of the same supporters. They would say why on earth preserve some small junky old buildings when we could have this magnificent tower. Yet those "junky old buildings" on Park Street and Gay Street are superior to almost all of downtown, meanwhile the truly perfect sites for skyscrapers on 3rd and 4th remain as surface parking lots operated by Schottenstein. I find there to be tremendous value in declaring certain parts of the core off-limits for high-rise development. If you want skyscrapers on those 3rd and 4th parking lots, declare the North Market off-limits for towers, and they'll naturally end up where they do belong instead. I also think it's a very good thing that Columbus is churning out some really solid, walkable, mid-rise urban fabric right now. No point in throwing the baby out with the bath water.

I am very interested in the Pizzuti proposal. I am already concerned about Park Street going high-rise, and adding a 35-story tower to the North Market will endanger every non-significant historic building for future high-rises, especially as height pressure is spilling over from the Short North. Wood's tower proposal would be perfect for 3rd or 4th, but absolutely not the North Market. For what it's worth, I really like the neoclassical modern aesthetic of Wood's new builds. I think Pizzuti needs to upgrade the street-level in their proposal, but otherwise I think their project fits best. I love the design that's basically a high-rise version of the Joseph. Reminds me of a lot of developments in Rotterdam, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Tallinn, et al. My impression of the proposals: Casto - too plastic-looking, but probably the best concept Kaufman - best design, not a big enough proposal Flaherty - carbon copy of one of their Indy projects Wood - the iconic Class A tower Columbus is screaming for, on the wrong site Pizzuti - the best overall mix of high design, context, concept, and just enough height

Good, glad to be wrong on that.

Nice visualization. What is the seven-story building proposed on the Topiary Park? Hadn't heard of that. I also don't think the green site is going to happen. That developer had zero urban development experience - they clearly just wanted to tear down the bldg and see if the land became any more valuable for speculation, so they submitted a "proposal." Really big fan of the townhouses though. Great way to provide some ideal park frontage while also screening the parking structure. I hope development targets the yellow blocks shown above and not the existing old apartments surrounding the Library. That stock of hundreds of cheap, basic urban walk-up apartments can never be replaced once its gone. With just a little bit of high-end infill, adding something complimentary to the mix, this pocket could become downtown's first real "neighborhood."

I too am curious to see how Cleveland shined during the RNC spectacle, either from the lens of locals or national media.

Columbus just recently hit 2 million and is one of the fastest growing metros in the northern US, not surprising that they jumped on it. I think the Cleveland location should go on the Opportunity Corridor and that the city should find a way to procure some empowerment/enterprise zone monies, New Markets Tax Credits, income and corporate tax rebates, and any other applicable incentives. Then the city should find a way to connect such a site, perhaps using some of the aforementioned funding sources, to the RTA rail lines that parallel the Opportunity Corridor. I don't think IKEA typically works with such complicated financing, BUT they'd get a lot of credit for joining the rust belt revival story of Cleveland, and that kind of financing would be needed to shield themselves from some of the financial risk they might initially fear.

Washington, Tennessee, and Wisconsin tailgate on boats in a body of water (Lake Union, Cumberland River, Lake Mendota). At Ole Miss, tailgating is concentrated to one quad on campus that's become famous for legendary tailgating. I really wish our tailgating wasn't just in parking lots, which I see as a lame vestige of typical no-frills B1G Ten football. It's 2016 and football is all about the frills, or else it's boring.

I'm also hearing that the block to the east is potentially in play. I also take the above comments to mean mixed-use for the historic Dispatch bldg specifically. I think they're going to pretend they need the attached parking to support the mixed-use until a larger solution for parking presents itself, in which case, the parking lot is available for development.

I've been there once with live music, maybe when they first started, and it was just about the most awkward thing I've ever experienced. Then again, it might have been the date I was on. But the music was unexpected on like a Thursday and the place was pretty empty.

What makes you think that about Uber? I agree that Columbus is just delaying the inevitable. It will elect to do LRT, once it becomes prohibitively expensive, after being left behind by Cincy, Cleveland, Indy, Detroit, Pittsburgh, etc. Generally Columbus is overly enthralled by auto-oriented infill. I think generally the city is comprised of decently walkable pockets, but they are all disconnected. There is a real opportunity to connect each of these pockets (strengthening weaker areas like between OSU and the Short North) with mass transit that acts as a "pedestrian-extender." High Street and US 23 alone have a dozen or so walkable nodes.

I agree. I think we need an indoor bus terminal.

Great pics! Blue Ridge Mountains > water

I have a huge soft spot for the Alcoa Building. And all of this. As for these chaffing at the separated bike lane, I understand that getting it was extremely arduous. That said, Pittsburgh has the 2nd highest % increase in bike commuting, after only DC I believe...

Great shots indeed. Station Square looks cool - but you totally don't notice it from the actual station on the T.

Byron Scott lived in 668 for a while.

This might be a dumb question, but why does the burn in period need to be so long? 500km just seems like a lot (to this uneducated observer). Also why is it 500 km... and not 300 miles? This is 'Murricah..

Point taken, although a single track could make a center island much more nimble, although you'd need platforms on both sides.

The one in Columbus is fantastic. All the vegans and granola heads of Clintonville go there.

Dual-track.. edit: I've also always wondered if there was a way streetcar systems could just implement "passing tracks" every half-mile or so, although one thing I've learned about train crashes is that if there is a way, it will happen...

Two things. I agree that a direct connection on its own transit-and-ped-only bridge would be the best way to close the loop, and the Brent Spence Bridge project could be a good funding mechanism for that, depending on what happens there. Also, existing residential density and transit-based commuting trips are currently heaviest farther south. It's also the best ROW for transit, which will probably be a challenge anywhere else. That's Nick Ian Emenhiser's (Twitter) work. Wow that guy must be a real moron.. :-o :shoot:

Yeah, Tulsa is a Great Plains city. There is a big difference between the Great Plains and the rest of the "Midwest". Omaha, Lincoln, Kansas City, etc. are similar. Iowa feels like the crossover to me. The eastern Iowa city of Davenport feels like an inland Midwestern river city, while the western part of Iowa feels more Great Plains (Des Moines feels Great Plains). There is a desolate feeling in that part of the country...Nebraska seems to capture it best, but I've never been to Oklahoma. I bet it's comparable, just warmer. Not sure the purpose of this very long post, but this is the problem you get into when you define regions qualitatively and not objectively, and then admit you've never been there. Also - the "Great Plains" is not a region. Oklahoma is either Midwestern, Southern, or Southwestern. You can't just create a junk drawer for it and Nebraska - no geographer does this. However, very salient point here. I have always thought you could easily just take a city's population today, divide it by its 1940 population, and that's the portion of that city that is "urban core." I can see 1930, I could also see 1950, although that's getting pretty borderline. I think even in the 40s these cities were building interesting communities - a lot of late Art Deco, prime mid-century, and early modernism. Never knew that, but I guess that's why they're called the Royals... :roll: Don't tell that to Dallas or Minneapolis.

What's interesting is the lack of ANY new development aside from the Warren Theater, which is a gem. Best theater chain in the nation, by far.

Looks like Upstate is doing better than most of rural America..

Nice pics! It looks like Hilo once rivaled Honolulu - I'm guessing Hilo sprung up after Pearl Harbor was established?