Elements of Urbanism: Tallahassee

[Taurean]

That Marriott Project is dead. The Civic Center Authority continues to look for a way to get out of the arrangement they entered into with the developer of the now dead Marriott Convention Center project without the penalty of defaulting on the contract.

Meanwhile, the City of Tallahassee is preparing an RFP process for another convention center which they hope to see built on a lot just south of the Civic Center, with frontage along Gaines St. If all goes as planned, this future hotel will be bordered by the Civic Center to the North, and the Performing Arts Center to the east.

[thelakelander]

How large will this proposed convention center be?  Will it require the demolition of the shops on Gaines just east of Railroad Avenue?

[I-10east]

I'm glad that Tally ain't "messin up" their city with that STUPID beach art-deco crap that unfortunately Jax currently have DT; Tally is settin' the standards on how a Northern Florida city should look, and it's NOT following behind 305's crap. Great tour; I gotta check out Tally one of these days; Hopefully on a "dream scenario" lotto run.__

[DemocraticNole]

As someone who grew up in Tallahassee and went to FSU, I have to clarify a few things.

1) Apalachee Pkwy. was not designed to hide the "issues with the current capitol building. Apalachee Pkwy. was constructed in 1957/58, long before the new capitol was built. Here is a look from 1962: http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/displayphoto.cfm?IMGURL=http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/DOT/dot1176.jpg&IMGTEXT=[Capitol%20building%20from%20Apalachee%20Parkway%20:%20Tallahassee,%20Florida]%20[graphic]&IMGTITLE=Dot1176 Here is what it looked like before Apalachee was built in 1953, when it was Lafayette St./Perry Hwy that approached the capitol: http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/displayphoto.cfm?IMGURL=http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/slade/sl03063a.jpg&IMGTEXT[Looking%20west%20on%20Perry%20Highway%20toward%20the%20capitol%20:%20Tallahassee,%20Florida%20]%20[graphic]&IMGTITLE=SL03063A

2) Gaines Street has never really been an obstacle cutting off downtown from anything. It use to be a two lane road back in the 50's with parallel parking on it. They took out the parallel spaces and added two more travel lanes in the 60's because of increased traffic volume. I worked at the Department of Education building right on Gaines and Bronough and it is not difficult to cross the street. Gaines Street is the focus of revitalization efforts which want to reduce the capacity of the road to two lanes with angled parking and make it a shopping and nightlife destination potentially similar to what you guys in Jax see with San Marco or Five Points.

Some other historical tidbits:

-The route of I-10 was originally slated to go down the current path of Gaines St. through downtown and was dubbed the Seminole Exwy. The university along with some downtown land owners pitched a fit about it. Land was eventually donated north of town near Killearn, which is where the current route exists.

-Leon County Public Schools were not integrated until 1970.

-The city will always be somewhat limited on what they can construct downtown due to Leon County Codes. The county has a code which say that no building in the county may be taller than the capitol building. This obviously restricts what can be built downtown. The county also loses a lot of tax revenue from downtown because of the state office buildings which they are not allowed to collect property taxes on.

As far as the consolidation votes, typically the reason they have failed has to do with the function of law enforcement. The last consolidation effort would have gotten rid of the sheriff's office and made TPD in charge of enforcing the whole county. This was not a popular move, because the sheriff's office has always been viewed more favorably by residents, due to their professionalism and courtesy, something TPD often lacks. If you ever dealt with both, you would probably agree. However, the police department is unionized, which makes it difficult to get rid of since the LCSO is not.

Tallahassee has made great strides in downtown, but has problems similar to other areas. Downtown is not really a sustainable place to live as of yet. One still has to get in a car and leave downtown if they wish to buy groceries or shop. There are a few bars downtown, but nightlife is for the most part limited.

Let me know if you guys have any additional questions and I will be happy to answer them. I am pretty well versed on the history of Tally.

[ProjectMaximus]

So which is the true "Berkeley of the South?" It can't be both Nole and Gator country...

If we're talkin football, FSU can be Berkeley and we'll (UF) be USC 

[TD*]

Check out the new UrbanTallahassee.com

[SuburbanArmada]

Forgot about Railroad Square.

[brainstormer]

I checked out the urbantallahasee.com website and really love the projects section.  It is a quick and easy way to see what is currently happening in the city.  I've never been to Tallahasee, but seeing the projects underway creates a positive image of the city as a whole. 

This might be something we want to do on MetroJacksonville as it would be an easier way to view whats currently being constructed or renovated in the urban core.  A map similar to what downtownjacksonville.com has would also be a good idea to show projects in development.  They only focus on the big projects though, not the small businesses or smaller residential developments.  I think the smaller projects need to be included as well.

[buckethead]

Imagine if UNF was closer to the urban core. 

Am I wrong to suggest that UNF is a campus built around the automobile?

[johnnyhala]

Those pictures taken inside the SOA were taken while I was there. Specifically the two maps of San Francisco was the project my studio was working on at the time. In fact, I think I might have been the one that scaled and printed those maps for everybody else.