Elements of Urbanism: Tallahassee
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-7719-p1160527.JPG)
A brief tour around the downtown of Florida's capital city: Tallahassee.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/934
Imagine if UNF was closer to the urban core. :'(
Brings back so many memories! Glad to see some good infill developments taking place around Downtown and FSU.
I've never been to Tally, but have heard good things about it's DT, particularly in regards to how it handles parking. It looks very clean and well-kempt in the pictures too.
Finally, My Article is Posted......
The multilevel garage under Kleman Plaza is the city's main centralized parking structure. if I remember correctly, the first 30 minutes or so are free. Although small in comparison to a major city, Tallahassee's downtown is pretty easy to get in and out. The negative is one would expect a higher concentration of bars and restaurants with two universities nearby.
there is a lot of really good things happening in Tallahassee....and more urban infill will be promoted under the new Multimodal Transportation District regulations, which are expected to go into effect in early 2009.
The writer of the article simply didnt know about the bars in downtown.
There are lots.... There is Harry's The New Mint Lounge and 101 Restaurant. Paradigm...
Etc.. tons of restaurants with more coming.
Great information presented here. I enjoy reading these Elements of Urbanism produced by MetroJacksonville.
I noticed there were a few blanks in the report that I could perhaps help to fill.
Tallahassee's Convention Center: (Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center), was completed in 1980.
Urban infill obstacles: Downtown Tallahassee is split by two major roadways, W. Tennessee St. to the north, and W. Gaines Street (historically a thriving industrial district, now the focus of a major revitalization effort) to the South. Also, the abundance of many mature (100+ year old) oak trees scattered throughout the central core of Tallahassee limit development opportunities.
Nightlife: What is often referred to as the Tennessee Strip in Tallahassee is home to several bars, and night clubs heavily supported by the college student population in Tallahassee. Gaines Street has an emerging arts district composed of bars, pool halls, art galleries, and a collection of small, locally owned eateries. Just north of Downtown, in Midtown Tallahassee is another emerging hotspot attracting young professionals to socialize at a new winery, coffee shops, and a collection of restaurants serving up and international cuisine. Kleman Plaza in the heart of downtown promises to become a thriving center of activity now boasting a very popular Harry's Seafood Bar & Grille, Hometown Coffee House, an Urban Chic Restaurant (One O One Restaurant) and an upscale Mint Lounge. As you can see in one of the images included in this piece, there is also an IMAX theater on the plaza downtown which reliably features nighttime showings of box office favorites. Despite these offerings, nightlife continues to be an area we're looking to improve in Tallahassee.
Contrary to popular belief, there is a 6th floor at the Florida Capitol, it is simply not accessible by elevator.
Once again, great piece on Tallahassee! Perhaps one day UrbanTallahassee (http://urbantallahassee.com) will be able to visit and do similar coverage on Jacksonville.
A while back there was a plan to build a highrise Marriott hotel at the Civic Center. Is this still planned or has this project died?
No its dead, the marriot at the civic center has been stuck in constant court and litigation for years, its canned.
Lakelander, Care to fill in the gaps with the Info Taurean provided in your article?
As Taurean Stated, Everyone is invited to head over to UrbanTallahassee.com to check out our site, which is dedicated to Tallahassee
Its updated. Btw, I'm very impressed with the infill development taking place in the All Saints neighborhood. I think it can set the tone for the quality of development that will eventually rise throughout the Gaines Street corridor.
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.
How large will this proposed convention center be? Will it require the demolition of the shops on Gaines just east of Railroad Avenue?
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.__ :)
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.
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 ;D
Check out the new UrbanTallahassee.com
Forgot about Railroad Square.
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.
Quote from: copperfiend on November 14, 2008, 07:42:49 AM
Imagine if UNF was closer to the urban core. :'(
Am I wrong to suggest that UNF is a campus built around the automobile?
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.