Group wants Theme Park Downtown

[tufsu1]

However, our town is a bunch of hillbillies

Yup, Lingerie Football Playoffs proved that much!

not exactly...less than 5,000 people showed up

[fsujax]

TUFSU..how could today have been your worst day?? haha

[Garden guy]

i do think  it'd be a cool view from a ferris wheel along the river

[tufsu1]

TUFSU..how could today have been your worst day?? haha

ok...most disappointing day

[Ocklawaha]

Man I feel like 20,000 pounds has been lifted off of me. I'm gonna sleep like a baby, definitely the most encouraging day I've had in years.

OCKLAWAHA

[Overstreet]

Might be nice to combine elements of these two venues into an aquarium. The first is Oklahoma City's Myriad Gardens - Crystal Bridge a tropical paradise entirely indoors under glass. The next is Monterrey Bay Aquarium in California which is so spaced out it even has it's own new age sound track.

As I recall the Monterey Bay aquarium was on Cannery Row which is a tourist area out there any way. I know Cannery Row was there but who came first the tourist or the aquarium is unknown to me.  Its real strength was that it was nicely placed on the bay and had displays of the natural local environment.   For example the kelp bed tank shown above.  Atlanta was hard pressed to find anything “local". It appeared to be just a place to pack kids into.  Kind of a MOSH with water.  Tampa like Monterey has an excellent local water exhibit on the mangrove habitat.   Our coffee water, marsh mud  displays might not show as well at those clear water exhibits. But could be as interesting. 

[dougskiles]

As for your headache, today was quite possibly the worst day in my 15+ year urban planning career.

After these kinds of days, I like to recall a quote from Gust Avrakotos in the movie Charlie Wilson’s War:

There's a little boy and on his 14th birthday he gets a horse... and everybody in the village says, "how wonderful. The boy got a horse" And the Zen master says, "we'll see." Two years later, the boy falls off the horse, breaks his leg, and everyone in the village says, "How terrible." And the Zen master says, "We'll see." Then, a war breaks out and all the young men have to go off and fight... except the boy can't cause his legs all messed up. and everybody in the village says, "How wonderful."

[BridgeTroll]

As I recall the Monterey Bay aquarium was on Cannery Row which is a tourist area out there any way. I know Cannery Row was there but who came first the tourist or the aquarium is unknown to me.  Its real strength was that it was nicely placed on the bay and had displays of the natural local environment.

I lived in nearby Marina while the aquarium was being built.  To answer your question... the tourists were there first.  Cannery row was made famous by John Steinbeck and Pebble Beach, Carmel, and Monterey Bay were already tourist attractions.  The aquarium revitalized a rather dreary/rundown Cannery row area into what it is today.

[Dapperdan]

Might be nice to combine elements of these two venues into an aquarium. The first is Oklahoma City's Myriad Gardens - Crystal Bridge a tropical paradise entirely indoors under glass. The next is Monterrey Bay Aquarium in California which is so spaced out it even has it's own new age sound track.

Is this where they filmed part of  Star Trek 1V? You know, the one about the Wales.

[Captain Zissou]

We don't need MOSH, we don't need Friendship Fountain, we don't need a Riverwalk, but it would be hard to argue that they don't better our quality of life, or draw people downtown.

This was my point all along.  In the past decade, we have added one quality of life amenity to downtown.  The new Library.

The best thing we could do for downtown is to simply remove the restrictive public policies that limit urban creativity, encourage pedestrian oriented connectivity, get out the way and allow the natural market to take control.

The natural market that gave us such walkable and pedestrian oriented structures as the Haskell building, Elkins Construction, Fresenius Medical Center, The St Joe Building, Interline Brands, The Modis Building, The Landing, FSCJ, FBC, and not to mention all of our pedestrian oriented government buildings downtown?  That natural market??

[Ocklawaha]

Cannery Row East would be in Jacksonville had we not dynamited the entire waterfront, warehouses, wharves and piers, downtown. IMAGINE!

But I understand, we MUST Dynamite the Herkimer Block. It should only take "one more building" for us to be a first tier city.

OCKLAWAHA

[Dapperdan]

It might end up like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bcja8UBtXdk

You have to watch that video. It is totally creepy. Six Flags New Orleans.

[L.P. Hovercraft]

It might end up like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bcja8UBtXdk

You have to watch that video. It is totally creepy. Six Flags New Orleans.

That is creepy--I like the "Welcome 2 Zombie-Land Kids" sign. 
It reminds me of the abandoned amusement park in Miyazaki's "Spirited Away".

[mtraininjax]

Yup, Lingerie Football Playoffs proved that much!


not exactly...less than 5,000 people showed up

But the fact that 5,000 people showed up in the City's new Arena was incredible. Our stigma as backward is still long and strong here in town. Can't shake that until we become more progressive in so many areas.

[thelakelander]

The best thing we could do for downtown is to simply remove the restrictive public policies that limit urban creativity, encourage pedestrian oriented connectivity, get out the way and allow the natural market to take control.

The natural market that gave us such walkable and pedestrian oriented structures as the Haskell building, Elkins Construction, Fresenius Medical Center, The St Joe Building, Interline Brands, The Modis Building, The Landing, FSCJ, FBC, and not to mention all of our pedestrian oriented government buildings downtown?  That natural market??

Glad you quoted me.  Yes, that natural market.  The uses aren't bad, their layouts are because we have policies that facility the style of that type of development (which is why I stated the whole "pedestrian level connectivity" part you accidently overlooked).