Elements of Urbanism: Downtown Fort Lauderdale

[Metro Jacksonville]

Elements of Urbanism: Downtown Fort Lauderdale



Join Metro Jacksonville as we take a look around Downtown Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2011-mar-elements-of-urbanism-downtown-fort-lauderdale

[dougskiles]

Wow - bringing back some old memories for me with this one.  I grew up in Plantation, FL which is just to the west of Ft Lauderdale - basically one of the original classic suburbs of South Florida.  We went to Ft Lauderdale frequently, particularly for the beach.  My great aunt would spend her winters staying at a hotel on Las Olas.

I was down there last in early 2010 and was happy to see that downtown Ft Lauderdale has really come back to life.  The impression I had as a kid was of a sortof run down place that wasn't safe.  I remember one of the most controversial plans was when they decided to basically shut down spring break.  The goal was to make the beach area more family friendly, and having seen it in recent years, it appears that they succeeded.

I didn't know about the streetcar plan but I'm not surprised.  Anxious to ride it someday.

[thelakelander]

http://www.wavestreetcar.com/

Project History

In 2004, a Downtown transit and pedestrian mobility study was completed through partnerships with the Downtown Development Authority of Fort Lauderdale (DDA), the City of Fort Lauderdale, the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), FDOT, Broward County, the Broward MPO, the Clean Air Cooperative, the Downtown Fort Lauderdale Transportation Management Association (TMA) and Tri-Rail that resulted in the need to invest in transit and pedestrian improvements in downtown.

Along with many steps taken to improve connectivity and the pedestrian realm, the DDA, in partnership with Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the Broward MPO, hired Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) in 2005 to complete an Alternative Analysis (AA) and Environmental Assessment (EA). In simple terms, these are studies done to identify a potential route and technology and to determine the potential environmental impacts associated with completing a transit improvement.

During the AA process, there was a large outcry from the community to extend the project boundaries down to the hospital on 17th Street to link up to the local hospital district. So in 2006, the study area was extended to down to the Hospital.

In 2008, a locally preferred alternative (LPA) was endorsed by Broward County, the City of Fort Lauderdale, and the DDA. The route extends from Sistrunk/6th St on the North to SE 17th St on the South. The route map can be found on the Project Details page.

In addition, Broward County committed to be the owner and operator of the system and the City of Fort Lauderdale pledged a capital contribution of $10.5 million and agreed to go through a special assessment process to raise the remaining local share, all very significant steps to making the project a reality!

http://www.wavestreetcar.com/project_history

The proposed funding plan includes:

Federal dollars specifically programmed for transit projects across the U.S.
Specifically programmed State funds for mass transit projects across the State of Florida
Special assessment district of the benefitting property owners
A capital cash contribution from the City of Fort Lauderdale, City land donation for the Maintenance & Storage Facility, or a combination of both.
We are currently going through the Federal and State processes to secure funding, but have already been appropriated just under a million dollars from the federal government upon entry into Project Development!

Initiatives are being explored that could reduce the need from the local community.
Proposed Project Timeline
Start Project Development, June 2011
Start Procurement/Construction, November 2012
Ride The Wave! -- September 2014!

http://www.wavestreetcar.com/funding_plan

I suspect their streetcar plan will be negatively impacted by Scott being in Tallahassee as well.  Unless the state has already officially committed to funding their share, I would be suprised if it doesn't back out.  However, in this case, it is pretty expensive.

[finehoe]

The Las Olas Riverfront Center has been a failure, much like the Landing.  It started out with lots of great stores and resturants, and slowly deteriorated into boarded up shops and little but tee-shirt stores and so-so fast food (sound familiar?).  There was a proposal to re-do it, but I don't know how that is coming along with the economic downturn.

[editorial note:  you have "West Palm Beach" under Connected to Convention Center]

[thelakelander]

Thanks.  Yes, the riverfront center is pretty much empty except for a restaurant or two and the movie theater.  However, the deterioration may also have something to do with the latest owner's plans to tear it down for high rise condos (before they got left standing up when the music stopped on the real estate game of musical chairs).

[finehoe]

The LORC also suffered from the image (either real or perceived) of having a lot of petty crime.  Fortunately, I don't believe the Landing has that reputation.

[billy]

Pier 66!

[copperfiend]

Gotta love that Publix

[tpot]

Another funny thing about lauderdale is that they also built a huge jail downtown on their riverfront.  It is directly across from one if the nicest towers in the city, RiverWatch Tower......

[ubben]

Honestly, whenever I go to Ft. Lauderdale, I can't wait to leave.