Elements of Urbanism: Downtown Orlando

[Tacachale]

Orlando would be much smaller if it wasn't for Disney and the other theme parks. But that's besides the point, because all of Florida would be considerably different if we didn't have one of the world's largest tourist destinations blow up in the middle of our state over the last 40 or 50 years

This past weekend I made what was probably my first substantial stay in downtown Orlando since I left Central Florida in 2001. It's staggering what they've been able to achieve in terms of downtown redevelopment just since that time.

When I was living in Orlando, downtown was still in the midst of recovery. It has really taken off and become a vibrant urban core during all times of the day. Obviously the growth and money the tourist attractions bring to the area have contributed to the ability to turn their downtown around. But there's a lot we could take away from their example.

[prahaboheme]

Orlando is a Tourist town.. Period. If all the theme shut down today, it would be empty. Nothing against Orlando. I visit there several times a year to get a way. But lets be real here. Tourist is the only thing that keeps this city alive. And with that being said, Orlando gets the golden ticket most times. With all those tourist plus the locals, Orlando is practically a market for just about any and everything.

The space and citrus industries were alive and well in Orlando long before tourism was it's major industry.  I don't think anyone is denying what tourism has brought to Orlando (and what Orlando's tourism has brought to the rest of the state) nor do I think it should be viewed as such a negative, derogatory thing. 

If anything, it has been a challenge to get Orlando's 50 million+ tourists downtown since Church Street Station fell to Pleasure Island and CityWalk.  With the recent groundbreaking of the Dr Phillips Performing Arts Center (with Disney's generous endorsement), and downtown Orlando's continued and increasing popularity amongst the local crowd, this could be changing.

There is a common misperception that Orlando is a one trick pony because tourists (worldwide and state-wide, alike) visit the attractions without ever stepping into the actual city of Orlando, or the other areas of the metro that offer a different type of appeal, some interesting urbanity and culture.

[finehoe]

Orlando isn't what you think it is

...the notion that Orlando could become shorthand for tragedy — as Sandy Hook and Columbine have — is hard to grasp for a place that has persevered through generations of almost gothic calamities, from land booms and busts to hurricanes and freezes that destroyed citrus empires.

They'd rather have been talking about the new soccer stadium going up at the edge of downtown, its great steel beams pushing into the sky, curving like the frame of some ancient caravel.

Or the plans for a 68-acre urban center complex called a Creative Village, a combination university campus/high-tech business center.

Or the dazzling Medical City that has surged with remarkable speed out of 7,000 acres of scrub pines and cattle-grazing lands, with biotech labs, hospitals and meticulously manicured housing developments for tens of thousands of people.

Orlando's tourist-dependent economy suffered after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and then again during the national recession in the late 2000s. Even as tourism has rebounded (Orlando logged more than 60 million visitors in 2015, a U.S. record, according to one estimate), the area craved an economy less subject to the vagaries of tourism's cycles.

So it has enthusiastically embraced flotillas of young entrepreneurs who clump in hip downtown spaces, fiddling with digital start-up plans, developing software and pulling in tens of millions of dollars in seed money.

Several hundred software developers and digital entrepreneurs have occupied a once-vacant downtown shopping mall called the Church Street Exchange building, fashioned in the style of an 1800s train station, with pressed tin ceilings and grand wrought-iron staircases. It used to be the headquarters of Lou Pearlman, the notorious manager of boy bands such as 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys, before he was imprisoned for running a Ponzi scheme.

Orlando is becoming one of the most Puerto Rican places on Earth. Spurred by the island's deepening economic crisis, Florida's Puerto Rican population has doubled since 2000, topping 1 million, with one-third of those living in the Orlando area. The state has also surpassed New York as the most common destination for Puerto Ricans, with nearly three times as many Puerto Ricans moving to Florida as moving to New York, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. Overall, Orlando is one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country, with a population that now tops 2.3 million.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/orlando-isnt-what-you-think-it-is/2016/06/16/628d55fa-33d6-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html

[Ocklawaha]

It's amazing how much Orlando is ahead of the curve when it comes to getting infill projects and things like light rail. They blow Jacksonville and my city of Tampa out of the water. Very frustrating that we can't get that in our cities.

Orlando has been talking about Light-Rail every bit as long as Jacksonville and they have absolutely NOTHING to show for it. How does this blow Tampa (which actually has a physical Light-Rail starter in place) or Jacksonville 'out of the water?'

There is a plan (about as old as the Bible) to connect I-Drive and the airport with Light-Rail, but no plan to connect downtown Orlando with the airport or I-Drive. They are working on extending SUNRAIL to the Airport from downtown, as well as Tavares/Eustis at some future date, which would give roughly hourly service during rush hours.

If Jacksonville converts the Skyway to Rapid-Streetcar we will leap ahead of them.

[thelakelander]

^I think DemocraticNole is referring to the Sunrail commuter rail system. I doubt extending Sunrail to Eustis happens anytime soon. They need to focus on enhancing Sunrail's frequency. Right now, the Skyway generates as much ridership as that system.