Archive for the 'DDA' Category

Wave Rolls On

Published
by
JM Palacios
on April 2, 2008
in Critical Miami, DDA, Ft. Lauderdale, Gas Prices, Streetcar, The Wave and Transit
. 4 Comments
Believe it or not, transit is a reality in the greater Miami area. The Fort Lauderdale city commission just voted to pay for 25% of the downtown streetcar project known as the Wave. That means they will provide $37.5 million of the estimated $150 million needed for the project. The next step for the Downtown Development Authority is to secure $75 million in federal and $37.5 million in state funding. It seems like a challenge, but the important thing is that this was a unanimous vote of support for the project to proceed.
A little more information on the project: The map shown above, from page 2 of this PDF flyer, is not necessarily the most current plan; but it provides a general layout of the proposed route. The streetcar, shown in yellow, will connect to future FEC corridor transit (purple on the map) and East-West transit on Broward Blvd. (green) at the location of the current Broward Central Bus Terminal. The terminal will turn into a multimodal transit hub for all these systems. Also on the PDF map is existing Tri-Rail in dashed red, the FEC corridor in purple, and the Sunport people mover (Airport to Seaport) in orange. The likely deviation from the route on the map is that the streetcar will probably detour down NW 1st Ave. before crossing Broward Blvd. so it can stop at the Central Terminal.

Contrary to what bloggers like Len Degroot or Alesh Houdek might be inclined to believe, Fort Lauderdale is neither dreaming nor out of touch with reality. With gas prices skyrocketing, people want alternatives to cars. Transit has never looked better.

Wave Hello To the Fort Lauderdale Streetcar

Published
by
JM Palacios
on March 3, 2008
in DDA, Ft. Lauderdale, Light Rail, Streetcar, The Wave and Transit
. 8 Comments
With all the talk about Miami’s streetcar here, one would never have guessed that Fort Lauderdale is also planning one. The Sun-Sentinel today featured a detailed write-up and even a demonstration video on the project. They used the term “light rail” and “streetcar” interchangeably in the article, but the proposed system, called “The Wave”, sounds more like a streetcar. The Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority’s website includes some basic information on this project that has eluded the radar screen for seven years. This PDF flyer offers more detailed info, including maps of the proposed route alternatives that run from NE 6th St. to SE 17th St. The cost is expected to be $150 million for a 2.7 mile project.

Tuesday at noon, the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and the city commission will meet in City Hall to discuss funding. The Sun-Sentinel seems to be the only source of information on this meeting. If I didn’t have to work I would be there.

Perhaps it’s worth noting that there is at least one representative from a car dealership on the DDA Board, Gale Butler from AutoNation. Since the DDA is responsible for this project, it looks like the auto dealerships are more inclined to see this project happen than Miami’s streetcar. Let’s do The Wave!

Urban Design Malpractice: Marina Blue

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on December 3, 2007
in Arquitectonica, Biscayne Boulevard, Condos, Construction, DDA, Hyperion, Malfunction, Marina Blue, Miami, Pedestrians, Skyline, SkyscraperCity, Skyscrapers and Urban Design
. 10 Comments
Marina Blue, the “swanky,” 60 story residential skyscraper rising along Biscayne Boulevard across the future site of Museum Park has issues, major issues. The 600+ foot tower, designed by world renowned Arquitectonica is just one of the latest blunders to rise in our city. Now please don’t be confused, but we’re not arguing about its height, size, or density but rather how this building was designed to interact with our urban streetscape. It’s because of the inadequacies of its design that many Miami activists confuse height and density as the real culprits behind much of our urban problems…

Take a look at these pictures, found on Skyscrapercity and see if you can spot any of the major issues:

Incomplete building? Designed well from 3 angles, the Marina Blue design team apparently fell asleep when working on the western facade. A blank, exposed backside will greet visitors viewing the Miami skyline from the west, a stark contrast from the stunning blue and green glass facade facing the Museums and bay. Another Arquitectonica and Hyperion development building, Blue, up in the design district suffers from the same 3 sided design syndrome…

Who needs public transit when we have enough space for every car? Logically, the best thing to place facing a metromover station is the entrance of the 12 story parking garage with enough space to handle at least the 2 cars each of the 516 units owners will have. Forget creating usable retail space fronting the metromover, the patron’s of this building will likely be arriving at the valet station anyway, it’s not like they have any other reasonable option anyway…

Of course, if we aren’t going to plan for the use of public transit then why would we expect pedestrians to access the building either? Beyond the absurd canopy placement, the 3 foot elevated platform will completely decimate any hopes of creating a vibrant and pedestrian friendly boulevard. The second picture shows just exactly how much width was provided for sidewalk cafes and activity, none of which will be possible thanks to the blank wall and guardrails which are placed accordingly to keep Marina Blue residents and visitors in.

A Couple of reminders of what we should have been attempting to do with the redevelopment along the Biscayne boulevard corridor:

Note: This picture is still prominently displayed on the DDA website…

I can’t help but think that for every step we take forward (dense urban living in an easily accessible location) we take two steps backwards (building enough parking to house a dealership and failing to adequately integrate the building with the surroundings…)

News Briefs

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on June 21, 2007
in Corruption, DDA, Flights, MDT, MIA, Macy's, Miami and Routes
. 1 Comment
  • CBS does a little math for us: Corruption + 11 City Workers = Miami.
  • MDT is looking into using hovercraft for the 18 month pilot water taxi program. The two water taxi routes (Haulover-Miami and Matheson Hammock-Miami) would operate the $1.2 Million boats with a maximum capacity of 30-50 passengers. The hovercraft are being considered due to their minimal impact on manatees and the delicate sea grass of Biscayne Bay, but would be limited to a 30 mph operation speed.
  • MIA is working on renewing an incentive program to gain new service to more destinations from Miami.
    • “Cities the airport would like to begin direct service to include Capetown and Johannesburg, South Africa; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Nairobi, Kenya; Lagos, Nigeria; Casablanca, Morocco; Brussels; Dublin; Helsinki; Moscow; Warsaw; Budapest; Tokyo; Seoul; Hong Kong; Shanghai; and New Delhi or Mumbai, formerly Bombay.”
  • The DDA may soon be granting Macy’s some financial incentives to stay downtown…I’d like to see Macy’s revamp their downtown store before we go head and hand them a handout. I couldn’t agree more with Mayor Diaz:
    • “The mayor has insisted the store has to be redone so that it is appealing and more open to the street…”