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| Passed by Wall Street Plaza this past Saturday night and heard the unmistakable sound of Electronic Dance Music. Didn't stick around long enough to find out if it was one song or a bunch of them, but it's a step in the right direction! |
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| The sign at closed club Antigua on Church Street is still lit-up but nothing appears to be happening inside that would indicate that it's going to be replaced with another club. |
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| This is what I wrote about new club Liquid last March: Add a new Hip Hop club to the scene with the arrival of Liquid. Prior carcasses at this location include Blue Room, Red Velvet, Voyage, Deja Vu Ultra Lounge and most recently, Zen Exotic Lounge. I'll give this one a few months. Well damn it, it's still there! Have never seen more than a couple people in line though. |
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| The Gallery at Avalon Island Fine Art gallery on Magnolia Street is also seeing some use as an event center for private parties. A DJ was spinning Hip Hop during my pass-by. |
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| Just remember that when you're downtown crossing the CSX double-track main line to: Stop, Look & Listen. Even at 3am one of these fast freights might be coming through. |
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| Finally, construction continues on the new downtown station for SunRail. Beginning in 2013, commuter rail service will be available north to Sanford and DeBary with a later extension to DeLand, and south to Sand Lake Road with a later extension to Kissimmee and Poinciana. Have a great weekend! |
10 comments:
waste of MONEY!!! oh and the voters voted it down 3 times before it "passed"
Waste of money? Not if it's done right. Light rail in core shopping, entertainment and business districts can be a tremendous economic booster if it efficiently and conveniently takes masses of people to and from outlying areas. Even more so if the systems are built and established a decade or two ahead of traffic congestion and overcrowding. If you've ever spent time in Europe, just as one example, then you might have a better appreciation for the culture-changing effects of light rail. Again, I emphasize that it must be "done right." Case in point - ask Los Angeles if they today miss the extensive Pacific Electric Railway system which they had up until the late 1950's. But you, Anonymous, I think would benefit from a more realistic and open-minded view instead of making such a broad generalization.
Ace, I agree. Anon, I don't think voters turned it down, it was the Florida legislature.
But please note that SunRail will actually be a "heavy rail" system rather than "light rail". Now if we can get a light rail line connecting Orlando International Airport to SunRail, we'd really have something! And of course a connection to Downtown Disney and whatever they're planning to build there.
yes Bob it did get voted down.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SunRail
(At the end of July 2007, Orange County, Seminole County, Osceola County, Volusia County and the City of Orlando all voted on and approved the Sunrail project. Osceola County had agreed in principle, but was still examining how to fund its $9.3-million share at the time) the counties voted not the people!
will not work! because you still have to DRIVE (or ride a bus) to downtown to get to the station to get on a train!
@ Ace. late 50's OK but this is 2012! all I can say is wait and see! case in point in Orlando we have buses that run all around Orlando and other areas and the buses are not packed the only reason they have more riders is because the price of gas has jumped!
the people voted it down!! had to add!
KingBob: Got it, heavy rail, not light rail, thanks for the correction.
Anonymous & Others: Rail projects can be expensive boondoggles. But in the face of projected population growth, there may be a very good place for rail in Orlando in the not-too-distant future. I'm suggesting to keep options open, but by all means, remain vigilant against wasteful project. But some "good" projects need to be started FAR in advance of the actual need. Buses will eventually also get gridlocked, then what good does that do? And regarding "50's vs 2012," you seem to have missed my point entirely. I'm just saying that there is a need to make very careful planning decisions ahead of what's coming.
funny how when I make a point no one wants to listen!
MY point is you still have to get to the rail station! somehow? still not much help!
and still not a good idea just because they built it!
Anon, we get your point. Lynx will operate buses that will connect at the SunRail stations. There will also be parking lots at each station for those that wish to drive to the train yet avoid the bumper-to-bumper traffic on I-4 each morning and afternoon.
Rail is expensive and has to be subsidized by taxpayers. But roads are also paid for by taxpayers and the next expansion of I-4 will max it out plus there will be optional toll lanes that users will have to pay.
The plan a few years ago for high-speed rail to Tampa was an expensive boondogle. Virtually no one would ride a train to Tampa in this car-society of ours. But a possible privately-financed (with public concessions) plan to run high-speed rail to Miami by the Florida East Coast Railroad (FEC)has great potential.
and you see my biggest issue with this I (we) have to pay for this and can not use it FREE!
nice to have a bus to ride! BUT could take you hours to get to the station from where you live? then the same where you go to?
and thanks you for seeing my point this time! there has to be others who feels the same as I do about this!
and it was NOT legal to TOLL any lanes on I-4 interstate roads but just like any thing in the past our GOV. changes things as they need it! just sayin!
I think use of SunRail is only practical if you live next to it or fairly near it. I don't think a person in Oviedo, for instance, would drive 10 miles to a station to take the train to downtown. They could just drive it and be there on their own.
But I do think there are many people in Sanford, Lake Mary, Longwood, Altamonte Springs, etc who will find it very convenient to hop a train downtown, as long as the price is cheaper than gas + parking downtown and as long as the train schedule meets their needs.
Someone used to run a charter train on Florida Central RR tracks to Orlando Magic games from Mount Dora to downtown. I can see that as SunRail's second line someday, operating to Church Street Station via Apopka.
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