Three things.

1) Moscademantequilla, lol.
2) Do you have a bigger version of the pic for BG uses?
3) What camera did you use?

Look for Lane Field to get off the ground way before nbc

I think Lane Field has all approvals and is supposed to start later this year

Navy Broadway is a mess - - legal wranglings are ongoing and the UT had an article a week or two ago saying oponents won a landmark victory

part of the problem is it's a Manchester property. Manchester is an idiot. He gets invovled in big projects and when things don't go his way he just sues the city

The media is overblowing the NBC recent court decision as a huge setback. They are rather ignorant of the decision and its implications.

The Federal Judge ordered, basically, a mis-step was done involving public input under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Not enough time, or insufficient notice, or something like that... was not provided.

So, an additional opportunity was required by the judge.

What does it mean... it only depends on the input recieved. If it has merit, the Navy will address the comments... maybe even voluntarily change the design a bit... all depending on the merits of the comments.

But... NEPA does not require the project sponsor (the Navy/Manchester) to do a thing to the design. Nothing is mandated. NEPA is all about disclosure. .... making sure decisions are made in the light of day... that project sonsors and public are aware of the impacts. But, does not require mitigation measures.

So, to a large degree... the suit brought against the Navy/Manchester that resulted in the judges decision..... amounts to very little. In my view.. more time to look at ugly grey square buildings and expansive empty parking lots collecting litter.

I'd love to see that area filled in. It's such prime real estate and is absolutely hideous right now with surface parking. My favorite area downtown is Columbia but it just drops off at PCH and becomes no man's land. I took a walk around the city yesterday and noticed the potential this city has.

Imagine this:
-NBC
-Lane Field
-First & Island.
-Train trench with a cap.
-Better looking trolleys
-Capped 5 connecting Balboa Park.
-Airport move to lift height limit.
-Empty area between core and 5 would become the new core with 700-900 ft buildings.

San Diego in 20 years? Maybe. I'm sure the energy crisis will bring back the notion of "centrally located" and reduce the US's tendency to sprawl. Walking around I noticed so many great potential lots that are just surface parking or some 2 story building next to a 20 story one. What an awesome city this would be if it filled in.

1) I enjoy wordplay immensely. :)
2) No, only of my best stuff. I consider that pic merely a snapshot.
3) Nikon D80 and a Nikkor 18-135mm AF-S DX lens.

A few snaps from the webcams taken today. As someone mentioned, a couple of them seem to be out of commission for now -


Sapphire and Bayside
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...7300201724.jpg

Father Joe's?
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...atherjoe-2.jpg

Cranes are up for both Strata and Hotel Indigo
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...m/strata-2.jpg

Vantage Pointe is looking good from this angle.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...Cam/vanty5.jpg

VP from Symphony Towers
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...Cam/vanty1.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...Cam/vanty2.jpg

Hilton tower looks about done
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...am/hilty-2.jpg

so what happened

I've been trying to post a webcam update but i dont know if the site/cams aren't working properly or if it's my computer. Thanks for the updates sd urban. It's hard to believe Father Joes project is that far along. Maybe we can put him in charge of those other stalled projects like the central library or Navy Complex lol.

The CCDC Community Advisory Committee meets tomorrow. On the agenda is an item speaking to building signage of the Ballpark Marriot undergoing desing... and which has been somewhat critized for its bulkiness and having faces with insufficient articulations. It lacked character.

Below is an image of an early version:

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/Marriot2.jpg

Below is an image of what is going before the CCDC Community Advisory Committee.

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...riot072308.jpg

I am unsure it goes as far as I'd like, but it appears much improved. Other opinions.

Has anyone noticed that the top two tiers on Vatange Pointe are a floor or two off? Looks weird IMO on that type of building considering everything else seems to be symmetrical.

Orchids & Onions program accepting nominations
 

STOP AND SMELL THE SKYLINE – ORCHIDS & ONIONS 2008
It’s that time of year when San Diego is in full bloom. Help pick this year’s bunch of Orchids and Onions!
Nominate. Comment. Vote.

The San Diego Architectural Foundation is kicking off the 2008 Orchids & Onions program with the launch of a new Web site, www.orchidsandonions.org, designed to expand public participation in the program. The nomination period is now open.

You are now able to:
• Submit nominations on a year round basis
• Review all nominations
• Comment on all nominations

As in previous years, you will be able to cast ballots for the People’s Choice Orchid and Onion. Nominees will be posted on the Web site in October.

How to nominate
• To be eligible, the project must be in San Diego County and must not be a single-family residence.
• Projects in the planning stages will be considered if they have been subjected to public scrutiny.
• It is highly recommended that digital photos, illustrating the reason for the nomination, accompany submissions.
• Aug. 31 is the cut off date for nominations for the 2008 awards. Nominations received after this time will be considered for next year’s awards.
• Your name will not be made public on the nomination.

Nominations may be submitted in one of eight categories:
• Architecture
• Landscape architecture
• Urban design
• Public art
• Planning policies
• Sustainable design
• Historic preservation
• Interior design

After you have submitted your nomination, check out what other San Diegans have been nominating and join the conversation!

About Orchids & Onions

The objective of Orchids & Onions is to inspire excellence in every aspect of San Diego’s built environment. Interactive and community based, the program encourages all San Diegans to nominate the projects that make their heart soar and the ones that are plain eyesores.
A jury of design professionals and artists determine the official Orchids and Onions in categories such as architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, historic preservation, sustainable design and public art. The online People’s Choice Vote gauges San Diegans’ opinions about their city. The culmination is a fun-filled awards presentation, inspiring practical discourse on San Diego’s built environment.

Orchids and Onions is a fundraising program for the San Diego Architectural Foundation, a 501(c)3, nonprofit organization.

still not liking the marriott too much, plus it's hard to really compare the old and new images because they are from different vantage points. I'd be curious to see what the new images look like from a side view.

Please tell me they took the stone off the towers, that would look hideously tacky and an overly-obvious unimaginative try to get the towers to "match" the ballpark -

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...gerding280.jpg

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...dghines280.jpg





More Metro

City has proposals in hand for a new downtown City Hall





By Jeanette Steele
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

12:30 p.m. July 23, 2008

Two very different proposals for a new San Diego City Hall are now on the table.
One offers the city an iconic sail-like building with wind turbines at the top, council chambers atop a glass “mesa” and about 2 million square feet of private development on the surrounding blocks. The complex would generate its own energy through wind and solar panels.



The other: No private development, just a new city office building and a four-story glass City Hall where the council would meet in view of passersby on the street.

The two developers vying to rebuild San Diego's four-block Civic Center complex downtown will be unveiling their proposals at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

The smaller firm, Gerding Edlen of Portland, is the firm proposing the grander scale. Spokesman Tom Cody says his company thinks the mix of private offices, housing and possibly a hotel can be viable if it is built over seven to 12 years.

“This is really about vibrancy. How to take this anchor of the city and leverage it into a more meaningful district,” Cody said.

International giant Hines Corp., based in Houston, is billing itself as the more conservative, low-risk bet for a city still struggling with its finances.

“It provides the city with the most certainty. They know what their costs are going to be,” said Paul Twardowski of Hines. “The city should not be entering risky ventures right now. The city should be taking conservative approaches to save money.”

No financial details were released, just artist renderings of buildings and site plans.

The chairman of the Centre City Development Corp., the nonprofit city agency overseeing the process, said he hopes the numbers can made public over the next week or so. They were held back so CCDC can request any revisions needed without one developer tipping its hand to the other.

Of the competitors, Hines is the known quantity in San Diego, as it served as developer on the downtown ballpark project for Padres owner John Moores.

Its resume boasts huge civic projects around the world. The Hines team includes big-name architects Pelli Clarke Pelli, but a Hines official says an iconic project isn't the goal here.

The underdog is Gerding Edlen, a newcomer to San Diego. Gerding bills itself as the company whose heart is “green.” A big dog in Portland, the firm has helped redraw that city's downtown waterfront, but San Diego would be among its largest projects.



AdvertisementMore than 3,200 city employees now work in 1 million square feet spread across eight downtown buildings, four of which the city owns.
City officials want to demolish the city-owned towers and construct enough office space, about 700,000 square feet, to house all downtown city workers there. It could save the city at least $13 million a year in leases.

Also, the city's buildings have maintenance problems, such as asbestos and seismic issues, that would cost $112 million to fix and bring up to date, the city estimates.

Mayor Jerry Sanders has said he does not want the Civic Center project to move forward if it costs the city more than the existing leases and maintenance would cost.

Here are the votes on the new city hall so-far





Results
Which proposal would you prefer?


The Gerding plan
73.5% (97)

The Hines plan
16.7% (22)

Leave it alone
9.8% (13)



I think I have to agree, even though it's hard to get a feel from a couple small renderings. I like the Gerding Plan (the first picture posted). It is whimsical and unique without being tacky and cheap looking. Very nice

Here's an update... Gerding taking it away. But, I want to see more design illustrations. The Gerding one likely generating much more interest because it has a much more exciting illustration.

From the Tribune poll at 4:11pm

Gerding
81.4% (284)

Hines
13.2% (46)

Do Nothings
5.4% (19)

A landslide so far!

Ballot Box planning has always been successful!

Count me in for the Gerding proposal. It surprises me that the Pelli-designed proposal from Hines looks soooo boring.

Now why couldn't we have gotten something more along the lines of the Gerding design for the much higher profile NBC and Lane Field proposals? At least it's something different and interesting to look at.

Ugh :yuck: ....is there even a difference between the two? I'm most concerned about the hideous solid sides on both towers in the earlier version, which isn't shown in the more recent one. I'm really hoping they eliminated that.

If you ask me, all they did was put lipstick on a pig to try and make it prettier. In the end, it's still a pig!!:D

More city hall designs (from the Union-Tribune)

Gerding...

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/gal...dited_3_AH.jpg

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/gal...et_008_iR2.jpg

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/gal...2ndAve_010.jpg

Hines...

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/gal...er_7_16_08.jpg

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/gal...l_07_16_08.jpg

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/gal...et_7_15_08.jpg

http://photos.signonsandiego.com/gal...r_07_16_08.jpg

More illustrations of the Hines proposal still does not do it any justice in the polling. Gerding is still my preference.