Mobile Development Thread

[10101000]

Originally Posted by MobiMan

Tim where would you suggest they put Bilboard's
the only place i could think of, is on top of buildings
like in New York and New Orleans

Yeah some where down there. I am not for sure where, but it does add an urban feel. I know it would look good if the right people do it. Like New Orleans, we are too small for New York Style.

[10101000]

[QUOTE=[B]spookyapp;3693349[/B]]Billboards downtown? Do you mean like Times Square? That would be completely ridiculous. Let's try to get some BUILDINGS and ATTRACTIONS down there before we put up a bunch of billboards. What developer is going to want to locate downtown if he/she may get bombarded with advertisements?


You were saying!

You make me laugh. I guess the Auburrn air is getting to you! LOL I am still laughing!

The Business district is big enough for advertisment, thanks have a good one.

[OCA REP]

[QUOTE=(Tim);3694305]

Originally Posted by [B

spookyapp;3693349You were saying!

You make me laugh. I guess the Auburrn air is getting to you! LOL I am still laughing!

The Business district is big enough for advertisment, thanks have a good one.

Auburn Air is GOOD air! It is hard to beat!

[MobiMan]

We need a Monument of great size maybe the French and Germans can get together give us as a gift something like the Statue of liberty...lol

Everything we come up with is the same ole same ole
we need to come up with some new ideas
for our city

I also notice that a lot of people say they would like to see most things go to Saraland close to the Motorsports Park, I thought most of it was being built in Pritchard, im not a fan of Pritchard but it seems they finally have a Mayor that wants to do something, they are cleaning the place up, Saraland is over rated it's just a big nothing, those are 2 places that need some help, all i see in Saraland is metal buildings, nothing nice just a few neighbor hoods thats it,

But my point is although i know Pritchard and Saraland are part of Mobile as a whole, i want things to happen in the City of Mobile more than i want them to happen in either of those places, so bring a better Mall to Mobile, they can keep the Motor Sports Park, But bring us an upscale outside or a very upscale indoor 2 to 3 story Mall, with land being scarce building up is the best option, but build it with class, im so sick of seeing big huge no class no style boxes everywhere, It seems to me across the Bay they add a lot of artchitectural design to everything, actually i dont think they let them just build whatever they want, like here, i know DT they have to be approved and have to match the city,s plans, We definately dont need anymore Wal-Marts or Dollar Stores, I guess Wal-Mart is starting to build nicer stores but he have enough...Also if we can have 10 or more Wal-Mart stores, and i know Wal-Mart is cheap but we could have atleast 1 Macy's well i would much rather have a Bloomingdale's but either would do, plus bring in a Publix or a Whole Foods, or maybe one of these local stores could make a new branch with a new name and make it upscale they already have the conections for merchandise, and im sure they can locate specialty foods as well,

There are places for a water park in Mobile , we dont have to put it in Saraland by the motorsport park, although they already have one planned for later, if you look at an aerial map of The city of Mobile you will see there is enough land for a lot of the things we want, Zoo , Aqaurium, or whatever

We keep getting these storage units being built everywhere to
rows of metal buildings

Main streets should be lined up with nice big beautiful buildings
not storage units, or big metal wharehouses

[Bogue]

Replacing the Festival Center with one?

Why not? That's a ton of land in a development that's seen rapid decay over the last decade or so as newer developments like it expand in the Schillingers area. It's on the primary road through town, is convenient to I-65 (and thus, to all the new neighborhoods in the north and south of the county as well as the Eastern Shore), and is almost smack dab in the center of the current city population. You wouldn't even need the whole campus, really, and shopping centers undergo radical changes all the time... look at Springdale, for example.

More good news for Broad - the Red Cross is moving their headquarters with a helpful infusion of money from Kuwait. "The agency's existing headquarters at Dauphin and Broad streets will be put on the market, according to Elizabeth Saunders, a Red Cross spokeswoman."

I think that's great news. That's an interesting property. Could play a key role in deciding the shape of the revitalization there on that section of Broad.

I know everyone's all gaga over Whole Foods... why? It's overpriced nonsense, mainly. I think a nice indoor farmers market would be much more preferable. We'd be supporting local farmers, paying less for our food than WF would charge, eating healthier, it's a "greener" option (b/c there's much less transportation costs), and we'd be creating a community institution. Think for a second about the food crisis we just went through w/ Tomatoes... That issue didn't apply to those grown in Alabama, yet we were affected b/c we get our food from elsewhere all too often. Increasingly, our food supply is coming from other countries. It is infinitely safer to get food grown in our region than to get it from some factory-style food source out of the Midwest, Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, or China. This kind of thing, btw, is MUCH more "now" than just another "Whole Foods" place. THIS is the kind of thing the advanced cities all over the developed world are turning back to.

[Bogue]

I thought most of it was being built in Pritchard, im not a fan of Pritchard but it seems they finally have a Mayor that wants to do something, they are cleaning the place up

I think that Pritchard does deserve some commendation for what they've achieved here lately. They went from bankrupt to getting somewhat back on their feet (with very little help or support from anyone else, seemingly). There's still a VERY long way to go to get back to being a "nice" town (they were once upon a time, btw, though that was a fairly long time ago now). I think that, if they keep up the good work, that gentrification will eventually kick off there. Property is dirt cheap, there's some old neighborhoods, and it's very convenient to downtown. It may take a good long while, though b/c there's still a fair few neighborhoods in Midtown that will have to fill in before that kind of thing reaches the older parts of Pritchard. They'll need to address the crime issue (both the perceptual and the actual) first, of course.

As for your monument idea... I'd like it.

...maybe something with wings (b/c of our aerospace ambitions). I would think something along the lines of one of the "Spirit of Alabama"/"Spirit of the South" angels from mid-19th century newspaper engravings might be appropriate and attractive. You could probably get regional churches involved if you wanted a large classical angel statue. To build a statue as large as B'ham's Vulcan would require a huge amt. of money.

I'm in B'ham for school at present, and live right down the street from Vulcan. It's monolithic, but is lost against their skyline, often. They have a medium-sized park at the foot of the pedestal the statue sits on & they had a great July 4th fireworks display shot from it (the park). You can go up in an elevator to an observation deck around the base of the statue itself. The park also incorporates a very small (in terms of footprint) city history museum (it's 2 stories, but one is below grade) with a small plaza area right in front of it that's a big map of the area (and its older suburbs) made up of different types of local stone. Pretty cool for a park its size, altogether.

[spookyapp]

Originally Posted by Bogue

Why not? That's a ton of land in a development that's seen rapid decay over the last decade or so as newer developments like it expand in the Schillingers area. It's on the primary road through town, is convenient to I-65 (and thus, to all the new neighborhoods in the north and south of the county as well as the Eastern Shore), and is almost smack dab in the center of the current city population. You wouldn't even need the whole campus, really, and shopping centers undergo radical changes all the time... look at Springdale, for example.

Because that is a terrible location for a large attraction like a water park. There are several big-name stores in that shopping center anways--Academy, Circuit City, Bed Bath & Beyond, Guitar Center just to name a few--and to do away with that would be terrible for the retail in that area. Airport Blvd is built off of retail. Secondly, you mention that it is on a primary thoroughfare through town... which will mean one thing--terrible traffic!
Yes, you would need the whole "campus" for the water park (if you include parking, duh). A water park where the Festival Center is currently located is a most bizarre and idiotic plan. Let's develop somewhere that needs development.

[spookyapp]

[QUOTE=(Tim);3694305]

Originally Posted by [B

spookyapp;3693349[/B]]Billboards downtown? Do you mean like Times Square? That would be completely ridiculous. Let's try to get some BUILDINGS and ATTRACTIONS down there before we put up a bunch of billboards. What developer is going to want to locate downtown if he/she may get bombarded with advertisements?


You were saying!

You make me laugh. I guess the Auburrn air is getting to you! LOL I am still laughing!

The Business district is big enough for advertisment, thanks have a good one.

I'm not sure what you find funny, but billboards downtown is quite bizarre. You may think we should do it just because some other city does it and because it may make us look like a "big city." How about we develop our own style of business district instead of relying on other cities to follow. What kind of advertisements are you suggesting? Care to break out the Crayolas and let us know what's going on in that head of yours? If I am a downtown developer, I figure that customers are going to appreciate a well designed, usable space more than a neon Geico sign.

[NitekKetin]

Spookyapp, I agree wholeheartedly with your explanation as to why Airport Boulevard in west Mobile shouldn't be the site of a hypothetical 'water park'. Though aging, the Festival Centre is still quite a viable commercial venue.

An Airport Boulevard water park would be akin to siting Alabama Adventure on US 280 near The Summit and I-459.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Originally Posted by NitekKetin

An Airport Boulevard water park would be akin to siting Alabama Adventure on US 280 near The Summit and I-459.

*winces at the thought*

[Bogue]

I think that area is larger than you give it credit for, water parks take up very little space (including parking areas). I base this off the old Ogle's waterpark in Pigeon Forge, which was heavily trafficked in the Summer months and was on an area less than a third the size of the current Festival Centre. This in an area whose traffic is decidedly more extreme than Airport Blvd.'s. Take a drive around that property sometime. The physical plant is pretty massive.

As for its viability as a shopping center, that's up for debate. Over the short-term, sure. Long-term is not remotely clear. Shopping centers opening in Saraland and on Schillinger have increasingly sucked shoppers away from that area. That will only increase considering all the development going on in those areas plus all of the shopping center development across the bay. It's a problem common in most cities. The inner ring of older shopping centers decays as the outer one(s) expand. Cities are then forced to revitalize that area. Why not plan ahead? There are plenty of shopping centers in that area to relocate the smaller stores to and there would still be room for one or two of the larger stores to remain. There's around 530K sqft of retail space. You'd need around 145K sqft for parking for 800 12'x15' spaces (90K sqft for 500 spaces of that same dimension). That leaves an area around 620' on a side or 385K sqft (or 660' on a side & 435K sqft if you go w/ 500 spaces) available.

On the traffic issue. That's a fair point, but there are three roads running near that property other than Airport... Cottage Hill & the 2 roads that border the property's western and eastern edges. Airport Blvd itself needs to be reconfigured in the leadup from I-65 to the hill just past the main section of development. Simply funneling the traffic onto the one street has proven to be a poor method. Not sure how to fix the problem appropriately. The simple (though expensive) solution would be a raised express route, but that would be both expensive and very unattractive. I think the traffic issue is becoming more of a through-traffic issue and less of a destination problem, so maybe they can do something with the light timing. I think they've tried that, though. Maybe turning off the left turn lights leading onto airport in that stretch an hour on either side of the highest peak point of traffic?

[10101000]

[QUOTE=spookyapp;3695238]

Originally Posted by (Tim)

I'm not sure what you find funny, but billboards downtown is quite bizarre. You may think we should do it just because some other city does it and because it may make us look like a "big city." How about we develop our own style of business district instead of relying on other cities to follow. What kind of advertisements are you suggesting? Care to break out the Crayolas and let us know what's going on in that head of yours? If I am a downtown developer, I figure that customers are going to appreciate a well designed, usable space more than a neon Geico sign.

Look, I see what you are saying. I am not asking to place a neon sign downtown. Only for certain things though. I cannot really explain to you all what I would like to see, but it is no big deal. This is all talk anyway. Auburn Air is the best air, I am a Auburn fan. I was just stating that you are in a town setting.

[bayou15]

Auburn fan sorry to hear that. Hope y'all bring back the refs again from 2006 .HA Geaux Tigers

[OCA REP]

[QUOTE=(Tim);3695992]

Originally Posted by spookyapp

Look, I see what you are saying. I am not asking to place a neon sign downtown. Only for certain things though. I cannot really explain to you all what I would like to see, but it is no big deal. This is all talk anyway. Auburn Air is the best air, I am a Auburn fan. I was just stating that you are in a town setting.

I think I have a general idea where Tim might be going with it. I have seen old pictures of downtown Montgomery (at Dexter Avenue) where a large Coca Cola neon-type sign used to be. This was well above street level and it made the scene (probably the 50's) look very cosmopolitan. I also remember a large Rexall (sp?) drug store sign that did not look out of place; In fact, it sorta added to the bustling street scene.

There were several neon type signs on rooftops, etc. on older historic buildings when we were in Florence, Italy back in early November. These were done right and did not come across as overly tacky. I guess it is all in how you present it.

[| BRAVO |]

[QUOTE=OCA REP;3696225]

Originally Posted by (Tim)

I think I have a general idea where Tim might be going with it. I have seen old pictures of downtown Montgomery (at Dexter Avenue) where a large Coca Cola neon-type sign used to be. This was well above street level and it made the scene (probably the 50's) look very cosmopolitan. I also remember a large Rexall (sp?) drug store sign that did not look out of place; In fact, it sorta added to the bustling street scene.

There were several neon type signs on rooftops, etc. on older historic buildings when we were in Florence, Italy back in early November. These were done right and did not come across as overly tacky. I guess it is all in how you present it.

I agree. I think (Tim) has a higher class of signage in mind than what you see in suburbia or the interstates. It can add a lot to an urban landscape.


Anybody happen to snap a pic of Joe Cain's? Anybody?

[| BRAVO |]

A big thank you, thank you, thank you to del for snapping these pics for me.

[SouthSky]

That torch looks pretty close to the tree... maybe needs a trim? Haha.

Thanks for the pics regardless.

[Muskavon]

This is an interesting story about the state looking around in eastern Baldwin County for a new road to connect I-10 to I-65. Odd areas under consideration and I didn't see anything to suggest it'd be a limited access (Interstate-type) road. I guess it's one of those you read and check back in 5 years to see if anything went any further.

http://www.al.com/news/press-register/index.ssf?/base/news/121706371586470.xml&coll=3

[SpawnOfVulcan]

^^^ Oooo, I read that. Loved the story I'm all for it. Not only would it aid in evacuation of the coast, it would of course add some economic growth to some of the more economically depressed areas.

Not to mention that when people feel like they can get away from a hurricane, they don't feel as scared of living near the coast.

[Muskavon]

Originally Posted by Alabadrock

^^^ Oooo, I read that. Loved the story I'm all for it. Not only would it aid in evacuation of the coast, it would of course add some economic growth to some of the more economically depressed areas.

Not to mention that when people feel like they can get away from a hurricane, they don't feel as scared of living near the coast.

Although a lot could change about where the highway would ultimately be (if it ever happens at all), the reason I thought it was "odd" was how far east in Baldwin County they are currently looking and not necessarily connecting up with the Foley Beach Expressway. As you say, that could certainly spur yet more growth across the county, further sprawling Pensacola and Mobile together....but the funny part to me is it actually seems like that route currently would actually be helping relieve problems for Pensacola area residents more than anyone else.

Of course, being a resident of P'cola and knowing my state will probably never actually help us get to I-65 in my children's lifetime, I guess I'm happy that Alabama keeps helping us out (first 4-laning Highway 113 and now maybe this).