NEW ORLEANS | Project/Development Thread

[Reverend_Cletus]

[annie himself]

Originally Posted by IceCream

Other cool thing out there was Alamo Drafthouse where you go get drunk and watch movies. How would that not work in New Orleans??? And it's not super high end "drink and watch movies" like Canal place, but more like Bulldog level with a cinema.

I've wondered why they have not expanded into Louisiana. They are here in Houston but would work very well in Louisiana.

[conarten11]

there's a reason that there are so many "beer gardens" in Austin. it all has to do with regulation.

In Austin, they recently made it illegal to smoke in bars or restaurants. but, almost half of austinites smoke (at least cigarettes) or have a buddy that smokes. So, now every bar in Austin has to have some sort of outdoor smoking area or it will go out of business, and if you go to most bars you'll find more people outside in the smoking section than inside the bar.

also, in the state of Texas, it is illegal to take a drink out of the establishment you bought it from and it is illegal to drink on the street (exception being during official festivals). therefore, you can't really have those drink windows you see in New Orleans. also, by state law, any place in Texas that serves alcohol is required to offer a bathroom to its customers.

so, there evolved this idea of opening up outdoor only bars in an ally between two buildings, in a vacant lot, or in the yard behind some other building. all you need is a fence or something to control access, some 2x4's and some tin roofing above your bar (bars have to legally be covered), and to pay the building next door let your customers use their bathrooms.

so all the people who smoke in Austin (vast majority, i'd say) and the people they drink with frequent these places despite the unbearable Austin climate. also, because of low overhead, these bars tend to be less expensive than traditional establishments and are therefore frequented by a lot of non-smokers as well.

that being said, i'm sure this idea can take off in New Orleans. especially in the neighborhoods where there are some vacant lots. but not sure how the laws would help/hinder.

[SlidellWx]

Wal-Mart has acquired the old Lakeland Medical Center and will be building a Super Center at the site. Big news for those living in New Orleans East. There was also an article on the Free People store opening up on Magazine St. Good to see some more national retailers moving into the region.

Walmart to open store in eastern New Orleans

After a six-year absence from eastern New Orleans, Walmart is buying land at I-10 and Bullard Avenue and plans to open an 180,000-square-foot store in the fall of 2013. The new store, on the site of the old Lakeland Medical Center at 6000 Bullard, will bring much-needed retail to the east, addressing a major obstacle for people who wanted to return.

It also addresses a huge inconvenience for the tens of thousands of residents who have returned east of the Industrial Canal. Residents had been relegated to shopping for groceries and general home products in Chalmette or even Metairie.

http://www.nola.com/business/index.s...stern_new.html

[tennis1400]

Its just Wal Mart but the confidence this will give other businesses to move east of the canal is a big deal. Good news for that area of the city!

New Bidclerk item that appears to be for some sort of new water park feature at the Aquarium:

[New project.] 1772172 New Orleans, LA Playgrounds / Parks / Athletic Fields 12/20/2011
Description Audubon Commission invites bids from qualified general contractors to build a new playground, water feature and landscaping at Woldenberg Riverfront Park, 1 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70130. Bids are due on or before December 22, 2011 at 2:00 pm...Click here for complete Project Details


Updates on the corner of Washington Ave and Broad

http://www.nolacitycouncil.com/content/display.asp?id=54&nid={2DCAC6A8-F397-4AFA-82AB-25951EDC82C0}

Cool new concept restaurant coming to the bottom floor of the Receivables Exchange:

http://doylerestaurantgroup.com/port...strot-automat/

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by tennis1400

Its just Wal Mart but the confidence this will give other businesses to move east of the canal is a big deal. Good news for that area of the city!

New Bidclerk item that appears to be for some sort of new water park feature at the Aquarium:

[New project.] 1772172 New Orleans, LA Playgrounds / Parks / Athletic Fields 12/20/2011
Description Audubon Commission invites bids from qualified general contractors to build a new playground, water feature and landscaping at Woldenberg Riverfront Park, 1 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70130. Bids are due on or before December 22, 2011 at 2:00 pm...Click here for complete Project Details

]

Agreed Re: The East.

I'd guess that the water feature would be some kind of splash pad (one of those things where kids run onto it and then all the fountains come on)

[Chris from N.O.]

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.s...s_ordinan.html

Still can't figure out how binding any of this really is.

[Uptowner]

Originally Posted by Chris from N.O.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.s...s_ordinan.html

Still can't figure out how binding any of this really is.

What do you mean?

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Uptowner

What do you mean?

Exceptions are authorized for roads on which walking and cycling are prohibited, those where there is no demand for such activities and those where accommodating all users would raise a project's cost by more than 20 percent.

Probably something like this. Who decides when there's "no demand" for walking/biking/transit?

Complete Streets legislation was spurred in part by needless pedestrian fatalities that happened in places with "no demand". As far as I can tell, this is just the same shit, different day.

[Chris from N.O.]

This^

[Chris from N.O.]

Just read the restaurant article (@Tennis)- automated paninis... mmm...

[Uptowner]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Probably something like this. Who decides when there's "no demand" for walking/biking/transit?

Probably whatever engineer does the initial study, the firm doing traffic counts, or sadly some politician.

Complete Streets legislation was spurred in part by needless pedestrian fatalities that happened in places with "no demand". As far as I can tell, this is just the same shit, different day.

Not saying the project will be an improvement or make a difference, but give it a chance. Where has money been spent on ped facilities w/ no demand outside of the ADA sidewalks that they've been laying everywhere and I'm sure they have some type of demand. I haven't even seem a useless bike lane layed yet.

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by Uptowner

What do you mean?

Originally Posted by ardecila

Probably something like this. Who decides when there's "no demand" for walking/biking/transit?

Complete Streets legislation was spurred in part by needless pedestrian fatalities that happened in places with "no demand". As far as I can tell, this is just the same shit, different day.

Originally Posted by Uptowner

Probably whatever engineer does the initial study, the firm doing traffic counts, or sadly some politician.



Not saying the project will be an improvement or make a difference, but give it a chance. Where has money been spent on ped facilities w/ no demand outside of the ADA sidewalks that they've been laying everywhere and I'm sure they have some type of demand. I haven't even seem a useless bike lane layed yet.

Speaking for myself, I am hopeful that it actually means something. I was skeptical about the bike lanes at first but they really are working.

Merry Christmas everyone.

[NOLAmike]

Originally Posted by Chris from N.O.

Speaking for myself, I am hopeful that it actually means something. I was skeptical about the bike lanes at first but they really are working.

Merry Christmas everyone.

When building new infrastructure like this its hard to gauge demand because infrastructure normally creates or precedes demand in these cases. I know this can be hard to grasp, but the same happens with highway construction and suburbs, or metro construction and transit oriented developments. I have a feeling the more "complete" a network of bike lanes we have in new orleans, the more incentive there will be to ride on bicycle. Right now there's not too much incentive to go any distance on bike in a lot of places in town because the roads either beat up your bike or you're in the middle of the road with cars trying to go 45mph right next to you. I'm really pleased with all the work they're doing on bike lanes in Gentilly, I hope its expanding well like that in other parts of town. I'm on vacation right now in Bogotá, Colombia and the system of off road bike lanes and bus system they have here is VERY impressive. If yall are bike enthusiasts, I recommend yall check it out

[Blitzen]

No one's mentioned the old St. Louis Hotel at 730 Bienville Street is being renovated and converted into the new 102-room Hotel Mazarin. The opening is scheduled for Dec 28th.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the...tel-2011-12-06

http://hotelmazarin1-px.trvlclick.com/

[ardecila]

Hotel turnover is kind of a boring topic from my perspective, unless they add some new dining concept or something.

New hotels like the Saint are a lot more exciting, especially when they activate old unused buildings and draw activity to quiet and/or dead areas.

[tennis1400]

It may be boring but ultimately having a modern hotel stock is crucial when meeting planners look to cities to have their conventions in. I think there is a new dining concept in there too.

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by NOLAmike

When building new infrastructure like this its hard to gauge demand because infrastructure normally creates or precedes demand in these cases. I know this can be hard to grasp, but the same happens with highway construction and suburbs, or metro construction and transit oriented developments. I have a feeling the more "complete" a network of bike lanes we have in new orleans, the more incentive there will be to ride on bicycle. Right now there's not too much incentive to go any distance on bike in a lot of places in town because the roads either beat up your bike or you're in the middle of the road with cars trying to go 45mph right next to you. I'm really pleased with all the work they're doing on bike lanes in Gentilly, I hope its expanding well like that in other parts of town. I'm on vacation right now in Bogotá, Colombia and the system of off road bike lanes and bus system they have here is VERY impressive. If yall are bike enthusiasts, I recommend yall check it out

Yep. "Build it and they will come". Judging by the number of idiot bikers who think they belong in traffic lanes (2 wide on the Broad St. overpass today), I'd say they're well-incentivized enough.

[ardecila]

Cyclists DO belong in traffic lanes. Louisiana law encourages cyclists to ride in the rightmost traffic lane, as far to the right as possible, but you're allowed to move leftward to avoid obstacles. I got pulled over by a cop once for moving leftward to cut a smooth line through a pothole-strewn block that has given me flat tires in the past. Fortunately he let me off with a warning (I would have contested a citation and won) but more irritating was his attitude that he understood the law and I didn't.

It's actually safer for all parties involved when the cyclist "takes the lane" and occupies the center of the lane. Quite a bit of fatalities occur when a driver attempts to share the same lane space as a cyclist and cuts it too close. Some state laws allow for "taking the lane", usually with stipulations that prohibit cyclists in the left (faster) lanes, giving drivers a safe way to pass on wider roads. Louisiana law does not currently allow for this except in the case of an obstacle, or in special shared-use zones (indicated by chevron-shaped roadway markings called sharrows).

I'm all for reining in reckless cycling but I'm against putting cyclists in dangerous positions to shave a few seconds off the travel time of drivers. Bike lanes are ideal but they will never cover every block of every major street in New Orleans. Bridges and viaducts especially, because the structure usually isn't wide enough for a bike lane without removing an auto lane.

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Cyclists DO belong in traffic lanes. Louisiana law encourages cyclists to ride in the rightmost traffic lane, as far to the right as possible, but you're allowed to move leftward to avoid obstacles. I got pulled over by a cop once for moving leftward to cut a smooth line through a pothole-strewn block that has given me flat tires in the past. Fortunately he let me off with a warning (I would have contested a citation and won) but more irritating was his attitude that he understood the law and I didn't.

It's actually safer for all parties involved when the cyclist "takes the lane" and occupies the center of the lane. Quite a bit of fatalities occur when a driver attempts to share the same lane space as a cyclist and cuts it too close. Some state laws allow for "taking the lane", usually with stipulations that prohibit cyclists in the left (faster) lanes, giving drivers a safe way to pass on wider roads. Louisiana law does not currently allow for this except in the case of an obstacle, or in special shared-use zones (indicated by chevron-shaped roadway markings called sharrows).

I'm all for reining in reckless cycling but I'm against putting cyclists in dangerous positions to shave a few seconds off the travel time of drivers. Bike lanes are ideal but they will never cover every block of every major street in New Orleans. Bridges and viaducts especially, because the structure usually isn't wide enough for a bike lane without removing an auto lane.

That's great and all, but why should I have to drive 5 miles an hour just so cyclists can enjoy the view of the mansions of St. Charles avenue from the middle of the street? Your answer makes sense, it's really the inconsiderate nature of some of the cyclists' actions that I'm complaining about. Why can't they just ride on the sidewalk?