Miami to join the super-skyscraper club x 2

One Bayfront Plaza (center) – Source: en.wikipedia.org

Just ten days ago I wrote about Philadelphia’s foray into the elite 1,000 foot skyscraper club. Well, Miami is about to join this illustrious group as well, but not with just one sky-high tower, but two. As a result, the American chapter of the super-skyscraper club will soon consist of New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Philadelphia, and now Miami. It won’t surprise this planner if more inductees join their ranks as a super-skyscraper boom is taking place around the globe. Can Dallas, Seattle, Austin, Charlotte, Denver, Boston, or even Detroit be far behind?

Source: miamirental.com/mapquest

Greater Miami has no shortage of skyscrapers. Up and down the Southeast Florida coastline skyscrapers have blossomed for many years. However, one factor that has limited the height of towers in many parts of downtown Miami is its proximity to the flight path for Miami International Airport. As a result, until recently the bar had been set below 1,000 feet. That has changed as the FAA recently approved building heights of up to 1,010 feet. In addition, at least one developer is requesting approval to 1,049 feet. Below is a list of the two proposed buildings, one of which have city approval to start construction.

Source: inhabitmaimi.com

• One Brickell City Centre Tower – proposed at 80 stories and 1,049 feet, is under review by the Miami City Commission.
• One Bayfront Plaza – approved at 80 stories and 1,010 feet, by the Miami City Commission (photo at top of post).

Add to these towers the planned 1,000 foot SkyRise Miami observation tower (see below) and the aesthetics and dynamics of Miami’s skyline are quickly changing.

SkyRise Miami (center) – Source: huffingtonpost.com

Images of Quiet Waters so grand

Source: hrwc.org

Yesterday, I had the honor of volunteering once again at the 19th Annual Quiet Waters Symposium (QWS) held at the Michigan State University Pavilion. This year I helped staff the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance booth for several hours. Even several feet of snow on the ground could not keep the attendees away from the symposium.

What I particularly enjoy is the way the QWS has grown from solely water-oriented recreation such as kayaking, canoeing, flatwater surfing, and sailing, to other non-motorized outdoor activities, including snowshoeing, bicycling, hiking, camping, cross-country skiing, bird watching, environmental education, and woodworking. Below are a several  photos of this fabulous environmental event that is always a top priority to attend.  Congratulations to all those who organized the 2014 QWS.

 

2013 event banner

A comedy genius passes

Source: collider.com

I can still clearly remember sitting in the historic Lafayette Theater in downtown Lafayette, Indiana and laughing until I cried while watching Animal House. I cannot count how many times I have used the term “double-secret probation” since that evening so many years ago. I had similar reactions while watching Vacation and Ghostbusters in the theater. Other personal favorites are Groundhog Day, Stripes, and Meatballs. The common thread of these hilarious films is the one and only Harold Ramis.

The world lost an irreplaceable comedy genius today and I for one will shed tears of sadness for society’s collective loss. Thank you for the many tears of joy, Mr. Ramis. May you enjoy as much happiness in Heaven as you shared with us here on Earth.

Philly joins the super-skyscraper club

Source: inhabit.com

Just a six years after completing the tallest building in Philadelphia, the Comcast Center at 974 feet, Comcast has announced plans for Philadelphia to join that elite group of cities around the world with skyscrapers exceeding the magical 1,000 foot threshold. Currently, New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, and Los Angeles are the American members of this group of high-fliers. If you count observation towers, Las Vegas joins the list too.

Source: corporate.comcast.com

The impressive 59 story, 1,121 foot tall tower (tentatively coined the Comcast Innovation and Technology Center) will contain approximately 1.5 million square feet of floor space and is due for completion in 2017.  To this urban planner, Philadelphia has garnered one of the most aesthetically pleasing skylines in North America since allowing new buildings to be constructed beyond the height of its 548 foot City Hall starting in 1987.  Based on the artist renderings of the new tower above, that trend of handsome, well-designed buildings appears to be continuing.

Thank you to Anthony for first making me aware of this news.

“Oblivion” – one hell of a sci-fi flick

Source: collider.com

We never got a chance to see Oblivion in the theaters last year, so Kathy and I watched the movie on dvd last night. Wow, what a terrific film! Oblivion is easily one of my all-time favorite science fiction films, likely second, behind Contact and Gravity. Beneath its apocalyptic tale and action sequences, Oblivion is a wonderful and inspiring love story.

Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman are excellent – best Tom Cruise movie since The Last Samurai in 2003. But the two characters that really captured my imagination, and in one case Tom’s, were Julia, who was played by Olga Kurylenko and Vika (Victoria) played by Andrea Riseborough.

Another favorite aspect of the film was the soundtrack by France’s M83 (see video below). All told, Oblivion is one hell of a great sci-fi movie, action movie, and romantic movie all rolled into one, but beware of the Scavengers.

Building blocks of fun – “The Lego Movie”

Okay, I admit it. I went and saw The Lego Movie over the weekend. Yes, it is a hilarious, visually astounding, and engaging movie. But, this film is much more than that. The Lego Movie actually has a sound plot and strong moral to its zany story. A moral that every parent or parent to be should try to see (and follow).

I thoroughly enjoyed The Lego Movie, particularly Will Arnett’s voice characterization of Batman, Will Ferrell’s performance, and the utterly amazing visual images and special effects. In many ways, I thought I was watching an animated film produced by the good people at Pixar; The Lego Movie that good! Kudos to Warner Brothers and the entire team that worked on The Lego Move.

“Ladies and gentlemen…The Beatles!”

Source: billboard.com

Tomorrow, February 9, 2014, is exactly 50 years to the day that The Beatles made their first appearance on American television – on the Ed Sullivan Show. Tonight, CBS, in conjunction with the Grammy’s, will be broadcasting a special celebrating that grand event, entitled The Night that Changed America. I can’t wait to watch it.

Thank you John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr for giving the world so many wonderful songs and lasting memories!

Here’s a treat – a video of a live performance in Washington, DC of “Please Please Me.”

Oh, what might have been…

Source: detroitcurbed.com

Here is a weblink to a fascinating blogpost by Christian Salcedo and Paul Beshouri about Detroit’s bid to host the 1968 Summer Olympics. I had no idea that Detroit had bid on hosting the olympics six different times and nearly won them in 1968.

As we all know, Mexico City won the opportunity, but one certainly has to wonder about what might have been (on a whole variety of levels), if Detroit, Michigan had been given this “golden” opportunity. Kudos to both authors on a great and thought-provoking post.

http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2014/02/the-68-games-detroits-unrealized-olympic-dreams.php

Turning bold visions into reality

Source: beltline.org

Kudos to Planning magazine for an insightful and interesting article in the January 2014 edition on the Atlanta BeltLine. Entitled, “Emerald Necklace, Southern Style,” author Alexander Garvin provides a terrific summary of this project by means of an excerpt from the soon to be published book, Planning Atlanta, which is due out in April.

This remarkable project of knitting neighborhoods and parks within the City of Atlanta together via trail and rail was the brainchild of then student Ryan Gravel. It must be quite rewarding to see his thesis become something other than a dusty memory on a bookshelf. Mr. Gravel and those who took up the challenge with him should be commended for their foresight and persistence. I am greatly looking forward to hearing much more about this exemplary project next week (Feb 13th) at APA Michigan’s “Transportation Bonanza” where Atlanta BeltLine President and CEO Paul Morris, FAICP will be making a formal presentation.

My only wish is that more cities around the country would have the guts to take a bold, sustainable concept and turn the vision into reality. So often, innovative ideas are cast off as whimsical, pie-in-the-sky, or unrealistic by those who are wholly entrenched in the status quo or can’t see beyond the end of their own nose. Too bad, because those narrow minded cities are likely destined for the trash pile of yesterday’s news.

Indy’s Cultural Trail – Source: midwestmla.org

Thankfully, such is not the case with Atlanta’s Beltline, or New York City’s High Line, or Blue Island’s Cal-Sag Trail, or Indy’s Cultural Trail or Detroit’s Dequindre Cut Greenway. Each of these projects stands out as a testament of good planning…projects that we as planners must celebrate as bold visions and as superlative achievements.

Dequindre Cut – source: modelmedia.com

From John Lennon to Mozart – airports named for famous musicians

Statue of John Lennon at Liverpool John Lennon airport – Source; anorak.co.uk

This blogpost is not about a new game akin to musical chairs, though given the number of commercial airports around some cities, musical airports might be a game some travelers must play on occasion.  Instead, it is about those commercial airports that have been named or renamed for well-known musicians and composers. There are more musical airport eponyms than you may think. Below is the list of ten that I have come up with, along with an eleventh identified by Xavier after publication. If you happen to know of any other commercial airports named for musicians/composers and other music-related persons, I would be pleased if you could pass them along. Enjoy!

Source: stuckattheairport.com

• Budapest, Hungary – Budapest Franz Liszt International Airport (renamed in 2011)
• Donetsk, Ukraine – Donetsk Sergei Prokofiev International Airport
• Liverpool, United Kingdom – Liverpool John Lennon International Airport (renamed in 2002)
• Mar Del Plata, Argentina – Astor Piazzolla International Airport (renamed in 2008)
• New Orleans, Louisiana – Louis Armstrong International Airport (renamed in 2001)
• Ostrava, Czech Republic – Leos Janacek Airport
• Parma Italy – Giuseppe Verdi Airport
• Rio De Janeiro, Brazil – Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (thank you Xavier for the addition)
• Poznan, Poland – Henryk Weiniawski Airport
• Salzburg, Austria – Wolfgang A. Mozart International Airport
• Warsaw, Poland – Warsaw Frederic Chopin International Airport (renamed in 2001)

One interesting tidbit – John Lennon actually worked at the Liverpool Airport for a short time when he was a young man. There is a statue of this famous founder of The Beatles overlooking the check-in hall, along with a quote (“above us only sky”) from his epic song Imagine, and an artistic “Yellow Submarine” at the airport’s entrance.

Source: stuckattheairport.com