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Lear Jan 8, 2010 7:12 PM

Top10 achievements of your city in the last decade
 
A decade is over. Time to summarize the most remarkable achievements of your city or metro area. Think about what was new, important, sustainable or outstanding. Consider new buildings, new infrastructure, new policies, new economic trends, new firms (& their products), new demographics & personalities or simply cite the most watched event....

Berlin

1. New Central Rail Station (Europes largest crossing point) opened in 2006 including several satellite stations around the city, creating a complete new system.

2. FIFA World Cup Final in 2006

3. Federal Chancellory (German White House) completed in 2001, first German woman chancellor (Merkel) takes office in 2005

4. Number of hotels doubled, congress and conventions profited, a massive tourism boom transformed Berlin and its economy

5. Many new embassies (UK, US, India) inaugurated.

6. Berlin became a hotbed for creative types, its culture industries rose, MTV Europe (and many others) relocated their headquarter to Berlin

7. World Championchips Athletics in 2009 (Usain Bolts World Record)

8. Renovation of the Museum Island went on, 3 (Unesco World Heritage) Museums rebuilt or modernized

9. An adminstrative reform in 2001 reduced the number of 23 districts to 12 large boroughs.

10. The first openly gay German politician, mayor Wowereit (since 2001) coined the city "poor but sexy" and transformed with his personality the image of Berlin. The city now stands for liberal attitudes in a newly reunified Europe (EU).

(Extra) US president candidate Obama holds a "citizen of the world speech" in front of 200.000 people in 2008.

Quixote Jan 8, 2010 8:22 PM

Los Angeles

1) LA County voters passed Measure R in November 2008, a half-percent sales tax increase that will pay for various transportation improvements over the course of the next 30 years.

2) The revitalization of Downtown saw hundreds (if not over a thousand) of loft conversions, more retail/dining/entertainment/nightlife options, a surge in population and convention center business, large-scale events (American Idol season finales, Grammys, Emmys, ESPYs, AMAs, Michael Jackson memorial, etc.), a few new shiny skyscrapers, and many ambitious plans to carry forward into the next decade.

3) The Red Line was extended to Hollywood, which subsequently gave birth to the Hollywood/Highland complex and in turn sparked the revitalization of Hollywood.

4) LA underwent a complete paradigm shift in urban planning, promoting dense and transit-oriented mixed-use developments -- aka "transit villages".

5) Crime rates plummeted for seven consecutive years, dipping to levels not seen since the 1960s.

6) Many of the professional sports teams had a lot of success, most notably the Lakers and their three consecutive NBA championships from 2000-2002; a new generation of Laker excellence was born.

7) LA's merits in culture and fashion were finally acknowledged.

8) LA learned that the NFL would finally return; the stadium proposal was approved and all that's needed now is for a team to commit.

9) A plan to modernize the international terminal at LAX was finally given the go-ahead; construction is to begin this month.

10) LA finished the decade on a note far better than the one it began on.

JDRCRASH Jan 8, 2010 8:29 PM

:banana:

mhays Jan 8, 2010 9:20 PM

Seattle:

1. Opened our first major light rail line and first extension (getting it that last segment to the airport).

2. Opened our first two commuter rail lines.

3. Passed $17.8 billion Sound Transit measure mostly for additional rail.

4. Passed two major increases in operational funding for Metro Transit (King County), the first to replace revenues lost in a statewide tax revolt and the second to add 19% more bus service to start 2009-2013.

5. Grouping here....The City of Seattle built a new central library and renovated / added to / rebuilt every branch library in Seattle; built a new city hall and neighboring justic center; is currently midway through the process of a fire station program similar to the libraries; is currently adding and improving parks all over town through the latest 9-figure bond measure (such as covering reservoirs with parks); rebuilt the opera house....basically the City has undergone the biggest decade in public facilities in generations.

6. Same with the Seattle School District. Several consecutive bond measures have resulted in facility upgrades throughout the district.

7. Continued a densification trend in both Seattle and in the suburbs, with infill being an ever-rising percentage of local growth.

8. New runway at Sea-Tac. This means the airport can operate dual runways in low-visibility weather, rather than just one. The result is dramatic improvement in on-time performance and basic capacity. Related to this is a substantial jump in overseas air routes, since airlines trust us to be open for landings.

9. Added more Amtrak trains per day to Vancouver and Portland via regional subsidies. Also continued to make small improvements (sidings, grade separations, etc.) to our very limited freight/passenger rail corridors.

10. Turned poor downtowns like Tacoma and Bremerton into much more active, viable, mixed-use, successful places, while turning Bellevue into a legitimate second regional downtown.

ue Jan 8, 2010 9:33 PM

Edmonton:

1-Electing Mandel

2-SLRT constructed

3- New Art Gallery of Alberta

4-Plan to close City Centre Airport

5-Revitalization of Alberta Avenue

6-Gentrification on 104 St

7-Expansion of International

8-First office tower over 100 m under construction since 1990

9-Hitting 1 million

10-Revitalization of Churchill Square.

huggkruka Jan 8, 2010 10:15 PM

Hmmm... a top ten? Here are a few, maybe a few more Öresund-livers can help me out? I guess I'm a bit centered on the Swedish side. ;) Here's what I liked about the 00's in Scania, Sweden.

1. The Öresund Bridge(2000) - This binational bridge/tunnel/artificial island construction connects Malmö and Copenhagen and fulfills a century-old vision. Undoubtebly the most important thing to happen in these parts. Southern Sweden and Denmark is now far more connected than southern Sweden and northern Sweden.

2. Turning Torso(2001) - Putting cities on the map must be one of the most well-known cliches of this decade. Malmö did its best by asking Santiago Calatrava design a highrise residential building based on one of his sculptures. Though it was hard to sell(apartments are rented, not sold as initially planned) and definately oversized, it is one of my favourite buildings, and a clear break from the boring NIMBYism in Sweden.

3. Västra Hamnen/Bo01(2001) - A housing fair turned residential area. Some nice and modern architecture. The area where Turning Torso is built, and also the center of a large harbour reclaimation.

That's it for me I'm afraid. The small town where I lived saw very little change; a large tourism boost because a popular book/movie series is set there, and the conversion of one of the town landmarks, a watertower, into unsellable apartments.

emathias Jan 8, 2010 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lear (Post 4641029)
A decade is over. Time to summarize the most remarkable achievements of your city or metro area. Think about what was new, important, sustainable or outstanding. Consider new buildings, new infrastructure, new policies, new economic trends, new firms (& their products), new demographics & personalities or simply cite the most watched event.
...

Chicago

1) An Illinois resident is elected to the U.S. Presidency for the second time, the first being the President who freed African-Americans from slavery, Abraham Lincoln, the second being an African-American (albeit with African ancestry that post-dates slavery), Barack Obama. He gives his acceptance speech in Grant Park to a crowd of thousands.

2) Millennium Park opens, quickly becoming a nationally-known "must see" attraction in Chicago for tourists and locals alike.

3) The Art Institute completes its Modern Wing, boosting its display space by about 25%.

4) The 2006 Gay Games are successfully hosted by Chicago.

5) Enormous investment in City schools, with mixed results, but much-improved infrastructure.

6) Chicago's transportation theme is "renovate," not "create." The century-old metro-style rail system, the "L", gets some serious investment, with the Douglas Branch of the Blue Line being completely renovated then routed differently to create the Pink Line - new name but using existing tracks, the Brown Line getting all stations extended to accomodate 8-car trains, both subways getting entirely new, more durable rails and ties, the Dan Ryan branch getting infrastructure improvements, several subway stations getting complete renovations, a physical connection between Red, Green and Orange trains built out for Roosevelt station, among other things. After a serious problem in the subway caused by a derailment, the CTA invested heavily in repairing tracks and reduced slow zones from over 20% to about 5%. The heavily-used Wacker Dr's east/west portion is completely rebuilt. The Dan Ryan expressway is rebuilt. Large portions of Lake Shore Drive are resurfaced.

7) Big news in airports as both big airports receive significant investment, with Midway getting a new terminal and O'Hare's new runway and layout getting well under way, and Mieg's, the City's third, minor airport, getting suddenly shuttered by Mayoral decree.

8) Not exactly sexy or known outside of Chicago, but the Deep Tunnel created to better handle flooding reaches significant milestones, but still has more to come to reach its full potential.

9) Big decade for Chicago musical scenes, with Lallapalooza hitching its destiny to Chicago, with current contracts giving Chicago at least a 13-year run as host city to the large music festival, and after 15 years at the helm of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim moves on in 2006, not officially replaced until this year, by Riccardo Muti.

10) Chicago's major commodity exchanges essentially, if not technically, merge, helping maintain Chicago as the center of the commodity trading universe. At least for now.

11) (bonus) Chicago Cubs baseball team is sold by the Tribune company.

Lear Jan 8, 2010 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westsidelife (Post 4641183)
Los Angeles

I certainly think the new Disney Concert Hall by Gehry stands out.
Basically it is the first truly iconic building I remember being situated in L.A.

Before that the only urban features I had in my imagination, were superlarge highway systems, Baywatch beaches and the Hollywood sign.

shane453 Jan 9, 2010 12:37 AM

Oklahoma City

1 - Passed funding for 6 miles of modern streetcar

2 - Construction began on new tallest building, 900 ft

3 - Construction began to replace downtown expressway with boulevard

4 - NBA team arrived

5 - Oklahoma River became respected international watersport venue

6 - Rebuilt all public schools in OKC district

7 - Downtown housing stock tripled

8 - Urban enclaves across the city flourished with new development

9 - Added a beautiful dome to the state capitol building

10 - We overcame our self-image problem and young people are starting to stay

mind field Jan 9, 2010 2:58 AM

Loving these summaries!

DETROIT

1. Compuware Corporation moves downtown from the suburbs anchoring the Campus Martius development with a flagship headquarters and about 4,000 office workers.

2. Campus Martius Park opens in the aforementioned Campus Martius development, creating a much needed and vibrant park in the heart of downtown.

3. The first sections of the riverwalk open from the convention center running a couple miles along the Detroit River. Eventually the riverwalk will be 6 miles in length and stretch from the Ambassador Bridge to Belle Isle.

4. Detroit hosts the superbowl in 2006, hosting a massive winter party called winter blast which draws hundreds of thousands downtown. The success of the event is bittersweet, as empty storefronts became makeshift bars teeming with people, yet there were a couple murders downtown that weekend which the national media chose not to focus on or blow out of proportion.

5. The former Book Cadillac hotel in the heart of downtown and standing empty since 1984 is reborn by a Cleveland based developer into a Westin Hotel and upper floor condos. The building was considered by many to be downtowns largest and most prominent symbol of blight as it is 31 stories tall.

6. Detroit hosts it's 300th birthday celebration in 2001 with many events downtown, including a tall ships parade on the Detroit River.

7. Downtown stadiums for the Lions and Tigers open side by side, with the Lions moving downtown from the Pontiac Silverdome. Detroit's Red Wings win the Stanley Cup in 2002 and 2008 hosting a giant championship parade on Woodward and subsequent rally at Hart Plaza downtown.

8. General Motors Corp. transformation of it's downtown headquarters at the Renaissance Center finishes making the complex far more user friendly and open to the rest of downtown.


9. The media exposes former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in scandal after scandal involving countless abuses of power and misuse of city funds.

10. 3 casinos open permanent facilities downtown after having opened temporary facilities earlier in the decade. The facilities boost downtown's hotel space by over a thousand rooms.

NYC4Life Jan 9, 2010 3:24 AM

New York City :)


1- NYC Begins to recover after 9/11 and showed the world its resiliency.

2- Amazing decline in the crime rate.

3- Two new baseball stadiums open (Yankee Stadium & Citi Field).

4- Construction begins on the long delayed Second Avenue subway.

5- Times Square is revitalized.

6- Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island closes.

7- The boroughs all experience massive urban renewals.

8- NYC launches campaign to reduce pollution and become green.

9- The miracle on the Hudson.

10- Biggest construction boom in decades.

DBR96A Jan 9, 2010 5:00 AM

PITTSBURGH

1. Host city of the G20 Summit (2009)

2. The greater Pittsburgh area avoids the brunt of the nation's housing calamity (2008)

3. First-ever Allegheny County Executive is sworn into office (2000)

4. The new David L. Lawrence Convention Center opens (2003)

5. Three PNC Plaza is the first new skyscraper in over 20 years (2009)

6. Carnegie-Mellon University is named a "New Ivy" (2006)

7. Westinghouse Electric begins a hiring binge (2007)

8. Dick's Sporting Goods and American Eagle Outfitters become successful national retailers (2000-2009)

9. Super Bowl and Stanley Cup championships in the same calendar year (2009)

10. Heinz Field and PNC Park open (2001)

Jasonhouse Jan 9, 2010 5:29 AM

When a Top 3 thread comes along, maybe then Tampa can participate. Top 10 is way too many, unless I get to count hosting sporting events, or erecting giant rebel flags as an 'achievement'.

MonkeyRonin Jan 9, 2010 6:09 AM

Toronto, in no particular order:

1. 280 new high-rises constructed, mostly due to a booming inner-city population.

2. 1 million new residents in the GTA.

3. Green belt limiting sprawl.

4. Architecture - exemplified by the likes of the ROM, AGO, OCAD, Opera House, Gardiner Museum. More importantly, a general greater civic awareness of and importance placed on quality design than ever before.

5. Yonge & Dundas, transforming a formerly trashy corner into a thriving public space and the city/country's busiest pedestrian crossing.

6. New, highly successful events like Luminato and Nuit Blanche.

7. Thriving local music, literary and art scene.

8. The beginning of the waterfront redevelopment.

9. The beginning of the Transit City project and increased investment in transit, as well as bike lanes/infrastructure.

10. Generally the city having "come of age", so to speak. Kind of hard to explain, but pretty much any Torontonian can attest to it (also see all of the above).

isaidso Jan 9, 2010 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin (Post 4641969)
Toronto, in no particular order:

I was going to take a stab at it, but you did a good job summarizing the major points.

Tom In Chicago Jan 9, 2010 8:06 PM

CHICAGO

Four specific action plans that have been important to the city of Chicago's recent successful achievements. . .
- City of Chicago Central Area Plan :: This is the foremost important plan guiding large scale commercial development and high density residential housing around transit infrastructure in the central area of the city. . .

- The Burnham Plan Centennial :: Reinforcing Daniel Burnham's legacy on regional planning and "green" planning initiatives. . .

- Chicago Metropolis 2020 :: A steering committee of commercial and civic leaders to ensure the preeminence of the Chicagoland region

- Chicago Climate Action Plan :: A task force created to study and implement guidelines for a more efficient and environmentally conscious urban development. . .
In part because of these plans the following achievements have been accomplished:
- Merger of the Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Group) with subsequent acquisition of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) creates the worlds largest futures market. . .

- Loop TIFF district incentives help lure Boeing, Miller-Coors, United Airlines to relocate their corporate offices to downtown Chicago. . .

- Commercial sponsorship with the help of business leaders allow for significant investment in civic works projects which help create $500,000,000.00 Millennium Park. . .

- Chicago O'Hare International Airport expansion moves forward with opening of new runway and continued expansion of airfield to the west including a new control tower and infrastructure to accommodate additional runway reconfigurations. . .

- Focus on Chicago's waterways is evidenced in creation of ~2,000 docks/slips, to existing ~5,000, in 3 new marinas along lakeshore along with construction of new pier over a half-mile in length over the dilapidated Dime Pier south of Navy Pier. . . Chicago river-walk development moving forward in phased construction, water-taxi and river-bus service booms along with architectural tour-boat traffic and new skyscrapers (Trump International Hotel & Tower, 300 North LaSalle) including river-front amenities in their designs. . .

- Chicago Park District focus on redeveloping parks and adaptive reuse of under-utilized spaces by building skateboard parks, fixing up dilapidated areas such as the south end of Grant Park, parts of Lincoln Park along Belmont/Diversey and the Garfield Park Conservatory as well as the creation of Museum Park which resulted in the re-routing of Lakeshore Drive and the redevelopment of Soldier Field. . .

- Large scale residential 'planned developments' flourish in central area. . . Lakeshore East, Central Station, River East, Fulton Station etc. . .

- Building heights virtually unopposed by local community for new residential towers in central area - Chicago Spire, Trump International, Waterview Tower, Aqua, Legacy at millennium Park, One Museum Park etc.

- Great new structures from star-chitects Frank Gehry, REM Koolhaas, Renzo Piano, Anish Kapoor as well as locals Helmut Jahn and Adrian Smith etc.

- University student population booms with expansions of DePaul University, Columbia College, Roosevelt University and School of the Art Institute Loop campuses including a new 32 storey high-rise dormatory scheduled to begin construction in 2010. . .
. . .

PhillyRising Jan 9, 2010 8:13 PM

Philadelphia

1. First population increase after 60 years of decline.

2. Comcast Center becomes new tallest

3. Numerous condo projects are built in the city.

4. Phillies end 25 year major championship drought!

5. Sports Complex is transformed with two new venues.

6. Kimmel Center opens on South Broad Street

7. The Pennsylvania Convention Center given the green light to expand.

8. Schuylkill Banks is developed giving Center City a second usable waterfront.

9. Philadelphia International Airport sees significant growth and expansion.

10. Hosted a major politcal convention (but don't blame us for Bush getting elected).

KVNBKLYN Jan 9, 2010 8:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYC4Life (Post 4641781)
New York City :)

1- NYC Begins to recover after 9/11 and showed the world its resiliency.

2- Amazing decline in the crime rate.

3- Two new baseball stadiums open (Yankee Stadium & Citi Field).

4- Construction begins on the long delayed Second Avenue subway.

5- Times Square is revitalized.

6- Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island closes.

7- The boroughs all experience massive urban renewals.

8- NYC launches campaign to reduce pollution and become green.

9- The miracle on the Hudson.

10- Biggest construction boom in decades.

Great list! Here's my personal take on NYC's top ten achievements of the past decade (in no particular order):

1. Renewal of the transit system: multiple subway stations renovated, thousands of new subway cars added with digital displays and automated announcements; and new low-floor hybrid buses added to the network.

2. New lines and stations opened or under construction: Secaucus transfer station added, Hudson-Bergen light rail opened, Queens Boulevard to 63rd Street tunnel connection opened (an achievement no matter what you think of the V train), new South Ferry Station opened, Airtrain JFK opened and Airtrain Newark extended to a new NJT rail station. First phase of Second Avenue subway under construction, extension of the 7 train to the Javits Center under construction, LIRR extension to Grand Central under construction, and the second train tunnel under the Hudson is either already under construction or about to start.

3. Opening of new city parks: the High Line, the Hudson River Park, East River Park in Williamsburg, to name a few. Continued renovation of the landscape and buildings of Central and Prospect Parks. Major renovation of Madison Square Park and Washington Square Park. Plus numerous renovations of existing small parks throughout the city.

4. New and expanded museums: the new New Museum, the new Museum of Art and Design, the new Folk Art Museum, expansion of the Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn Museum, opening of the Dia:Beacon.

5. Lots of tall buildings added to the skyline including Bank of America, New York Times, Seven World Trade Center, Hearst Tower, etc.

6. Lots of starchitect-designed buildings, including: Richard Meier's Perry Street towers, Frank Gehry's ICA, Herzog and de Meuron's Bond Street apartments, Morphosis' Cooper Union building, etc.

7. Strong population growth for an already very large city. New York is now 6% or 471,753 people larger than it was at its previous census peak of 7.8 million in 1950 and 18% or 1,292,071 people larger than at its recent population low in 1980. The 2008 population estimate is for 8,363,710 people.

8. Continued expansion of the city's historic districts and related restoration of of NYC's architectural heritage.

9. Better retail and better food shopping options. This may seem a little strange to outsiders, but the New York of 10 years ago (to say nothing of the NY of 20 years ago) lacked necessary, neighborhood-serving retail outside a few wealthy areas. Buying edible fresh vegetables (as compared to the dusty, wilted variety sold at most bodegas and C-Towns) has gotten much easier thanks to the expansion of green markets around the city and the now ubiquitous Whole Foods. Buying electronics has gotten easier with the spread of national chain retailers. Many predicted the entrance of national chains into the city would destroy its retail character, but quite the opposite has happened as independent stores are thriving all over the city.

10. And despite the fact that it's far from finished and seems to be taking forever, I think that anything has happened at all at the World Trade Center site is a pretty big accomplishment given the extent of the devastation and incredible complexity of how the disparate elements interweave and overlap. They may build them faster and bigger in Dubai, but it's also ALOT easier to build in the open desert than on a few acres in one of the most dense places on the planet.

JDRCRASH Jan 9, 2010 8:37 PM

When is that huge sewage and water system project gonna be completed in Chicago?

Lear Jan 9, 2010 8:57 PM

Great results so far,
but where are the experts for Washington, San Francisco, London, Paris etc. ???


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