HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > United States > Pacific West > Portland > Downtown & City of Portland


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #221  
Old Posted Jan 6, 2009, 8:55 AM
65MAX's Avatar
65MAX 65MAX is offline
Karma Police
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: People's Republic of Portland
Posts: 2,138
The Space needle isn't in "downtown" Seattle, but tourists have no problem getting to it. In fact, if it was downtown, several of those towers would be looking DOWN at the Space Needle. It's better if an observation tower is slightly removed from the taller buildings in town.

Also, putting the SMART Tower in the RQ would instantly make it more accessible than the Space Needle ever was (or will be). I mean, how many MAX trains stop at Rose Quarter? Oh yeah, every single one of them. EVERY Red, Blue, Yellow and Green line train will stop there.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #222  
Old Posted Jan 7, 2009, 6:58 PM
PDX City-State PDX City-State is offline
Well designed mixed use
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: under the Burnside Bridge
Posts: 1,589
I don't think the Space Needle should be the example here. Great building? I think so, but the area is an absolute wasteland.

Plus, don't forget that Seattle has far more tourists than Portland. For tourists, it has far more to offer. I don't think that (or Seattle in general) is much to aspire to.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #223  
Old Posted Jan 7, 2009, 7:22 PM
PacificNW PacificNW is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Arizona
Posts: 3,116
Wasteland? You have got to be kidding... Thousands of Seattle residents utilize the center, in someway, everyday. In addition there are huge changes planned for the center to bring even more activity...especially since the NBA or minor league hockey no longer play @ Key Arena.

Last edited by PacificNW; Jan 7, 2009 at 7:39 PM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #224  
Old Posted Jan 7, 2009, 9:32 PM
nobody nobody is offline
Ah-choo.
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Portland
Posts: 433
I lived in Seattle for a year, in Belltown actually which more or less butts up against the Space Needle and that whole little district. It seriously is a wasteland. There are field trips and things to the museums around there during the day, but in the evening the whole area is just frightening, honestly. I used to walk past it to QFC to get my groceries at least a couple times a week and I never once did anything there.

I don't know any Seattle residents that have ever gone there outside of some random special occasion.

I'd hate to see the SMART Tower modeled after the Space Needle and surrounding area.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #225  
Old Posted Jan 7, 2009, 9:38 PM
alexjon's Avatar
alexjon alexjon is offline
Bears of antiquity
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Downtown/First Hill, Seattle, WA
Posts: 8,340
I've worked in Belltown for over a year now and I see plenty of people going to the Seattle Center, if only to sit on a bench or get a bite to eat.
__________________
"The United States is in no way founded upon the Christian religion." -- George Washington & John Adams in a diplomatic message to Malta
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #226  
Old Posted Jan 7, 2009, 10:08 PM
PacificNW PacificNW is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Arizona
Posts: 3,116
I have to respectfully disagree with you nobody.....I have lived in Seattle for over 20 years. For the most part I lived on Queen Anne, and Cap. Hill. Granted, unless there is an event scheduled at night (Key Arena sporting event or concert, Opera or Ballet, as examples) the center can be very quiet. During the day however, week days and weekends, it can be very busy with non scheduled events, as well as with scheduled events such the Folklife Festival and Bumbershoot. It does need upgrading and the city of Seattle is finalizing such plans. They are looking at all sorts of options including permanent housing, re-doing the Centre House, updating (again) Key Arena for a future NBA team, and eliminating the awful carnival and Memorial Stadium. It is a very valuable piece of real estate for Seattle. BTW, each time I have visited the center (during different times of the day and day of the week) there was a lot of activity.....this all in the course of the 20+ years I lived there.

Last edited by PacificNW; Jan 7, 2009 at 11:16 PM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #227  
Old Posted Jan 7, 2009, 11:11 PM
PacificNW PacificNW is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Arizona
Posts: 3,116
Also, not to beat a dead horse, but Seattle Center is also home to the largest based "equity theater" in the Northwest: Intiman, Recipient of the 2006 Tony Award® for Outstanding Regional Theatre. The Rose Quarter could use "such activity". I hardly consider the Seattle Center a wasteland. Now can we get back to the discussing the SMART Tower??? ..

Last edited by PacificNW; Jan 8, 2009 at 5:18 AM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #228  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2009, 7:32 PM
nobody nobody is offline
Ah-choo.
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Portland
Posts: 433
Different strokes for different folks I'm sure. Both of us have personal accounts so I'm sure they're both valid. I also worked from home in Seattle so I didn't really get out with the daytime crowd, which I assume is where the lion's share of visitors come from. *shrug*
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #229  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2009, 9:59 PM
PDX City-State PDX City-State is offline
Well designed mixed use
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: under the Burnside Bridge
Posts: 1,589
I just don't see it as a vital area. It's cut off from Belltown by some fast-moving traffic arterials, and until very recently, there were wasn't much housing even close to it. There are restaurants over there, and in Lower Queen Anne, but it's just not very vital...not like other Seattle neighborhoods. So I guess our disagreement lies in our definition of vital. That said, if you see the Seattle Center as a good example of urban design, then I would have to question your taste...with all due respect.

Look the most successful neighborhood redevelopments and what they all have in common: people. From the Pearl to Belltown to South Lake Union to Capitol Hill to Tribeca, it has been the construction and redevelopment of true mixed-use neighborhoods had have spurred activity. The cardinal rule in real estate investment is this: money follows people. If you want something to succeed, build it near where people live and or work. Now, if the relocation of the SMART Tower were to accompany the destruction of Memorial Coliseum (Yes it's a great building, but it sits empty and sits on land that could be redeveloped into thousands of housing units), then do it.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #230  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2009, 11:08 PM
urbanlife's Avatar
urbanlife urbanlife is offline
A before E
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Milwaukie, Oregon
Posts: 11,752
Quote:
Originally Posted by PDX City-State View Post
I just don't see it as a vital area. It's cut off from Belltown by some fast-moving traffic arterials, and until very recently, there were wasn't much housing even close to it. There are restaurants over there, and in Lower Queen Anne, but it's just not very vital...not like other Seattle neighborhoods. So I guess our disagreement lies in our definition of vital. That said, if you see the Seattle Center as a good example of urban design, then I would have to question your taste...with all due respect.

Look the most successful neighborhood redevelopments and what they all have in common: people. From the Pearl to Belltown to South Lake Union to Capitol Hill to Tribeca, it has been the construction and redevelopment of true mixed-use neighborhoods had have spurred activity. The cardinal rule in real estate investment is this: money follows people. If you want something to succeed, build it near where people live and or work. Now, if the relocation of the SMART Tower were to accompany the destruction of Memorial Coliseum (Yes it's a great building, but it sits empty and sits on land that could be redeveloped into thousands of housing units), then do it.
not to step on anyone's toes about this, but I think I see the issue you two are having. You keep referring to the Seattle Center as a poor example of a neighborhood, but I am pretty sure that area was never intended to be a neighborhood. It is a great location to pack in museums and science centers. The Seattle Center is meant to be more of a gathering place for all of Seattle and tourists that visit, which is much different than a neighborhood...though there are similar characteristics in both.

Do I think the Seattle Center is designed well...not totally, I like some things about it, but its overall is a bit disappointing, but I havent been through there in a few years. But the Space Needle reads much better being away from downtown and does create a beacon in the city, I usually look for it when I get turned around because when I can see it, I know my place in the city.


I actually wish Portland had something like this...sort of because I hate having our OMSI on the other side of the river. It would be nice to have an area where all of this sort of bunched together....well thinking about it, it would of required better planning with the superblocks at the south end of downtown, which would of made plenty of sense turning that into a huge cultural center.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #231  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2009, 11:32 PM
PacificNW PacificNW is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Arizona
Posts: 3,116
PDX City-State: I don't know whether I should appreciate your "questioning my taste", or not. By all means feel free to disagree with me but please don't make it personal. Even though I find many of you comments on this forum a bit "critical", or "negative", I do read them because they (for the most part ) make me look at things differently.

Last edited by PacificNW; Jan 9, 2009 at 3:15 AM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #232  
Old Posted Aug 31, 2009, 5:29 PM
Sioux612's Avatar
Sioux612 Sioux612 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 539
It's been almost an entire year since this project came to light and it was the last we heard of the project.

Is this being re-designed, stalled, or canceled?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #233  
Old Posted Aug 31, 2009, 6:13 PM
urbanlife's Avatar
urbanlife urbanlife is offline
A before E
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Milwaukie, Oregon
Posts: 11,752
I say this can probably be filed into the "big dream" category for now.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #234  
Old Posted May 30, 2019, 5:44 PM
ArchGuy1 ArchGuy1 is online now
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 292
Waterfront Observation Tower

I feel that the observation tower that was proposed on the waterfront of Downtown Portland about 10 years ago should be revived and built. People should go to city hall to convince the city to encourage the developers behind the proposal to have the project built. I feel that such a tower would become an iconic landmark and major tourist attraction for Portland.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #235  
Old Posted May 30, 2019, 11:34 PM
eric cantona's Avatar
eric cantona eric cantona is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 670
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArchGuy1 View Post
I feel that the observation tower that was proposed on the waterfront of Downtown Portland about 10 years ago should be revived and built. People should go to city hall to convince the city to encourage the developers behind the proposal to have the project built. I feel that such a tower would become an iconic landmark and major tourist attraction for Portland.
As far as I understand it, the developer (Derek Hanna) skipped town after stiffing a bunch of consultants on various projects. I know this because I was among the stiffed.

The whole thing was also predicated on a a shitload of parking in the tower. Not too cool in the current climactic conundrum we find ourselves in.

More info: http://djcoregon.com/news/2008/09/16...terfront-park/
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #236  
Old Posted May 31, 2019, 9:35 PM
urbanlife's Avatar
urbanlife urbanlife is offline
A before E
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Milwaukie, Oregon
Posts: 11,752
Quote:
Originally Posted by eric cantona View Post
As far as I understand it, the developer (Derek Hanna) skipped town after stiffing a bunch of consultants on various projects. I know this because I was among the stiffed.

The whole thing was also predicated on a a shitload of parking in the tower. Not too cool in the current climactic conundrum we find ourselves in.

More info: http://djcoregon.com/news/2008/09/16...terfront-park/
That sucks you are among those that got screwed over by this guy, I was wondering what happened to him since his name seemed to have disappeared years ago.

This project was definitely one of the more outlandish ideas I have ever seen, though recently with all the new developing going on along the inner eastside, I am really thinking it would be cool to see a new tallest building happen somewhere between Lloyd District and the East Burnside Bridgehead area that would also have an observation deck to look out over the city and surroundings. It would be quite a view from that location.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #237  
Old Posted Jun 1, 2019, 3:00 AM
ArchGuy1 ArchGuy1 is online now
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 292
Quote:
Originally Posted by urbanlife View Post
That sucks you are among those that got screwed over by this guy, I was wondering what happened to him since his name seemed to have disappeared years ago.

This project was definitely one of the more outlandish ideas I have ever seen, though recently with all the new developing going on along the inner eastside, I am really thinking it would be cool to see a new tallest building happen somewhere between Lloyd District and the East Burnside Bridgehead area that would also have an observation deck to look out over the city and surroundings. It would be quite a view from that location.
Maybe revive the SMART Tower.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #238  
Old Posted Jun 2, 2019, 5:21 AM
urbanlife's Avatar
urbanlife urbanlife is offline
A before E
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Milwaukie, Oregon
Posts: 11,752
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArchGuy1 View Post
Maybe revive the SMART Tower.
Nah, that proposal was a horrible idea.
Reply With Quote
     
     
End
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > United States > Pacific West > Portland > Downtown & City of Portland
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 11:27 PM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.