Top10 achievements of your city in the last decade

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ I agree, but motives don't necessarily have anything to do with results.

As I mentioned above, a strategy to curb the subsidization of the car, coupled with investments in mass transit and proper land usage, can certainly be beneficial and even increase a city's access to a much larger population of people.

Look, I agree that getting people out of cars and onto transit should be a priority. But the way this has been handled here is an abomination by all accounts. And citing a bungled firesale as "The Single Greatest Accomplishment" of the past 10 years is a joke and nothing more than being controversial just for controversy's sake.

[SouthmoreAve]

Originally Posted by urbanactivistTX

My Top 10 for the city of Houston (NOOO... Enron, Allison or Ike did not make the list!!)

10) Construction of the cities' sports facilities in downtown. Minute Maid Park (2000) and Toyota Center (2003) were constructed in downtown, creating a dependable area of interest for what was a barren wasteland of parking lots. This has proven to be one critical piece of re-energizing downtown Houston.

9) The construction of Reliant Stadium and the return of a major football franchise. Damn, the Texans are frustrating, but I’m still glad we’ve got ‘em. Reliant Arena was finished in 2003.

8) One Park Place... downtown Houston's first all-residential highrise constructed in over 30 years. Hopefully there will be more to follow.

7) The Port of Houston had a banner decade. Not only did it complete a massive modernization project, but also worked hard on ecological restoration for the Galveston Bay. It was the first port in the United States to meet international standards for environmental excellence (quite a feat for Houston lolol).

6) Houston's response to Hurricane Katrina. Perhaps Mayor Bill White's greatest moment... the city of Houston leased over 60,000 free apartments to Katrina evacuees after the storm, along with other brave tasks from other city services. Where the US Government faltered, the city of Houston was able to take up the slack.

5) The continued gentrification of Midtown. With successful developments like the Post Midtown, Randall’s Grocery store, and an ever-increasing slew of townhomes, Midtown is poised to be Houston’s next urban paradise.

4) Politics returns to the heart. The election of mayor Annise Parker was significant because Houston is now the largest US city to have an openly gay elected mayor. But perhaps what is even more impressive is that the city’s urban core has regained a political advantage over the previously dominant suburbs.

3) Houston’s Discovery Green is much more than “a nice park”. It has served as a catalyst to reinvent Downtown Houston, serving to boost convention business, and lead to the construction of a residential highrise, new hotels and office buildings, and surface-level retail. An award winner in green technologies, many view this park as the city’s crowning achievement of the last decade.

2) A 7-mile LRT line isn’t much by some city standards, but for the city of Houston, it connects the city’s two largest employment centers, all of its major sports facilities, world-class cultural institutions and a wealth of shopping and retail amenities. Though short, the Red Line served to fill a massive transportation void for the city. Thankfully the trend continues as 15 more miles of light rail are currently under construction.

1) Houston's greatest accomplishment during the last decade was the decision to look inward... political and economic impetus are now headed back into the urban core.

I would add the Texas Medical Center's explosive growth, further helping Houston diversify its economy, and putting Houston on the map in the medical world as the largest medical center in the world, and growing.

Also, getting the Houston Dynamo. In its inaugural season, it scored back-to-back championships in its first 2 seasons.

[Lear]

Still no Washington D.C., Boston, Montreal ?
And where are the Europeans and all other Global Cities ?
Even if only a Top5 of major developments are presented here,
I believe many would like to see more entries ....

[M.K.]

^^ ok, you are in berlin, i am in hamburg, but i don't know if had a top achievement here, probably not.

[MonkeyRonin]

I'm sure even the smallest and most unsuccessful of cities could have at least 10 positive things - however insignificant they may be - identified as having happened in the past 10 years, so surely the likes of Hamburg would have a number of achievements. What about the beginning of HafenCity, for example?

[Lear]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

HafenCity, for example?

Exactly.

For Hamburg I guess two new sport facilities are significant, the Colorline Indoor Arena (15.000 seats) and the AOL Football Arena (50.000 seats).

Hamburg was also the first German city in the last decade introducing blue police uniforms (formerly green). As a major event I would cite the World Cup matches in 2006 and the continuing appearences of mega luxury ocean liners, think of Queen Mary 2.

[cabotp]

Well here is a list of top achievements for Vancouver, Canada. I'm sure someone else can come up with a better list and this is in no particular order.

!. Winning the Bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics
2. Opening of the Millennium line of the sky train system 2002 (20.3KM in length)
3. Opening of the Golden Ears bridge between the suburbs of Maple Ridge and Langely. First Toll bridge in the region since 60's
4. Construction and opening of the Canada Line from Downtown to Richmond and the Airport.
5. Construction and opening of the New Pitt River Bridge.
6. Construction and opening of the New Convention Centre
7. Construction and opening of the Shangri-La Hotel/Condo Tower. Tallest in Vancouver at 201M (659F)
8. The dozens and dozens of towers that have gone up. Some areas have had a major transformation.
9. The starting of construction of the new Port Mann Bridge and the Widening of Hwy 1. To be completed in 2012-2013

Basically the last 10 years has seen a lot of construction.

Well that is all I can come up with. I know there is a lot more that could be added. But my brain is currently empty.

[M.K.]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

I'm sure even the smallest and most unsuccessful of cities could have at least 10 positive things - however insignificant they may be - identified as having happened in the past 10 years, so surely the likes of Hamburg would have a number of achievements. What about the beginning of HafenCity, for example?

Originally Posted by Lear

Exactly.

For Hamburg I guess two new sport facilities are significant, the Colorline Indoor Arena (15.000 seats) and the AOL Football Arena (50.000 seats).

Hamburg was also the first German city in the last decade introducing blue police uniforms (formerly green). As a major event I would cite the World Cup matches in 2006 and the continuing appearences of mega luxury ocean liners, think of Queen Mary 2.

I knew it, you would say HafenCity, but as this thread says 'TOP' Achievements, although improvements, i do not consider any of those things in Hamburg as 'Top'. It had some better amenities updates, like clean of Radisson tower, but most important is not already made in city, like reforming all S-Bahn stations. This would be more important and really an achievement for everybody. And not just some.

- Hafencity is a huge project, but very bad elaborated. None 'Skyscraper' really, none supertall, all only sames stylished midrises or lowrises with complicate and uninteligent architecture at all. All same unvertical line boxes. The roads are too small for the whole complex, too narrow for the expectancy would have there. In other words, the whole planning is very discutible in this way. For example Marco Polo Terasse is too close to this un-windowed or windows.shadowed Unilever bldg. And this project is not finished, so does not belong to this past decade. Too many has to be done, many delays. Living here i personally was dissapointed with this re-development there.

- Soccer stadiums are not achievements. This is just another very small buildings for a part of society, but not every population living in it.

- Police uniforms are not achievements at all. It is just like repaiting a house from blue to yellow, but not change the house at all.

- Ships come daily and go, they are move part of city but bring no fix improvements longer. QM2 only brought a 'cultural effect in population' to do city more festive in the days she comes, but nothing more.

- Maybe Airbus factory improvements with A380 and A320 family brought new technologies, but again, only to the factory, not to the city at all.

So all that are small achievements when you see a city in the bigger whole.

Scrsly, i did not see many huge improvements in city last decade. But if something comes as TOP is then the new cruise terminal in Altona, cause the 'container boxes' there is unbelievible for such huge Port city and developed country. Another huge contribution could be the double expansion of container docks, but as i said the next decade will be much more important than as the Last. Your thread was about the 'Top things in the Last'. so...

[ocman]

OC -some are arguable achievements depending on your interests and political views because I can't come up with 10.

1. Angels win world series earning them respect.
2. Ducks win the Stanley Cup earning them respect.
3. Groundwater Replenishment System sets the standard as the largest water reuse program in the country.
4. The county becomes known on the national and world stage with a deluge of bad tv shows and movies. ( Orange County, The OC, Housewives of OC, Laguna Beach: the Real OC).
5. Saddleback Church becomes the one of if not the most influential american christian church.
6. Great Park resolves the last of it's lawsuits and finally breaks ground on what may be the last mass scale urban parks in the country.
7. Segerstrom Concert Hall

[jeicow]

For Waterloo, Ontario. I'll post pictures when I get a chance tomorrow.

1. Establishment of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI) and the opening of it's new building in Waterloo Park.

2. Founding of the Centre for International Governance Innovation and the groundbreaking of its new building (across from PI)

3. Founding of the Canadian Clay and Glass Museum and its new building (also across from PI)

4. Founding of the Institute for Quantum Computing and the groundbreaking of its new building (shared with #5)

5. Founding of the Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology and the groundbreaking of its new building (shared with #4)

6. The rise of the Blackberry by Waterloo-based Research In Motion, and the now 26 buildings they have in the city, though they're almost all butt ugly.

7. City being named "World's Top Intelligent Community" in 2007 but the Intelligent Communities Forum (ICF)

8. The approval of LRT for Waterloo Region, the first real stepforward for rapid transit besides a BRT-Lite bus route, the iXpress.

9. The massive number of new buildings built and u/c at the University of Waterloo including two new engineering buildings and two major extensions on existing building, a new math building, a new accounting wing, a new Solar Cell Research building, extension onto the Psychology building, refurbishment of both major libraries, a new Pharmacy building in downtown Kitchener (named one of the top 10 Southern Ontario buildings of 2009 by The Toronto Star), a massive extension for the School of Optometry, and the establishment of the Research and Technology Park on North Campus.

10. The establishment of the Management Engineering program at the University of Waterloo.

[urbanactivist]

Little Rock had a fantastic decade in the 90s thanks to President Clinton's election, but the 2000s proved to be even better with the after-effects. Here's the Top 4...

4) The River Market District/ Downtown revitalization. West Markham went from a sleepy dead-end road mainly used for overflow parking into one of the most revered entertainment districts in the Mid-South. Now renamed President Clinton Avenue, it is filled with art galleries, pubs, local restaurants, urban farmers market and one of the main television stations. The young adult crowd has revived this area of the city, and it has no immediate signs of abatement.

3) Revitalization of North Little Rock. Yes... FYI, they are two different cities. NLR has prospered big time this decade. The areas main sports arenas were built here... Verizon Arena (1999) and Dickey Stephens Park (2007). They've brought new revenue and interest to the city's downtown.

2) The RiverRail Streetcar. This is a Heritage streetcar line that opened in 2004, and represents the city's first rail mass transit since the late 1940s. It's only 3.4 miles long and kind of a tourist trap line, but it connects downtown Little Rock to downtown North Little Rock (across the Arkansas River), making it possible for tourists to visit both downtowns without the use of a car. A fair amount residents use the line on a regular basis too. Future plans include a 5 mile extension to Little Rock National Airport.

1) William J. Clinton Presidential Center. This is now the most successful Presidential Library to date in the U.S. It's helped to transform downtown Little Rock into something of a tourist destination. The University of Arkansas also established the Clinton School for Public Service on the grounds of the CPC.

[tallboy66]

Originally Posted by mind field

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.

Tearing down Tiger stadium to make a viable area into a desolate area seems counterproductive but...

#11 would be it didn't burn itself down.

[tjh1]

FORT WORTH

Off the top of my head & in no particular order:

1. Rebuilding Downtown FW after the tornado of 2000.

2. Opening of the Omni Fort Worth Convention Center Hotel.

3. New buildings for 3 of the city's museums in the Cultural District: The Modern, Museum of Science & History, & National Cowgirl Museum.

4. Transformation of West 7th Street through massive mixed-use development into a grand thoroughfare connecting Downtown with the Cultural District.

5. The Barnett Shale, which was responsible for creating many new jobs and spurring development in the central city.

6. Revitalization of historic areas such as the Near Southside into a desirable urban areas.

7. The growth in popularity of urban living throughout the city with various highrise, loft, townhome, etc developments.

8. Implementation for plans to bring a modern streetcar system to the city that will connect the various areas of the urban core.

9. Though costly to taxpayers, the opening of the Tarrant County College Downtown campus, which is bringing thousands of students, faculty, & staff to downtown everyday.

10. Weathering the economic storm fairly well in comparison to many other cities & regions.

'Ol Fort Worth, it ain't what it used to be.

[MidTenn1]

NASHVILLE

Symphony Hall – The Schemerhorn Symphony Hall opened in mid-decade to great reviews nationwide. It is of a classical design and immediately become one of the top facilities in the country. It is further validation of Nashville’s status as ‘the’ Music City (as if it needed validation).

Convention Center – To begin construction this year, the six square-block facility will replace the current one and one half block facility. Nashville is the nation’s sixth most popular convention destination and should soon compete with all but a few Cities for prime events. This center has helped Nashville land the NCAA Women’s BB Final Four and put them on the short list to host World Cup games. The development should include several hotels in the 30, 40 story ranges.

Development of SoBro – The South of Broadway area is a southern expansion of the downtown high rise district which has become saturated with urban development. The symphony Hall was built and soon followed by the 21 story Encore Condos and the 29 story Pinnacle Office Building. Several Convention Center Hotels will likely be built in the next few years and a revival of talks regarding a new baseball stadium the area are in progress.

The Gulch – a new district created in the old railroad gulch has exploded with development. Planned to attract young professionals to live in an urban environment, the area has seen the development of high rise condos, trendy restaurants, and clothing stores and shops.

Mid Town Development – Nashville’s West End/Vanderbilt/Music Row area is what a City ought to be; a good mix of residential, office, services, educational, shopping and recreation. It is close in character to Boston’s Back Bay, but with a major University thrown in. The decade saw further expansion in the form of mid-rise hotels, condos and office buildings giving Nashville a 40 block long skyline.

East Nashville gentrification – the old working class part of the City, across the river from downtown has seen a revitalization not only in the form of many rehabbed houses and mixed use development, but also in a cultural sense as the influx of creative types, moving to ‘the third coast’ to make it big, have made the area a new ‘Greenwich Village’ with many recording studios and live music venues scattered throughout promoting not just traditional ‘Country Music’, but music of all genres.

Commuter Rail – a small project by national standards, but big for Nashville. It is only the third such service in the south.

Smartways System – The state began installation of an Intelligent Transportation System to monitor and inform motorists throughout the area with cameras, radar detectors and changeable message sign throughout. The system rivals systems in larger cities such as Dallas and Atlanta for it’s scope and numbers of devices. Plans are being prepared for even more sophisticated, cutting edge technology in the upcoming years.

University Growth – The decade saw the phenomenal growth of Vanderbilt University into a major national educational institution with a half billion dollar building program. It is a true urban campus in the heart of the dense, mid-town area. The hospital has also expanded exponentially with development of an important children’s hospital.
Belmont University surrendered it’s religious affiliation to become an independently operated university and is becoming Tennessee’s second major private institution as it has added a School of Pharmacy and will soon add a School of Law.

Metro Courthouse and Public Square Renovation – the well worn Metro Courthouse (City and county are combined) was renovated and a broad public square was created in the heart of downtown. Fountains, art, observation decks and a large grassy park for events or summer sun bathing were added.

[The Chemist]

Shanghai Top 3 (I've only been here 2.5 years, so my knowledge of the earlier parts of the decade is limited, so I'll keep this to three points).

1. The top simply HAS to be the development of the Shanghai Metro in the decade from 2000-2009. The Shanghai Metro went from having 38km of track on two lines as of January 1, 2000 to 330km on ten lines as of December 31, 2009 (and more is coming soon - will be at 430km as of May 1, 2010, and over 500km by 2012). No other metro system in history has grown so fast, I think.

2. Completion of SWFC, starting of Shanghai Centre, and development of Lujiazui overall. The skyline of Lujiazui was pretty sparse in 2000, but by the end of 2009 it was quite dense, and only getting denser. Pedestrian access to the area is still poor, but will be significantly improved once all the current ground level construction is complete in a couple of months.

3. Expo 2010 and the vast amount of city improvements (including roads, tunnels, and complete rebuilding of the city's waterfront along the Bund) that it brought with it. A total of 45 billion US dollars have been spent on the Expo and the related improvements.

[simms3_redux]

1) Hosting a SuperBowl. We may not have been a Miami or New Orleans, but the fact that Jacksonville was able to pull it off speaks for itself.

2) New residential towers. 37 floor Peninsula (100% presold). 28 floor Strand. 22 floor Berkman I. 21 floor San Marco Place. 22 floor Berkman II on hold midway through construction and 51 floor St. John waiting for economy to pick up.

3) Rehab of old buildings thoughout DT and urban core to lofts, apartments, and condos.

4) Gentrification of Springfield. Still has a long way to go though. Has garnered national attention on cable news networks and will see a huge makeover part 2 in the coming decade if the economy ever picks up. Buy your property now to flip!

5) New Main Library. New arena and ballpark.

6) Increasing military presence. New nuclear aircraft carrier coming. Aerospace industry also making a large presence here and the nation's next spaceport being built at former Naval Air field.

7) New federal courthouse (15 floors) and new county courthouse (UC).

8) Doubling of size of port. Currently in process, but new terminal for Mitsui OSK, the first Japanese shipping line for the East Coast, and Hanjin, a Korean shipping line. Terminal for that will be completed in 4 years or so.

9) Expansion of area hospitals. Mayo Clinic built a new hospital and now plans to increase it to 16 floors. Saint Vincents expanded. Memorial expanded. Baptist built a new ten floor ~300 bed hospital on the southside of town. Shands expanded. Baptist trying to break ground on new 12 floor wing DT.

10) Transportation improvements. New airport (literally). Widened highways all the way around. 2 huge new interchanges, one at 95 and 295 S, one finishing up that will be among largest in nation at junction of 95 and 10. Public transportation talked about. Bus stations will now be expanded and improved using private ad money and sponsorship.

[PHX31]

I'll try for Phoenix in no particular order:

1. Opened 20-mile light rail starter line.

2. Opened much-expanded Convention Center downtown (several hundred thousand sqft bigger than the old one) along with 1,000 room convention center Sheraton hotel.

3. Implemented the bio-med campus in NE of Downtown with several new research facilities and office buildings, medical school collaborations between ASU/UA, and a bioscience high school.

4. Opened new ASU downtown campus with thousands of students now going to school downtown, living in two dorm towers as well as constructed and renovated several new ASU school buildings downtown including the Walter Cronkite School of Mass Communication Building and the Nursing Building.

5. Began to reclaim the dammed up scar that is the Salt River through Phoenix with lush riparian park called the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area.

6. Constructed/opened the University of Phoenix stadium allowing the Phoenix area to host major sporting events, including the Super Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and College Football National Championship game, and potential future World Cup venue.

7. Constructed the downtown Civic Space park (new name awaits) into a great area for ASU students, renovation of a historic building for art galleries and cafes, and the prominent "jellyfish" large public art piece by Janel Echelman.

8. Started construction on the three block "CityScape" development in the heart of downtown. Even if it's been scaled back, tons of retail/restaurant/commercial/office/entertainment is going in on three huge blocks that used to be giant surface parking lots and a brick-oven of an underutilized Patriots Square park.

9. The Roosevelt and Grand artists enclaves have continued to evolve popularizing downtown Phoenix with the masses (when no one and nothing used to go on down there) bringing in many new local restaurants galleries and bars into rehabbed old houses (which indirectly increased perceived demand for several downtown condo towers and a general desire for people to live in and around downtown again) and turned First Fridays into a huge event each month (even though technically First Fridays and the art detour have been going on in PHX since the late 80s.).

10. Airport expansions continued with a new huge state of the art 300'+ control tower, beginning of construction of a people mover system to better connect the airport with light rail, opening of a new giant rental car facility, and terminal upgrades and expansions.

[Lear]

In about 50 days, Berlin will have completed the construction of the

Berlin Brandenburg Airport

It marks a new era of aviation in Germany, Europe and the world.

[Serenade]

DC
1. African-American family moves into the White House
2. Same-sex marriage
3. Revitalization and gentrification of many neighborhoods (Columbia Heights, Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant, Shaw, Near Southeast, plus many more I'm forgetting)
4. Approval and construction of streetcar network
5. Success of bike-share program beyond what anyone anticipated
6. Peaceful civil disobedience and arrest of Mayor Gray in protest of ridiculous cuts on city's budget
7. Successfully handling hundreds of thousands of people in attendance for Obama's inauguration and Stewart/Colbert rally
8. 50% decrease in crime making DC one of the safest cities in the country
9. Approval and construction of Silver Line (affects DC but located in VA)
10. Sports - DC United championship, baseball's return, Georgetown to Final 4

[The_Architect]

Originally Posted by jeicow

For Waterloo, Ontario. I'll post pictures when I get a chance tomorrow.

9. The massive number of new buildings built and u/c at the University of Waterloo including two new engineering buildings and two major extensions on existing building, a new math building, a new accounting wing, a new Solar Cell Research building, extension onto the Psychology building, refurbishment of both major libraries, a new Pharmacy building in downtown Kitchener (named one of the top 10 Southern Ontario buildings of 2009 by The Toronto Star), a massive extension for the School of Optometry, and the establishment of the Research and Technology Park on North Campus.

As a student in the faculty it belongs to I object to your exclusion of the LEED Platinum new Environment 3 Building..