NEW ORLEANS | Project/Development Thread - Page 244

ardecila · #**4861** Posted **May 18, 2012, 5:50 AM**

I totally agree but I've pretty much come to grips with the limited potential for density in established neighborhoods. The Tulane corridor, if developed properly, offers plenty of opportunities for midrise, since the whole strip between Tulane and I-10 has tons of developable land and zero NIMBYs due to its no-mans-land status.

Plus, if we can ever come to a regional consensus around light rail, it will have to run through that corridor and there will already be built in TOD.

ardecila · #**4862** Posted **May 18, 2012, 7:26 AM**

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

Finally, somebody has some sense. Karen Carter Peterson upped the percentage of hospitality-zone funds for infrastructure... previously only 1/3 was going to infrastructure and the rest to tourism marketing campaigns.

Now it's an even split - still far less than ideal, but a huge upgrade nonetheless. The article also says the funds can be used for "hospital zone" improvements, so there's a possibility that some of the infrastructure funds could be spent along the Tulane corridor as well.

If my math is right, the new plan translates into $60 million over 10 years for infrastructure, not counting unrelated projects like the FQ streetcar loop, etc.

Foley Santamaria · #**4863** Posted **May 18, 2012, 7:07 PM**

Good post Cameron.

There is still the old Popeyes site at that intersection but it is much smaller.

Also I've seen on the MCNO listserv folks complaining about there being too many apartments on Tulane Ave - so I wouldn't call it a no mans land. That was a couple years back, however, and now that those complexes have been resounding successes hopefully some of that has dissipated. I must say that out dated thoughts about parking and apartments seem to die hard, though.

tennis1400 · #**4864** Posted **May 18, 2012, 8:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Foley Santamaria

Good post Cameron.

There is still the old Popeyes site at that intersection but it is much smaller.

Also I've seen on the MCNO listserv folks complaining about there being too many apartments on Tulane Ave - so I wouldn't call it a no mans land. That was a couple years back, however, and now that those complexes have been resounding successes hopefully some of that has dissipated. I must say that out dated thoughts about parking and apartments seem to die hard, though.

Something zipcar could help alleviate. Anybody want to partner with me on a franchise here

sgray · #**4865** Posted **May 18, 2012, 9:17 PM**

The only supermarket in downtown New Orleans is the first grocery in the country to develop an aeroponic urban farm on its roof.

What exactly is an aeroponic urban garden?

Think vertical instead of horizontal. The garden "towers" use water rather than soil, and allow plants to grow upward instead of outward. It was developed by a former Disney greenhouse manager, and is used at Disney properties, the Chicago O'Hare Airport Eco-Farm and on the Manhattan rooftop of Bell Book & Candle restaurant.

"This is very cutting edge for urban farming," Donny Rouse said. His company has named the farm "Roots on the Rooftop."

Parsley, basil and cilantro are among the herbs the company is growing to package and sell in the market on the building's main floor.

"The flat rooftop on this store is perfect for urban farming," Rouse said. "And the view of downtown is postcard-perfect. I imagine we will do a lot of dinners up here on the farm."

The Rouses Market downtown opened in 2011 in a former auto dealership and is the first full-service grocery in the Central Business District in more than four decades.

Chris from N.O. · #**4866** Posted **May 18, 2012, 9:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgray

The only supermarket in downtown New Orleans is the first grocery in the country to develop an aeroponic urban farm on its roof.

What exactly is an aeroponic urban garden?

Think vertical instead of horizontal. The garden "towers" use water rather than soil, and allow plants to grow upward instead of outward. It was developed by a former Disney greenhouse manager, and is used at Disney properties, the Chicago O'Hare Airport Eco-Farm and on the Manhattan rooftop of Bell Book & Candle restaurant.

"This is very cutting edge for urban farming," Donny Rouse said. His company has named the farm "Roots on the Rooftop."

Parsley, basil and cilantro are among the herbs the company is growing to package and sell in the market on the building's main floor.

"The flat rooftop on this store is perfect for urban farming," Rouse said. "And the view of downtown is postcard-perfect. I imagine we will do a lot of dinners up here on the farm."

The Rouses Market downtown opened in 2011 in a former auto dealership and is the first full-service grocery in the Central Business District in more than four decades.

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

ardecila · #**4867** Posted **May 18, 2012, 11:55 PM**

Interesting. I wonder how feasible it is economically, though... if the rooftop stuff is more expensive than the stuff trucked in from the fields, then the rooftop stuff will always be some kind of niche curiosity product that people only buy because they have too much money.

Urban farming is a bit overrated in my view, especially if you have to erect giant structures and irrigation systems to make it work, or spend millions removing contamination from polluted urban lots, etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Foley Santamaria

Also I've seen on the MCNO listserv folks complaining about there being too many apartments on Tulane Ave - so I wouldn't call it a no mans land.

I think that's just minor grumbling. Powerful NIMBY groups live in the neighborhoods they're concerned with. Since nobody really lives south of Tulane except the new apartment dwellers, the neighborhood can't form NIMBY groups unless the apartment dwellers adopt some kind of hypocritical position. Tulane is six lanes wide, which is more than enough to handle another 20 apartment complexes. Plus, each of them so far has included parking at a 1:1 ratio, which is perfectly adequate - there should be no serious demand for street parking except for visitors. This is ideal for the introduction of proper urban retail to the neighborhood, since new retail developments will not need their own parking unless they exceed a certain size.

I'm holding my breath for the massive Fontainebleau at Carrollton to come down. Down with the seedy motels! Put that ish out on Chef Hwy!

Foley Santamaria · #**4868** Posted **May 19, 2012, 2:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by tennis1400

Something zipcar could help alleviate. Anybody want to partner with me on a franchise here

I do think it would work quite well in NOLA. You would need to have quite a few cars throughout the city, imo, to make it work, though? Startup costs would probably be quite high to have those cars? I guess they probably finance them though. Especially with all the various companies doing this across the country, I'm surprised there aren't any here.

Back to the Walgreens, if not I'm mistaken, most of the buildings are put pretty cheaply, right? I say that as a positive so hopefully in 15 to 20 years the city and its neighborhoods will be much more dense and you can just tear down the one story drugstores and build more appropriate buildings.

Foley Santamaria · #**4869** Posted **May 19, 2012, 2:58 AM**

Also, I'd love the focus to be on expanding transit, improving pedestrian and bicycle amenities and walkable retail than parking. I'm sure most here would agree. The transit for nola folks and where ya rack are doing great things.

Also, how come there aren't any plans for a bikeshare system yet? It's been a resounding success in many places throughout the country (dc had its two millionth ride today) and is expanding to sf/nyc/chicago this year. Plus many of these program make money or at least break even on an ongoing basis. NYC's is funded completely with advertising and user fees (that's the plan at least).

ardecila · #**4870** Posted **May 19, 2012, 7:01 AM**

There isn't enough bike infrastructure (lanes, paths, public racks) for tourists to bike comfortably around the city yet. The FQ has pretty quiet streets so cycling is pretty safe there but crossing Canal, Decatur, or Rampart is pretty scary unless you're a seasoned urban cyclist. Side streets always provide an easy option but then it becomes easy to get lost, and anybody cycling down a sidestreet will miss all the businesses and destinations. Hell, I live here and it's a b*tch to remember what cross-street to take so I come out on just the right spot along Magazine for a given business.

Now, there's not a single bike lane in all of Uptown until you get to Carrollton (I heard a few months ago that the St. Charles bike lane was imminent). I was amazed to see just how many bike lanes have been striped in places like Lakeview and Gentilly. I'm guessing that with the big road repaving projects coming up, we'll see a network start to form in Uptown as well - I'm pretty hopeful. The Lafitte Corridor will also provide a great way to move between the FQ/CBD and Fairgrounds/City Park areas.

In the meantime there are several private businesses offering bike rentals.

lamsalfl · #**4871** Posted **May 20, 2012, 6:49 PM**

Maybe it's because I'm not used to it, but I think the bike lanes that were just painted on the street are a joke, and dangerous. Not only do you have to worry about cars clipping you even at a low speed, but people opening their car doors not seeing you riding by. Why does the bike lane have to be between the traffic and parked cars? Why can't the bike lanes be against the curbs? Bikers won't get doored, and they'd have a layer of protection from traffic as well.

broadmoor · #**4872** Posted **May 20, 2012, 8:57 PM**

I seem to remember hearing that business groups in New Orleans and Baton Rouge weren't giving up on commuter rail, but this is promising news. It can use current tracks if it's not "high-speed," which means it would still be able to go around 80mph. If they get that started, then maybe it will build up ridership until some point in the future when it's more feasible to build a high-speed rail. But for the time being, I know a handful of people who commute between the two cities on a daily basis and would rather not have to focus on driving, and I have family there, so I would much prefer paying for a train rather than drive. That drive is so boring, and I have other things I could get done! Anyway, hopefully this works out.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.s...l#incart_river

Uptowner · #**4873** Posted **May 20, 2012, 10:39 PM**

I honestly don't see the point in having "high-speed" service if it's going to be stopping every 10-20 miles. A regular express/local service could suffice IMO with the express train making it NO to BR in about 45 min to an hour, assuming the tracks don't deviate too far from the route of I-10.

ardecila · #**4874** Posted **May 20, 2012, 11:10 PM**

Well, the alignment is already pretty set in stone - the state can't afford to build a whole new railroad, so the new line would follow existing Kansas City Southern tracks with some upgrades. If there's no local service, I don't see much point. On a properly-managed railroad, a station stop only adds 1-2 minutes, and if there are only six stations, it makes sense to gain that extra ridership.

Plus, the KCS line hits the town centers for LaPlace and Gonzales, stops near the airport, at the Mall of Louisiana, etc. It has an inconvenient location in BR, unfortunately. What I'd like to see, and I think this is a definite possibility, is some kind of transit-oriented development at each of the stations. Various places on the North Shore have already moved in this direction, and BR has Perkins Rowe, so it's certainly possible. The planning for the line should keep this foremost in mind, though, and make the construction of new stations contingent on local zoning changes.

If the state were willing to spend a little extra money, they could build a connector line along Bayou Manchac between KCS and the CN line. This would allow the commuter trains to have a stop right on LSU's campus and another one right on the riverfront in downtown BR. Both of those things would add immensely to the ridership and success of the line. Eventually, if the state ever seriously gets behind rail, it should rebuild the SP bridge across the Atchafalaya swamp and link Lafayette into the system... then the Sunset Limited could be rerouted to hit the major population centers instead of the towns out in Cajun country.

If DOTD were smart, they'd pounce on Wisconsin's trains - WI currently has two Talgo trains they already paid for, but aren't planning to use. Those trains are brand-new and could be purchased for a song.

Uptowner · #**4875** Posted **May 21, 2012, 1:03 AM**

All in all, I think my biggest concern is getting people to the trains in numbers. I'm only familiar with NJTransit, SEPTA, and the MTA which all have access to levels of transit we could only dream of in New Orleans, much less Baton Rouge. Do you all think Park-N-Rides would do the trick? How do they do it in California and Illinois?

ardecila · #**4876** Posted **May 21, 2012, 1:32 AM**

There are differing schools of thought, but I think the majority of rail stations should act as centerpieces to a community, surrounded by walkable environments - this is how most American small towns originally developed, so it makes sense to stick with that pattern. The infrastructure (street grids, sidewalks, utilities) is already in place, but zoning needs to be adapted to allow for mixed-use with reduced parking requirements and slightly greater density. If station parking can be integrated in a compact lot or garage nearby, great. If not, then perhaps a park-and-ride station on the outskirts of town makes sense in addition to the town center station.

There are some people who vehemently decry park-and-rides, believing that transit in suburban environments should only be a catalyst for major changes in land use or it's not worth building the transit in the first place. I'm less dogmatic - land use changes are certainly the end goal but park-and-rides make sense for occasional users and in heavily-dispersed areas.

Most successful commuter lines in the US are good as a result of transit-oriented development that occurred 100 years ago. The more recent lines have pretty much all failed. Minneapolis' Northstar Corridor has anemic ridership, but its stations are virtually all park-and-rides in middle-of-nowhere locations - planners purposefully avoided putting stations in town centers, but this was the exact wrong move to make. The SMART system under construction in California's Marin/Sonoma Counties is far better - stations at town centers with a few park and rides, frequent service, and DMU trains that run fast using relatively little fuel. On the other hand, that line needs some serious cost control.

MNT · #**4877** Posted **May 21, 2012, 4:58 AM**

My apologies if this is too far from on-topic, but I just ran across this article about Whole Foods opening specially-formatted stores in distressed urban markets. With New Orleans' infamous food deserts, and Whole Foods' history here, I'd love to see them expand this initiative into the city.
http://www.freep.com/article/2012051...-to-serve-area

IceCream · #**4878** Posted **May 21, 2012, 1:57 PM**

Thanks for the compliments on Where Ya' Rack? I put one more out Saturday but let's just say I wasn't in the shape to do anything beyond that.... Sippin In Seersucker suuuure was fun Friday night.

Bikeshares...good idea, but super high start up costs since you would literally need hundreds of bikes, multiple locations, etc to make it feasible. Not something you can slowly roll out over time...definitely have to hit it and hit it hard. Would be nice though..

Bike lanes and racks..well they're coming along. WyR is moving along and as long as we keep getting sponsors we'll keep installing racks and the FQMD, etc planon their own racks in downtown and the quarter.

Drury, construction crane went up over the weekend:

WOOOOOO

tennis1400 · #**4879** Posted **May 21, 2012, 5:01 PM**

Permit finally pulled for the building on the corner of Poydras and Rampart Streets across from Walk Ons. Place will be called Little Gem Saloon.

445 S RAMPART ST
NEW ORLEANS LA 70112

Project Description:
CONVERT VACANT COMMERCIAL STRUCTURE TO JAZZ CLUB/RESTAURANT AS PER PLANS AND HDLCP-12-0594. (445-449)
Job Value($):
$880,456.00

Also glad to see Tulane sue the city. Appears the mayor is on Tulanes side in this. Cant see how a court wouldnt rule in Tulanes favor on this.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.s...tml#incart_mce

n3rdw0p · #**4880** Posted **May 21, 2012, 7:26 PM**

The roberts on broad just needs to be redeveloped into a whole foods or trader joes so they can get their jollys off by saying they opened an "urban" market. Once again zulu trashed broad yesterday, so I am against everything Zulu, I really wish Broad street connections would open their "healthy" market with Libertys Kitchen, ANYTHING is better than that large parcel going to waste next to a damn dollar general.