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  #421  
Old Posted May 31, 2013, 4:10 AM
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^^ i don't know what kind of phone you have but if you can download the flickr app it's much more reliable. the tumblr app is notoriously bad for uploading photos. i'd like to see how certain projects are coming together now that i don't live there anymore. i'll probably be back one more time during the summer to get some of my stuff but that's it. i feel like i'm leaving right as the city is attracting exciting developments -_-
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  #422  
Old Posted May 31, 2013, 6:17 AM
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^^ i don't know what kind of phone you have but if you can download the flickr app it's much more reliable. the tumblr app is notoriously bad for uploading photos. i'd like to see how certain projects are coming together now that i don't live there anymore. i'll probably be back one more time during the summer to get some of my stuff but that's it. i feel like i'm leaving right as the city is attracting exciting developments -_-
I have an iPhone. I didn't even think to use the Flickr app, oddly. Might be time for me to go "pro" again; although, the University doesn't pay me again till the end of June, so I'll have to wait

Yea, things have seemed to really pick up lately. Same thing happened when I left my hometown for Tuscaloosa; new stores, restaurants, renovations to schools...
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  #423  
Old Posted Jun 1, 2013, 9:48 PM
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Lofts at City Center (yesterday):

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  #424  
Old Posted Jun 2, 2013, 3:39 PM
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  #425  
Old Posted Jun 2, 2013, 5:00 PM
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Nice! I hope it does too, and I think it will. But dang, 30 months? I'll long have finished my masters by then... I won't even be here to enjoy it.
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  #426  
Old Posted Jun 2, 2013, 6:25 PM
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I liked the part about train whistles not being required. I used to live at the Downs and left my window open one night. Needless to say a train whistle woke me up in such a panic that I fell out of bed onto the floor haha. My heart was pounding. I felt the same way when I read 30 months... I am displeased I won't be able to enjoy it either. At the same time, I'm glad I won't have to endure a full 30 months of construction on that road. I imagine that is going to be a complete cluster ****.
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  #427  
Old Posted Jun 2, 2013, 7:28 PM
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I liked the part about train whistles not being required. I used to live at the Downs and left my window open one night. Needless to say a train whistle woke me up in such a panic that I fell out of bed onto the floor haha. My heart was pounding. I felt the same way when I read 30 months... I am displeased I won't be able to enjoy it either. At the same time, I'm glad I won't have to endure a full 30 months of construction on that road. I imagine that is going to be a complete cluster ****.
Yea, the whistle silencing makes a huge difference. Although, when I was still living in Decatur, I always kind of looked forward to the train that came through town at around 9PM before I fell asleep; once they enacted the silencing ordinance... no more whistles.

Yea, that construction will be a huge disruption, but it'll be well worth it.

What they need to do is, along with that bridge, go ahead an build a right turn lane onto 15th from Hillard so that traffic doesn't back up so easily coming from DCH. Right now is the perfect opportunity since that lot that was occupied by Hokkaido before the tornado is now vacant.
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  #428  
Old Posted Jun 2, 2013, 8:19 PM
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I agree with comment left on the T-News article. 10th Ave or Hackberry Ln need an overpass over the railroad much more than Hilliard Dr (old 5th Ave E). On Hilliard you can easily get to McFarland.
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  #429  
Old Posted Jun 2, 2013, 9:37 PM
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I agree with comment left on the T-News article. 10th Ave or Hackberry Ln need an overpass over the railroad much more than Hilliard Dr (old 5th Ave E). On Hilliard you can easily get to McFarland.
It would be nice to have a bridge over there. I guess this is primarily for the Tidal Town development. I wonder if putting a bridge on Hacberry or 10th Avenue would make the area too congested? I would be afraid the streets wouldn't have enough space to put bridges over the railroad tracks since there are already business developments right on the tracks (Jacks would be an example) but idk. Maybe they are trying to push traffic out of the middle of campus and towards the perimeter also? I wonder if the Lofts will introduce more traffic on Hilliard too?
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  #430  
Old Posted Jun 2, 2013, 11:51 PM
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It would be nice to have a bridge over there. I guess this is primarily for the Tidal Town development. I wonder if putting a bridge on Hacberry or 10th Avenue would make the area too congested? I would be afraid the streets wouldn't have enough space to put bridges over the railroad tracks since there are already business developments right on the tracks (Jacks would be an example) but idk. Maybe they are trying to push traffic out of the middle of campus and towards the perimeter also? I wonder if the Lofts will introduce more traffic on Hilliard too?
I imagine their reasoning for putting the bridge on Hillard is because Hillard feeds and collects from residents and shops at midtown, the future tidal town, and the shops and residences of the lofts at city center in addition to that complex at the corner of the railroads and Hillard.

Hackberry does need some kind of fix, but at present the ROW is just too narrow IMO with no room to expand the width. If anything it'd probably have to be an underpass since you would have to cut off access to at least two streets in order to get the bridge high enough to give adequate clearance.
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  #431  
Old Posted Jun 20, 2013, 5:58 PM
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This seems pretty alarming. I don't think there is any way all of these apartments will be filled. I worry that all of the older apartments are going to turn into slums.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/articl...30619716?tc=cr
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  #432  
Old Posted Jun 20, 2013, 8:48 PM
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They really do need to reel all in these developments. There is not a need for so many apartments.
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  #433  
Old Posted Jun 21, 2013, 6:44 AM
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Originally Posted by rolltide2013 View Post
This seems pretty alarming. I don't think there is any way all of these apartments will be filled. I worry that all of the older apartments are going to turn into slums.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/articl...30619716?tc=cr
I feel the same way; though, it's encouraging that the mayor feels the same. The sad part is... I like the development idea, it's just that the market is pretty much saturated.

If they could rework this to be more appealing to young professionals MAYBE I could support it; even then, it would still be too far from downtown or The Strip to support that kind of population.

I'm scared we're getting into a situation where developers are starting to realize students want to be downtown or on The Strip even while enormous developments are growing far enough away to be commuter communities. If this kind of ball keeps rolling, apt communities further than a mile from campus will legitimately turn into "ghost complexes".

Unless developers start to build their communities for a more broad demographic, we're going to start getting what Mayor Maddox is so afraid of.

Progress for the sake progress isn't progress at all.
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  #434  
Old Posted Jun 21, 2013, 1:32 PM
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It seems like everyday that a new student housing complex is going up. You would think they would have been more concerned way earlier and maybe been a little more choosey with approving them. I agree with you quattordici. For example, I think the Woodlands and Retreat are going to go down hill. Who would want to pay the same to live out there, when there are places closer to school that cost the same and are newer. Thats not even thinking about older places like the Houndstooth, The Downs, The Links (way out there), Sterling Crimson, etc. These are all still really nice places that I think are going to have a lot of trouble filling their beds. I kind of think the city is trying to push people away from campus and make it all students. I know that might sound crazy but it just doesnt make sense to me that they keep allowing so many apartment complexes. Its like they're using the growing student population and rebuilding after the tornado as reasons to justify. I think they ultimately are taking the classic approach to cleaning areas up and making them nicer, disregarding former residents. They're putting up "student housing" because they are really expensive because of the all of the amenities they package in. They keep putting them up around 15th and downtown. All of the non student citizens are going to have to move elsewhere, away from the heart of campus and surrounding areas, to have affordable housing. This will make that part of Tuscaloosa look more ritzy and I guess it will help clean up the city's image. Visitors will just drive on McFarland, 15th, and campus usually. All they will see are brand new, expensive student housing and new shopping centers. Maybe it is supposed to make UA more appealing by creating a more positive image of Ttown to prospective students and their parents.

Its kind of like how people in Chicago are buying old project homes, turning them into expensive condos, and forcing people to move farther away from the heart of the city because they can't afford it.
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  #435  
Old Posted Jun 25, 2013, 9:40 PM
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Just found this on twitter; tweeted by NBC 13. LINK

Hilton hotel proposed in downtown Tuscaloosa

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By Meredith Armstrong

TUSCALOOSA, AL -
Another big name hotel chain is hoping to open up shop in downtown Tuscaloosa. "Home 2 Suites by Hilton" would like to put an extended stay hotel on University Boulevard. The proposed project site is two blocks from the current construction of an Embassy Suites hotel.

When people travel far and wide to Tuscaloosa for a University of Alabama football game, finding an available hotel room can be a tall order. But with one hotel under construction and another proposed some think that may flood the market.

Candace Hancock lives in the 2600 block of University Boulevard where the new Hilton hotel is proposed.

According to the hotel company's attorney some of the homes on the property have been condemned, and all will have to be torn down in order to build the hotel.

"I was really sad because I love living here. It's such a nice part of the area. I mean you've got downtown, but it actually feels homey because you're separated. But when they started putting all the apartment complexes and hotels, they're completely changing downtown," Hancock added.

Some of the lots on the block aren't zoned for a hotel, so the zoning board would have to re-zone them before the project could continue. But that's not stopping the company from continuing the planning a proposed 107 rooms in the new hotel.

With an estimated $12.5 million investment the hotel's attorney said they're certain downtown Tuscaloosa can sustain two hotels within two blocks.

"The market is there for it. You know Hilton is a very talented business. They're very successful business a guess is a better way to say it and they don't do things like this unless they're sure it's going to be a positive impact on the community," attorney Bryan Winter added.

Official design plans haven't been finalized, but Winter thinks the building will be four or five stories tall. The property for the proposed hotel hasn't been officially purchased, but Winter said it's under contract.
EDIT: It looks like the block this is talking about is the one at the NW corner of the Lurleen SB lanes and University Blvd. So, if this went through, you'd have Embassy Suites on the right of the bridge and this hotel on the left.
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  #436  
Old Posted Jul 16, 2013, 3:59 AM
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Another student housing complex proposed...it never ends. Yawn.

Remember back before the housing crash when the real estate craze were the gameday condos? At least those could be sublet as young professional and family housing.
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  #437  
Old Posted Jul 16, 2013, 6:21 AM
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Another student housing complex proposed...it never ends. Yawn.

Remember back before the housing crash when the real estate craze were the gameday condos? At least those could be sublet as young professional and family housing.
It truly is sad that these developments are occurring in such great locations NOW. Sadly, the city can't let these development continue unless they're geared to a more broad population.
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  #438  
Old Posted Jul 16, 2013, 1:58 PM
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It truly is sad that these developments are occurring in such great locations NOW. Sadly, the city can't let these development continue unless they're geared to a more broad population.
The university grew so fast (and is still growing) that I think student housing isn't overbuilt just yet. UA had 18K students in the late 90's, now there are almost 34K.
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  #439  
Old Posted Jul 20, 2013, 12:18 AM
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So, I was on my way to the downtown JJ's and noticed that they've virtually completed the Dunkin in downtown.



The building already existed; it used to be the Greyhound station, if I'm not mistaken.
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  #440  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2013, 2:37 AM
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Pretty cool.

But those power lines! ugh.
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