The Breakers Hotel where the APA Florida conference was held.
Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse in...surprise, Jupiter FL! Yes, I climbed to the top.
The rest were taken in West Palm Beach FL in a neighborhood called CityPlace.
There you go. Here's your opportunity to take your cheap shots.
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
It could use more liquor stores and nail salons.
If that was in michigan there would be a fudge shoppe on every corner.
Thats all I got.
We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes - Fr Gabriel Richard 1805
I should have mentioned that while I climbed to the top of the Jupiter Inlet lighthouse, ZG did not. She reached the first 1/4 landing. I took pictures of her from the top as she was taking pictures of me and playing on her smart phone. (Telephoto on my part.)
Doesn't she look so small?
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
I've always thought that what West Palm Beach managed to do with CityPlace and the Clematis St. area was nothing short of an amazing planning and urban design achievement. "Transformation" gets thrown around a lot in planning circles, but this was the real deal. For whatever reason though WPB never seems to get much love from the plannerati crowd, even among new urbanists.
Great observation. CityPlace is clean and based mostly on a retail environment of chain stores. Clematis is gritty and edgy with independent businesses. Unfortunately, lighting conditions were not conducive to picture taking on Clematis. I would recommend to anyone visiting the area to take in the air of both locations. They are near each other and make for a great compare and contrast.Originally posted by hilldweller
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
If you look real close, that's me in the window of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse waving at ZG. She was a scardy-cat and didn't climb to the top. (She just sent this to me from her smart phone.)
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
The urban design elements look remarkable. I like it!
My wife and I visited Palm Beach back in 2005, originally going to visit New Orleans, then Katrina hit. Ironically our trip to Palm Beach ended up leaving one day before Hurricane Wilma did quite a bit of damage to Florida and Palm Beach in general.
Thus it's nice to see pics of CityPlace years later looking great. I didn't know how much damage it may have had after Wilma. I guess what struck me about Palm Beach and Florida in general was seeing all the overhead electric lines, coming from a City where all our lines are undergrounded. I didn't understand why a hurricane prone state would think that overhead power lines is a good idea (still don't understand today either).
CityPlace I recalled stood out for not having any overhead power lines. Perhaps they fared better in terms of loss of service as a result of Wilma.
During a recent discussion here regarding undergrounding of utilities, one of the utility company folks said, "We climb poles. We don't dig holes." He also claimed that high ground water levels and precipitation flood the underground utility vaults. I don't buy that. I think the workers like logging in overtime after storms. But I guess this is a topic for another thread.
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
Thought I'd try to look into this after wondering about it years ago. Seems FPL has a whole FAQ on it now. Question #4 copied below is their response. I can see how flooding, especially if with saltwater, can be problematic. That said, I think they need to acknowledge that there is the potential for overhead power poles being uprooted and causing damage and/or death that undergrounding does not (and I presume downed power lines in flooded areas can be just as dangerous to be in the water as underground lines). The aesthetic aspect should be considered as well. I tend to think their answer is a little bit of a cop-out placing money above other considerations...
http://www.fpl.com/faqs/underground.shtml
4. What are the different strengths and weaknesses of overhead and underground service that affect performance and reliability?
While underground facilities are not as susceptible to wind and debris-blown damage, they are more susceptible to water intrusion and local flood damage, which can make repairs more time consuming and costly. Overhead facility damage is easier to locate than underground and can generally be repaired quicker. Underground interruptions may be less frequent, but typically last longer due to more complex repair requirements.
Following hurricanes, weve found that areas that took the longest to repair were generally those served by underground facilities still flooded days after the storm passed. Damage and corrosion of underground electrical systems often shows up days or even months later, causing additional outages and inconvenience to customers. Storm winds can damage both types of systems causing outages.
Overhead systems face outages resulting from trees and debris blowing into lines. Underground systems face outages from trees collapsing on above-ground transformers and switch boxes or from tree root systems uprooting buried cable when trees topple. Also, we often forget that while a neighborhood may be locally served by underground cable, all electric service eventually comes back above ground and connects to overhead service, either in the neighborhood next door, or further down the street where overhead main lines and transmission lines move power from power plants and substations into our neighborhoods. Thus, exposure to above ground electric service from weather, animals, and trees is never fully eliminated.
I've got to say that they've nailed the aesthetic I prefer. Nice shots.
While I do like the architecture and overall urban form, in at least some of the photos I really hate how they did sidewalks/walkways... does it really rain that much there that you need covered walkways EVERYWHERE with only a 2-foot wide portion of the sidewalk not within the covered area?
Ok, I'm a Californian. We don't plan for rain and don't know how to drive in it either
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. (Douglas Adams)
The designers made the right call. The sun is fierce enough in S. Florida, but when it rains the sky unleashes hell like you've never seen. Trust me, I'll been through my share of summer p.m. thunderstorms down there.While I do like the architecture and overall urban form, in at least some of the photos I really hate how they did sidewalks/walkways... does it really rain that much there that you need covered walkways EVERYWHERE with only a 2-foot wide portion of the sidewalk not within the covered area?
Ok, I'm a Californian. We don't plan for rain and don't know how to drive in it either
Like he said. Dangerous summer thunderstorms are pretty much a daily occurrence in FL. It can rain for 15 min and then clear up, or rain for 4hrs or more, unrelenting, every day. Use an umbrella and you're just a lightning rod.
No kidding bro. I spent last Christmas in Laguna Beach! You folks freak out when it rains! What amazed me were the number of folks out swimming just as soon as the rain cleared up. Gullywashers like those must have covered the beaches with poop but the cali folk don't care.While I do like the architecture and overall urban form, in at least some of the photos I really hate how they did sidewalks/walkways... does it really rain that much there that you need covered walkways EVERYWHERE with only a 2-foot wide portion of the sidewalk not within the covered area?
Ok, I'm a Californian. We don't plan for rain and don't know how to drive in it either
I agree with ZG and others. Just like MPS has skywalks and TOR has tunnels folks adapt thier cities to meet thier conditions.
We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes - Fr Gabriel Richard 1805
This is what 1,300 condos look like--well, not all 1,300 of them. The most depressing retirement community I've ever visited. We waved at residents walking in the complex and they responded by scowling at us. A neighborhood of bitter residents. But who could blame them?
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
Those are not just 1300 condos.....those are 1300 nearly identical condos. Did you happen to note a certain uniformity among the scowls of the residents?
People will miss that it once meant something to be Southern or Midwestern. It doesn't mean much now, except for the climate. The question, Where are you from? doesn't lead to anything odd or interesting. They live somewhere near a Gap store, and what else do you need to know? - Garrison Keillor
As uniform as the condos they live in. Perhaps they should lift the ban on dogs and cats?
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
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