Canter Group Planning & Design Blog

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First 3 Photos : These formless and sometimes blighted sites, located on North Monroe Street, not far from the Capitol Complex, have remained unchanged for several decades.     Photo 4: It’s unclear whether or not this unkempt post and chain barricade (foreground) located at the front of the State Capitol serves any purpose. The public sidewalks lie on the other side of the barricades (mid-ground in photo).

Seen some great ideas? Contact us. If we agree, we'll post them here and credit you with the find! It's always good to have a rainbow at the entrance to the City. Lakeside Bat "roost" for mosquito control Water feature installed in landscape area at drive- thru restaurant A deck constructed around this office building side door stoop converts wasted area into a sunny break area. Gazebo style covered bus stop at apartment entrance Stormwater facility wall constructed of stone instead of concrete or concrete block Restaurant patio overlooks landscaped stormwater facility. Floodplain volume accounted for beneath the building. Note columns softened by climbing vines.

(Click on photos to enlarge) Sadly, this cross walk apparently met local codes for providing pedestrian access from the frontage. Directional arrows point both ways: White to the left; yellow to the right, around to the drive-through window and by-pass aisle. Landscaping boulder installed near H/C curb cut ramp Bicycle chained to H/C sign (no bike parking available) Note the raised concrete behind the H/C aisle on the left. Live Oaks planted in small planters in this shopping center parking lot This Live Oak planted about 10 feet from a building edge. This newly constructed shopping center parking lot has planter sized islands in the center of the asphalt parking bays. Why plant this? Sidewalk interruptus

In 2003 Talcor Commercial Real Estate Services, Inc. decided to attempt a pedestrian friendly destination spot on the corner of East 5th Avenue and Thomasville Road in Tallahassee, Florida approximately one mile from the downtown complex. The plan was to renovate and convert an existing 21,000 square-foot furniture store, complete with loading bays, to a retail center that would include high-end, sit-down restaurants, smaller casual and fast food shops and small retail stores. The Parking Problem The challenge lay with the availability of parking, and convincing potential tenants that a retail center that would rely mainly on pedestrian traffic during daytime hours could not only survive, but be successful. Only eleven spaces were available in the existing parking lot for the furniture store. While Talcor owned adjacent office complexes with parking for 205 vehicles, only 25 to 30 spaces were available in that lot during the day until 5:00 PM. In order to compensate for lack of pa...

Marpan Recycling began in March 2008 converting construction and demolition debris into reusable materials. The operation is located on the site of an abandoned asphalt plant near the southern limits of the City of Tallahassee, Florida. Below is a photo (1st Photo) of an asphalt plant in Tallahassee similar to the one that previously occupied the Marpan site. This was replaced by a state-of-the-art recycling facility (Next 2 Photos) that grinds Class III (construction and demolition debris) and yard waste into re-usable materials. According to Florida Trend.com: "The $5.5-million plant can handle up to 500 tons of debris a day..." The goal, according to owner Kim Williams, is to return 75% of the debris to the market. Their website reports the facilities recycling rate for the month of September at 73%. Not only has Marpan managed to return a high percentage of materials to the market, they accomplished it in an ecologically responsible way, situating the operation so ...

Housing: Taking A Bubble Bath To Reality Tuesday, 30 September 2008, 10:39 am Hugh Pavletich writes: Unfortunately – too many within the economics, urban planning and property appraisal / valuation professions – who have been "schooled" in markets, but not actually "educated" in them with practical experience – have failed professionally - by not informing policymakers and the wider public of the real costs and consequences of housing bubbles. Indeed – many have been more than willing to act as "cheerleaders" for these bubbles. Experienced property development practitioners ("market developers") know to exit bubble urban markets as soon as possible – because in reality with land and construction inflation, they are in real terms paying tax on illusory profits and left holding "bubble value" land and property, which will crash at some stage. So if their development businesses do not fail because of cash flow problems in attempting to deb...