Ideas to Boost Business in Downtown Orlando – Project DTO

Commit to walkability and creating the Nation’s best pedestrian environments

Upgraded and enhanced pedestrian connections and crossings

Connect walking/biking paths between neighborhoods, places, and districts

Create more shade to encourage pedestrian activity

Green spines connecting all of Downtown with Complete Streets–pedestrian and bike prioritized

Reevaluate accessible pedestrian crossings and passages, especially adjacent to sidewalk cafes–pedestrian environment should be prioritized and maximized

Superior walking and bicycling experience

Wider, repaired sidewalks; more street trees and shade; enhanced LED street lighting

Ped and Bike Corridors linking areas of Downtown

Complete Orlando Urban Trail and add more routes

Bike rental stations along Trails and biking corridors

Walkability around new MLS stadium to be prioritized

Bike amenities – parking/storage/shower hub

Facilitate pop-up performances and arts showcase opportunities

Event-friendly permitting process/City-environment

Signature multi-day event drawing regional and national crowds

Family-oriented events

Special events on Church Street

Embrace our history and share it through Downtown tours

Annual Parramore Jazz Festival

Bring baseball back to Tinker Field and add cluster of ballfields for tournaments

Annual “One Great Week for Downtown” volunteer event

Host quarterly “meet your neighbors” events in various neighborhoods

Annual diversity celebration event

Events for seniors

More plazas

Activate plazas with seating, food, events, and temp uses

Bonuses for inclusion of plazas in new development

Pine/Orange is a key location for pocket park or space for pop-up retail

Pocket parks

Temporary uses for vacant lots in Parramore and South Eola

More playgrounds

Dog Parks: Uptown and South Eola

Activate and connect Lake Lucerne to Downtown core

Activate Heritage Square

Complete path around Lake Ivanhoe

More green space

Promote CNL Arts Plaza as a primary place in Downtown

CNL Arts Plaza activated at all times, not just during events

Plant more trees in the CRA

Purchase Constitution Green for use as permanent park

Increase City’s tree canopy goal from 40% to 50%

Coordinated system/network of open space, parks, and green streets in Downtown, connecting places

World-class, family-themed park

Splashpad

Demonstration Areas

Shade on Wall St Plaza

New open spaces north of Colonial Drive

Active and passive recreation

Downtown sports leagues

Recreation fields/courts for sports leagues

Youth sports programs

Interactive, accessible play and exercise equipment

Indoor spaces for families

Iconic Public Art

Magnolia Ave

Washington St

Orange Ave

Pine St

Redesigned master plan including merchants, beach, art, etc.

New Amphitheater

Redesigned Amphitheater

Redesigned master plan including merchants/dining, active park uses, etc.

Multimodal transportation connection to Downtown core

Coordinate branding and marketing efforts with Visit Orlando, EDC, and Tourist Development Council

World class cultural destination

Orlando = Opportunity

Authentic Orlando

Communicating the holistic urban experience that Downtown offers

Urban sophistication

Accessible and intuitive to visitors

Embrace our intimate city size

Focus on being a Millennial Magnet

Social media buzz

Increase marketing budget to provide for a concerted, long-term marketing plan for Downtown

Creativity – be as creative as our citizens

Marketing campaign to promote our neighborhoods and historic districts

City and Downtown websites to include historic info, tour info, Downtown & Main St events, etc.

Promote the drop in crime in Parramore through a marketing program

Create an Urban Market

Alignment with Visit Orlando, EDC, and other agencies

Visible presence of Visit Orlando in Downtown

Strengthen coordination and alighment of priorities with FDOT

Partnerships with Orange County, LYNX, and State to establish consisten funding sources for transportation needs, operations and maintenance

Collaboration between Orange Blossom Trail CRA and Downtown CRA to promote economic development along OBT corridor

Hands on Orlando and Heart of Florida United Way to develop opportunities for civic involvement

Create an Arts & Culture Department with professional administrators, annual revenue stream, and a new City Board to administer the budget

Create an Event Programming staff position

Make it customary for each meeting to begin with a “meet and greet”

Create a Chief of Health position

Redraft the Downtown Urban Design Guidelines

Include outdoor public space for arts and cultural amenities

Requirements/incentives for iconic skyline and architecture

Updated Streetscape Design Guidelines

Cultural Arts District(s)

African American Cultural Heritage District in Parramore

Redefine the Cultural Corridor as Church Street from Parramore to Magnolia and Magnolia St from DPC to Courthouse

Expansion of existing historic districts

Create new historic or conservation districts in Holden-Parramore, Arlington Heights/Lake Dot

Parramore Main Street and/or expand Church St Main Street westward

Wash buildings in color and lights

Interactive digital art displays

Permanent and Temporary digital art and media installations

Create usable, active and recreational space in the Bridge Districts, no more surface parking

Activate space beneath 408 bridges

Region’s highest quality education in Downtown

Create an arts magnet high school in Downtown

Repurpose part of the Orlando Public Library for arts education

K-8 school

UCF Downtown Campus

“Cradle to Career” education program

Reconvene the Downtown Schools Consortium

Lifelong learning opportunities available at a centralized online resource

Schools as community hubs

High-profile, distinctively designed museum in Downtown

Adaptive reuse of city-owned historic buildings

Creation of a commemorative park where historic structures can be located to avoid loss

Update all of Downtown’s Historic Surveys (Florida Master Site File)

Create new Historic Surveys (Florida Master Site File) for new areas

Historic plaque program

Neighborhood marketing program

Creation of a non-profit foundation to acquire, repurpose and rehab historic assets

Maintain existing zoning to ensure neighborhood compatibility of new developments

Identify and purchase sites that connect places and fill in gaps, and market for redevelopment

Dynamic, electronic, interactive wayfinding systems

Interactive kiosks that provide a police help-line in an emergency

Iconic Gateways/Markers for Downtown and Neighborhoods/Districts

Urban Agriculture

Iconic Skyline/Rooftop Activation

Incentivize or require iconic rooftops and/or rooftop activation

Active Rooftop Program: active uses, solar panels, green roof/park, and/or urban agriculture

Retrofit existing street lighting with white LED on key corridors

Decorative lighting along the redefined Cultural Corridor

Enhance lighting in public and private plazas

Conduct a light study of Downtown, fill in all poorly illuminated areas within areas of high density living and destinations of Downtown

Enhance and add lighting in Parramore to increase perception of safety

Pilot Program: Test workability of extended hours with possibility of raising age to 21+ in the future

1,000 seated capacity

Free/affordable meeting space venue/public gatherings spaces

Expand SunRail services during midday, evening and weekends

Convert one-way streets to two-way traffic

Complete Streets network comprised of key corridors (East/West-Robinson and Washington, and North/South)

Eliminate regular vehicle travel on Magnolia (Lymmo only) and enhance the remaining ROW for pedestrian corridor

Transit connections between Downtown and Main Street Districts/surrounding neighborhoods

New Intermodal transit center to accommodate public and private transportation (Megabus, Red Bus, LYMMO, car and bike share programs, etc.) connected to a network of pedestrian and bicycle corridors

More bike racks

Transit link between Downtown and OIA is critical

Expand transit offerings

East/West transit option to bring in people from outside of Downtown

Restore brick streets in neighborhoods

Dynamic parking systems to enhance user experience, through apps, smart meters, etc.

Expand Valet Parking Services

Valet expansion at Church St, Wall St, and DPC

Eliminate metered parking during lunch hours

No meter fees on Saturdays

Downtown Orlando app

Digital tour of Downtown app

Historic walking tour app

Historic tour videos provided to OC Regional History Center, online and schools

App for citizens to notify OPD of panhandlers

City online tool to match people with local volunteer opportunities

Events app

Add public restrooms in Downtown

Events should be required to provide trailer-style restrooms

Drugstore

Create/encourage pop-up retail opportunities: book sales, hurricane supplies, Christmas market, Leu Gardens plant sale, Darden test market events

Parramore Farmer’s Market in Fire Station #2

Business friendly City, easy permitting and easy for businesses to start up here

Streamlining permitting and M/WBE processes

B2B mentorship program

Information kiosks & digital architectural displays to promote local small businesses

Aggressive promotion of incentives and business-friendly changes to market DTO as most business-friendly city in the Southeast

Hoteliers, restauranteurs, retailers and cultural programming synonymous with sophistication

Commit to Tech and Entrepreneurship

Accelerate high-growth companies/Grow a billion dollar company from Downtown roots

Attract a Fortune 1000 company

Capitalize on Downtown’s location between two world-class hospitals

Support private investment and place-making to create world-class downtown

Ensure the success of Creative Village

Promote Parramore as next redevelopment opportunity area

Reinstitute formal Ambassador Program

Citizen volunteer program “Obassadors” as Downtown Ambassadors

Support the Rethink Homelessness effort

Support permanent supportive housing efforts

Aggressive crack-down on panhandling

Develop a public education program surrounding panhandling

Crisis Intervention Training for OPD officers patrolling Downtown

City support of Christian Service Center, Rescue Mission, Coalition for the Homeless and Salvation Army

Development of database of homeless shelter availability

Visible community policing to enhance the perception of safety

Visibility of homeless creates a perceived safety issue; homeless is synonymous with Downtown Orlando

Downtown Neighborhood Watch

Transforming empty lots and blighted areas into transitional spaces for pop-up events

Safety in Parramore: CPTED, code enforcement, visible policing, more lighting, more surveillance cameras

Police substation in CityView relocated to the Men’s Service Center to combat safety perceptions

Expand hours of operation

More unique, recognizable vehicles

Connect service to surrounding neighborhoods

Expand service north and south of Downtown

Reevaluation operations, routes, and overall community impact of LYMMO

Evaluate possibility of connecting senior residential buildings to LYMMO

Not mandatory retail use (must allow other uses in the space)

Development that seeks bonuses should not require ground floor mixed-use space

Mixed-income housing, development bonuses

Infill vacant lots within Parramore neighborhoods

Residential along Church St, and in Creative Village & South Eola areas, Incentivize

Encourage market rate and mixed-income housing

Elevate stature of other historic areas, such as Arlington Concord

Programs to help residents make aesthetic improvements to homes

Neighborhood associations in Lake Dot, Holden/Parramore, and South Eola

Neighborhood aesthetic improvement program

More affordable housing for seniors

Train hotel concierges on Downtown

Support busking

Blow-up Orlando Swan that visits surprise locales

Dependable, inspiring surprises

Visible area of Downtown transformed as a social gathering space

Consider moving Chamber of Commerce and EDC into a central location turning current location into a full-block park

Invest in high-tech infrastructure (gigabit fiber optics) for competitive advantage of place

Undergrounding of overhead utilities

Free wifi/broadband technology in Parramore

Foster collaboration between faith-based orgs, service orgs, and civic groups

Create Downtown Faith Leaders Group

Host a quarterly open-to-call civic lunch forum

“Collective Impact” – addressing issues as a community to solve common issues

Incentives for energy efficiency and green building (new construction)

Create healthy workplaces

Implement property-assessed clean energy financing for voluntary energy financing

Resolve chilled water cost issues that prevent expansion/hinder development of new customer base

Develop iconic solar program for parking garages along I-4

Shared recycling space for Wall St and Lake Eola by 2015

Marketing materials on how to recycle downtown and concierge services by 2015

Better public recycling opportunities, associated with public art by 2016

phased-in recycling requirements for commercial and multi-family buildings by 2018

Low-Impact Development – Stormwater/green infrastructure demonstration project

Improve water quality on at least one lake Downtown to allow for swimming,

Beach

Establish a Downtown eco district