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Every time a police car flies down my street with its siren blasting...
I feel like I am back at my apartment in Atlanta. I do miss living right on North Avenue.
I am not implying that there is more crime or whatever there (there may be…not sure), but it makes me feel like I’m back in a big city. South Florida is big, but there isn’t as much ‘city’!
I want to be back in the midst of it all. A real urban place that’s pretty dense with tall buildings and more streetlife.
A cop car just flew down my street. Maybe it was a Police Woman of Broward County!
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Tomorrow night: Christmas on Las Olas!
I am so excited for tomorrow night! Fort Lauderdale kicks off the Christmas season tomorrow night with the annual Christmas on Las Olas. Basically, since south Florida does not experience any sort of ‘winter wonderland’ during the winter season, they spend elaborate amounts of money on creating one in the middle of a tropical paradise.
Here’s why Christmas on Las Olas is amazingly ridiculous:
- A
mountainpile of actualsnowice provided by Starbucks - A
realski slope with a mountainous view! (Basically a white, slanted conveyor belt with a giant movie screen showing snowy mountain pictures behind it while you stand with skis on) It’s great! - A linoleum
iceskating rink. Yes, there are special skates the kids wear to skate on this surface. - Snow bubbles flowing down from mysterious places atop the buildings, providing the only snow that most all of south Floridians will see in a lifetime.
Also,
- Free endless cheesecake samples provided by the Cheesecake Factory on Las Olas.
- Magicians doing crazy card tricks while stealing your credit cards out of your wallet. Yep, this actually happened last year.
- Sometimes, free drinks.
- And finally, 80 degree weather!
It’s going to be sweeeet!
Anyone else planning to join in this winterfest?
- A
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And this is whatI have to look forward to! 45! Yes!
I know the 80 degree weather here in South Florida is great, and one wants to spend every minute outside. But seriously, I need to be cold enough to be able to see my breath for a day or so. ha!
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To help kick off Geography Awareness Week, National Geographic invited all 100 U.S. Senators to draw a map of their home state from memory and to label at least three important places. Here’s the gallery of maps from the brave Senators who took the challenge. The maps reveal home-state pride, personal history, and even some geographic humor. Click here to see the others.
Above is Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia’s drawing of his state. (Sorry, but it looks like he may need a little help…lol). They haven’t done one for Florida yet.
Thanks dhool for finding this!
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This is why I'm employed. →
At least while I still live in South Florida.
Do your part to recycle this America Recycles Day.
Thanks!
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The largest cruise ship in history is docking at Port Everglades tomorrow.
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The Worst US Cities for Walking
It’s really no surprise that Florida gets the shaft for this kind of thing. I mean, the whole reason why people live here is because the air conditioner was invented. Who wants to walk in the hot humid sun to their work? And because of that, our cities are so spread out. Also, there’s an ‘endless’ amount of land…….(that is an exaggeration)
Biking is certainly a better option, especially in the winter months. Those months have recently begun, and oh how wonderful they are!
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So I went to see my advisor today. Turns out I have one outstanding Florida ‘Gordon Writing Rule’ class or some crap left to take in order to graduate. I am kind of pissed about this. So now I have to take a Writing for Management class in order to satisfy Florida education standards. Georgia only required two of these classes, Florida requires four!
So my final semester will be:
- Writing for Management
- Modern Architecture: History and Theory
- Planning Project (also they added another section which will not be on Friday night and will have a different prof!)
The good news is that I avoided having to go to the Boca campus!
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I looove election maps like this!
Too bad this year was an off year for where I’m registered to vote. It was a quitet one here in Florida, but having New York’s to analyze is always fun.
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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Copeland - California
Come back from California
All of us here in Florida
Are starved for your attentionRIP Copeland - Thank you for making beautiful music
Believe it or not, I used Copeland lyrics as my yearbook quote when I graduated high school. I know. This is sad.
- via asprettyasasong6:36 pmAnnd this is why I'm so glad I won't be in Jacksonville Saturday... →
Florida-Georgia game…on Halloween.
My two most hated teams.
Oct. 27 ’09
8:25 pmA successful history of the consolidation movement in Jacksonville →
The City of Jacksonville is unlike most places in Florida and the United States in it’s government. There is one government. One city within one county.
It was so different for me coming to Broward and working for the local government and working with 31 municipalities plus the county (the stat is incorrect in the article by the way)!
The General Counsel for the City of Jacksonville, Rick Mullaney, has given a brief history of the movement on the popular, grass root website MetroJacksonville.
I find this stuff super interesting! Read the article if you’re at all interested. There will be a second part tomorrow.
Here’s some key features:
“It’s a contrast of democracy versus jurisdictional battles between competing entities—-all with their own separate powers.
And around the rest of the state we have seen this local government structure with a county government, multiple municipalities. In Miami-Dade, for instance, there are 35 police departments and a county police department, 35 Public Works Departments, 35 City Councils—- a number of different structures, very difficult, very challenging.
[…]
And in August of 1967, something very remarkable happened. We went to the polls here in Jacksonville — and at the same time it failed in Tampa — by a two-to-one margin we voted — pretty remarkable — to abolish the county government that existed at that time, to abolish the city government, and to adopt our Charter, a very dramatic and revolutionary reform. And on October 1st of 1968, this charter went into effect.
It was Consolidated Government.”
Oct. 20 ’09
7:41 pmWorld Cafe →
The local NPR station for south Florida, WLRN, does not broadcast this amazing radio program.
I decided to listen a few weeks ago at work over the internet to the live NPR feed. From 9am to 11am, World Cafe is on. And Oh My Gosh it is good. I wondered why I had never heard the program before. Turns out, it’s not just at a different time locally, WLRN doesn’t even broadcast it! I was upset.
I’m discovering new music daily now (like I wasn’t before?), and it’s great!
Oct. 19 ’09
8:10 amFloridians will take any opportunity they get to wear winter clothes.
Sweaters, jackets, coats, gloves, even boots.
Proven fact.
Oct. 15 ’09
1:44 pm
(via adrifting)
I would like to visit this Florida, 1941.
It just occurred to me that I’ve probably lived in Florida for at least two months, over the course of several March breaks. Obviously, central Florida is where it’s at.
- Tarpon Springs - I have the sponge to prove it!
- St. Petersburg - Dog track
- Tampa - Hockey game (because you can’t see the Leafs for $12 in Toronto)
- Winter Haven - My grandma lives there. And the former Cypress Gardens.
- Plant City - Gorging on strawberry shortcake.
- Orlando - Disney, Universal, and some Alligator/Crocodile-themed park (not on this map, of course)
- Bok Tower - apparently when I was a kid I touched something there I shouldn’t have…
- Cape Canaveral - also not on the map, but yeah.
Out of all the places you just listed, I have been only to Orlando and Tampa/St.Pete, but not for the dog track or hockey game. I’ve never even heard of Bok Tower…
I am planning to go to Cape Canaveral to the Space Center this Saturday for the first time though!
Yes, this map shows the good ol’ days of Florida when there was endless land and the Everglades was being drained for the public good. Also, apparently no fun things happened in Jacksonville since it is covered up by the thing’s mouth…
- via brentgilliardNext
about me
i am landon.
urban planning student from jacksonville, fl.
lived in atlanta and long to return.
currently in fort lauderdale.
i am a local government employee.
i blog a lot about my three cities: jacksonvile, atlanta, and fort lauderdale and florida.
these are some of my friends:
culture, music, traveling, public transportation, community, and Jesus.
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