(04-27-2016 10:58 AM)Blue_Trombone Wrote: [ -> ]I personally want ODU to become akin to a miniature city downtown. Except you have sidewalks instead of roads, and 3x the green space. Building skinnier, taller towers for dorms and academic buildings means you get to keep more square footage for things like green space and gardens.
I agree, the one knock against ODU is the lack of green space, with the exception of Kauffman Mall. I think they should reroute Hampton Blvd around (or Under) campus and make the entire campus walkable without fearing a speeding 18 wheeler
(04-27-2016 11:49 AM)BigBlueMonarch Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 10:58 AM)Blue_Trombone Wrote: [ -> ]I personally want ODU to become akin to a miniature city downtown. Except you have sidewalks instead of roads, and 3x the green space. Building skinnier, taller towers for dorms and academic buildings means you get to keep more square footage for things like green space and gardens.
I agree, the one knock against ODU is the lack of green space, with the exception of Kauffman Mall. I think they should reroute Hampton Blvd around (or Under) campus and make the entire campus walkable without fearing a speeding 18 wheeler
In one of the Master Plans didn't it show elevated pedestrian crossings over Hampton Blvd? That would be ideal and would be something I wish they had when I lived in Rogers East my Freshman year.
Blue_Trombone I agree with you, I always thought that because ODU doesn't really have much to grow horizontally, the best bet would be vertically. I would love to see us build up, like a mini city as you said (great minds think alike!). I can't wait to see what the new Webb center is going to look like, and the proposed clock tower in the middle of the mall should really add a nice touch to the overall look and feel of the University. Unfortunately they can't do this as we've discussed but I wish that ODU owned some part of 49th across the street from the West side of campus. I never really liked how the campus ended abruptly once you hit 49th, but because of all the houses, the Islamic center, the Catholic Campus Ministries house and others I have forgotten I don't think it will happen. Football stadium aside, I am excited to see our campus evolve as the years go on.
Also, a question for you all... Does ODU own the high school football stadium? Or does it belong to the city?
(04-27-2016 10:58 AM)Blue_Trombone Wrote: [ -> ]I personally want ODU to become akin to a miniature city downtown. Except you have sidewalks instead of roads, and 3x the green space. Building skinnier, taller towers for dorms and academic buildings means you get to keep more square footage for things like green space and gardens.
Blue_Trombone, your vision fits ODU's needs. I hope the future planning and planners follow that lead. It would be very aesthetic and a practical way to address our future growth. Like you I think the only way to have long term enrolment growth will be to build taller. I'm sure there are regulation's that set restrictions on how high the University can build, but I'm assuming that 9-12 stories would fit City, State and Federal codes. I believe Arts & Letters is 9 stories.
There was a time a few years back. ODU projected enrolment growth to reach 35,000 by 2025. Is that still part of ODU's mission.
(04-27-2016 12:19 PM)Challenger Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 12:09 PM)MonGNARch Wrote: [ -> ]Also, a question for you all... Does ODU own the high school football stadium? Or does it belong to the city?
City owned.
Damn. Well let's move the FH/LAX field to the East practice field! Then we can have our indoor practice facility
(04-27-2016 12:20 PM)ODU Oldtimer Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 10:58 AM)Blue_Trombone Wrote: [ -> ]I personally want ODU to become akin to a miniature city downtown. Except you have sidewalks instead of roads, and 3x the green space. Building skinnier, taller towers for dorms and academic buildings means you get to keep more square footage for things like green space and gardens.
Blue_Trombone, your vision fits ODU's needs. I hope the future planning and planners follow that lead. It would be very aesthetic and a practical way to address our future growth. Like you I think the only way to have long term enrolment growth will be to build taller. I'm sure there are regulation's that set restrictions on how high the University can build, but I'm assuming that 9-12 stories would fit City, State and Federal codes. I believe Arts & Letters is 9 stories.
There was a time a few years back. ODU projected enrollment growth to reach 35,000 by 2025. Is that still part of ODU's mission.
Right now the enrollment is about 24,600. The future visioned enrollment according to the master plan is 20,426. Personally I think a drop is a good, less commuters and they will not be letting everyone in which will help our academics. Right now anyone can get in, they accept 75-80% of applicants. That is way to high imo. Plus 20K is still a lot of students
(04-27-2016 10:24 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 09:15 AM)cmett003 Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 08:48 AM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ]Man, thats a lot of new dorms going up. Why not build taller dorms and save some room for the future? VCU has tower dorms. I think NC State has a few too. Also, interesting that those maps indicate the stadium going where Powhatan is. Lastly, yes, green means tailgating space, but its not real tailgating. Its picnic space a good haul away from the car.
If you look at the number of beds and also square footage. The new dorms will be taller than the existing ones. Maybe not "towers" but at least 5 or 6 stories. I agree towers would get a lot more beds in one building and not take up as much area.
Towers would be ideal but you gotta factor in hurricane resistance and building settling (on a swamp, no less) of a tower. Think the costs would be ever-increasing to insure the same quality of both with each floor added.
And are there height restrictions due to the proximity to the naval base and the airport? That could also be a factor.
From what I understand it's a purely cosmetic thing.
If you watch the presentation on YouTube, they say that 4-5 stories is as tall as they want to go. Going higher will take away from the feel of the campus.
I don't have a time stamp, won't get around to it until later. Finals today and tomorrow.
(04-27-2016 10:35 AM)cmett003 Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 10:24 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 09:15 AM)cmett003 Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 08:48 AM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ]Man, thats a lot of new dorms going up. Why not build taller dorms and save some room for the future? VCU has tower dorms. I think NC State has a few too. Also, interesting that those maps indicate the stadium going where Powhatan is. Lastly, yes, green means tailgating space, but its not real tailgating. Its picnic space a good haul away from the car.
If you look at the number of beds and also square footage. The new dorms will be taller than the existing ones. Maybe not "towers" but at least 5 or 6 stories. I agree towers would get a lot more beds in one building and not take up as much area.
Towers would be ideal but you gotta factor in hurricane resistance and building settling (on a swamp, no less) of a tower. Think the costs would be ever-increasing to insure the same quality of both with each floor added.
And are there height restrictions due to the proximity to the naval base and the airport? That could also be a factor.
While there may be a cost benefit to not going higher, I dont think that hurricane problems and settling are concerns. These are issues that have to be taken into account anyways regardless of size. The factor of safety for design threshold is not crossed with say 8 floors instead of 6. It would the difference of maybe 20-30 floors compared to 6. Then you would have to worry about additional design and engineering challenges and costs. Harnage has already stated that new building would be taller than existing ones. Finally, BAL is 9 floors. Lets just say the tallest dorm they would build would be maybe 10 floors, I cant see anything taller than that. A 10 story building is not even close to affecting any air traffic from the Base or the Norfolk Airport, there may be a height restriction, but its not due to air traffic
Cost is more likely a huge factor.
I've never verified this, but I've heard that the Engineering systems building was supposed to be taller, or be expandable to go taller but the cost was too great at the time. The building is not engineered to expand up now, leading to another engineering building going between the Eng systems building and the library.
(04-27-2016 11:49 AM)BigBlueMonarch Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 10:58 AM)Blue_Trombone Wrote: [ -> ]I personally want ODU to become akin to a miniature city downtown. Except you have sidewalks instead of roads, and 3x the green space. Building skinnier, taller towers for dorms and academic buildings means you get to keep more square footage for things like green space and gardens.
I agree, the one knock against ODU is the lack of green space, with the exception of Kauffman Mall. I think they should reroute Hampton Blvd around (or Under) campus and make the entire campus walkable without fearing a speeding 18 wheeler
The costs associated with that will be insane. Pedestrian bridges, skyways (like what you see in Canada, or MSP connecting the buildings), or a tunnel under Hampton Blvd for people to use would be far less expensive. (My project management class actually worked on a pedistrian tunnel under Hampton crossing at 45th and 49th.)
(04-27-2016 12:19 PM)Challenger Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 12:09 PM)MonGNARch Wrote: [ -> ]Also, a question for you all... Does ODU own the high school football stadium? Or does it belong to the city?
City owned.
I think the land used top be ODU land many years ago, but a land swap occurred during the ODU expansion. (If I remember correctly that is how the Firedepartment got it's location on 42nd)
(04-27-2016 01:32 PM)GhentFan Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 11:49 AM)BigBlueMonarch Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 10:58 AM)Blue_Trombone Wrote: [ -> ]I personally want ODU to become akin to a miniature city downtown. Except you have sidewalks instead of roads, and 3x the green space. Building skinnier, taller towers for dorms and academic buildings means you get to keep more square footage for things like green space and gardens.
I agree, the one knock against ODU is the lack of green space, with the exception of Kauffman Mall. I think they should reroute Hampton Blvd around (or Under) campus and make the entire campus walkable without fearing a speeding 18 wheeler
The costs associated with that will be insane. Pedestrian bridges, skyways (like what you see in Canada, or MSP connecting the buildings), or a tunnel under Hampton Blvd for people to use would be far less expensive. (My project management class actually worked on a pedistrian tunnel under Hampton crossing at 45th and 49th.)
Overhead pedestrian crossings would be cheaper even still. I am kind of surprised ODU hasn't done this yet. Makes it faster for the students (don't have to wait at the light) and much safer. You could then also increase the speed limit if the city really wanted too since (in theory) there wouldn't be as many pedestrians to worry about. Win-win.
(04-27-2016 01:50 PM)odu09 Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 01:32 PM)GhentFan Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 11:49 AM)BigBlueMonarch Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 10:58 AM)Blue_Trombone Wrote: [ -> ]I personally want ODU to become akin to a miniature city downtown. Except you have sidewalks instead of roads, and 3x the green space. Building skinnier, taller towers for dorms and academic buildings means you get to keep more square footage for things like green space and gardens.
I agree, the one knock against ODU is the lack of green space, with the exception of Kauffman Mall. I think they should reroute Hampton Blvd around (or Under) campus and make the entire campus walkable without fearing a speeding 18 wheeler
The costs associated with that will be insane. Pedestrian bridges, skyways (like what you see in Canada, or MSP connecting the buildings), or a tunnel under Hampton Blvd for people to use would be far less expensive. (My project management class actually worked on a pedistrian tunnel under Hampton crossing at 45th and 49th.)
Overhead pedestrian crossings would be cheaper even still. I am kind of surprised ODU hasn't done this yet. Makes it faster for the students (don't have to wait at the light) and much safer. You could then also increase the speed limit if the city really wanted too since (in theory) there wouldn't be as many pedestrians to worry about. Win-win.
I doubt students would use it. At least that was the theory when they were looking at that solution 15 years ago.
(04-27-2016 02:08 PM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 01:50 PM)odu09 Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 01:32 PM)GhentFan Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 11:49 AM)BigBlueMonarch Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 10:58 AM)Blue_Trombone Wrote: [ -> ]I personally want ODU to become akin to a miniature city downtown. Except you have sidewalks instead of roads, and 3x the green space. Building skinnier, taller towers for dorms and academic buildings means you get to keep more square footage for things like green space and gardens.
I agree, the one knock against ODU is the lack of green space, with the exception of Kauffman Mall. I think they should reroute Hampton Blvd around (or Under) campus and make the entire campus walkable without fearing a speeding 18 wheeler
The costs associated with that will be insane. Pedestrian bridges, skyways (like what you see in Canada, or MSP connecting the buildings), or a tunnel under Hampton Blvd for people to use would be far less expensive. (My project management class actually worked on a pedistrian tunnel under Hampton crossing at 45th and 49th.)
Overhead pedestrian crossings would be cheaper even still. I am kind of surprised ODU hasn't done this yet. Makes it faster for the students (don't have to wait at the light) and much safer. You could then also increase the speed limit if the city really wanted too since (in theory) there wouldn't be as many pedestrians to worry about. Win-win.
I doubt students would use it. At least that was the theory when they were looking at that solution 15 years ago.
why do you think they wouldn't use it?
(04-27-2016 10:58 AM)Blue_Trombone Wrote: [ -> ]I personally want ODU to become akin to a miniature city downtown. Except you have sidewalks instead of roads, and 3x the green space. Building skinnier, taller towers for dorms and academic buildings means you get to keep more square footage for things like green space and gardens.
That would be nice. If they ever build the third crossing, it will take most of the 18 wheeler traffic off Hampton Blvd too. I also agree that shrinking the student body to 21,000 while increasing the number of residential students will help the school. It will also make us more selective, increasing our rankings and thereby making us more attractive to high quality traditional students. Campus beautification and SAFETY are very important elements of this effort that we can't afford to overlook.
(04-27-2016 02:12 PM)ODU_NYG Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 02:08 PM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 01:50 PM)odu09 Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 01:32 PM)GhentFan Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 11:49 AM)BigBlueMonarch Wrote: [ -> ]I agree, the one knock against ODU is the lack of green space, with the exception of Kauffman Mall. I think they should reroute Hampton Blvd around (or Under) campus and make the entire campus walkable without fearing a speeding 18 wheeler
The costs associated with that will be insane. Pedestrian bridges, skyways (like what you see in Canada, or MSP connecting the buildings), or a tunnel under Hampton Blvd for people to use would be far less expensive. (My project management class actually worked on a pedistrian tunnel under Hampton crossing at 45th and 49th.)
Overhead pedestrian crossings would be cheaper even still. I am kind of surprised ODU hasn't done this yet. Makes it faster for the students (don't have to wait at the light) and much safer. You could then also increase the speed limit if the city really wanted too since (in theory) there wouldn't be as many pedestrians to worry about. Win-win.
I doubt students would use it. At least that was the theory when they were looking at that solution 15 years ago.
why do you think they wouldn't use it?
Because its easier and faster to play human frogger most of the time.
(04-27-2016 02:12 PM)ODU_NYG Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 02:08 PM)monarx Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 01:50 PM)odu09 Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 01:32 PM)GhentFan Wrote: [ -> ] (04-27-2016 11:49 AM)BigBlueMonarch Wrote: [ -> ]I agree, the one knock against ODU is the lack of green space, with the exception of Kauffman Mall. I think they should reroute Hampton Blvd around (or Under) campus and make the entire campus walkable without fearing a speeding 18 wheeler
The costs associated with that will be insane. Pedestrian bridges, skyways (like what you see in Canada, or MSP connecting the buildings), or a tunnel under Hampton Blvd for people to use would be far less expensive. (My project management class actually worked on a pedistrian tunnel under Hampton crossing at 45th and 49th.)
Overhead pedestrian crossings would be cheaper even still. I am kind of surprised ODU hasn't done this yet. Makes it faster for the students (don't have to wait at the light) and much safer. You could then also increase the speed limit if the city really wanted too since (in theory) there wouldn't be as many pedestrians to worry about. Win-win.
I doubt students would use it. At least that was the theory when they were looking at that solution 15 years ago.
why do you think they wouldn't use it?
There are Studies, (David Harnage mentions them in the masterplan video) that overpasses are not the best solution.
They are still looking at crossing options. Last semester a bunch of students were brought in and asked about the overpass idea. One of those students was on my team for project management and our paper was submitted to the school for a tunnel option. I doubt it will happen, but somebody considered it for a moment.