Great Park

halfnote19_IHB

halfnote19_IHB

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<p><a href="http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1757368.php">Great Park balloon to liftoff</a></p>

<p><img alt="Diagram" src="http://www.ocregister.com/newsimages/news/2007/04/26cballon_gp.gif" /></p>
 
saw the orange 'ball" from freeway yesterday....one ugly thing...and Irvine just approved a $280 million street car / bus route to connect the great park to spectrum...I am not sure i understand the value...
 
That bus/rail thing seemed kind of sketchy to me too. . . maybe they're laying the (ideological) groundwork for a rail-only option. Irvine+good light rail= as close to utopia as you can get.
 
<p>My take is about the same as <a href="http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/columns/article_1762880.php">Mickadeit's</a> (yes, hell is now freezing over). </p>

<p>But you have love this line: "This giant pumpkin is essentially the equivalent of floating a Mylar whale over an auto mall or crisscrossing spotlights in the night sky to lure the gullible to a discount rattan-and-wicker showroom. . . . (And how ironic that the Irvine Co. and the HOAs it created have spent literally decades codifying and scrupulously enforcing a rigid, world-copied code of conduct regarding all manner of aesthetics, including signage, only to have an out-of-town developer come in and plunk this massive rudderless orb smack in the middle of all that perfectly planned beige.)"</p>
 
<p><em>LA Times </em>ran an article today on it.</p>

<p>The balloon pilot will make a 6 figure income. Four support staff will make approx. $90,000 per year.</p>

<p>How do you like those apples?</p>
 
<p>No offense but I saw the rising orange ball from Sand Canyon today and it is ssssssooooooooo ugly! </p>

<p>I dont understand this thing at all! This is... pork belly spending, lol.</p>

<p>Since a builder is footing part of the cost, I'd be pissed if my HOA dues include a hot air balloon. Which it probably will if I live nearby.</p>
 
<p>Hey they need those high income jobs in order for them to buy the crappy Liarnar homes. Altough I am not sure with today's underwriting standards with a "Giant Orange Balloon Operator" making $120k a year would be believed.</p>
 
<p>I went there at the "opening".</p>

<p>What I'm a bit puzzled by is the enormous estimated cost of the park: 1.1 billion$. To put it in perspective, if every Irvine resident paid for the Park out of pocket, it would come down to 5,000$ each. And a lot of the financing seems dependent on land development and resale of houses near the Park...</p>
 
[quote author="MojoJD" date=1259027006]So.... hows that great park coming along... 2+ years later? :)</blockquote>


the balloon looks just like the picture
 
Last time I looked, the balloon is faded due to UV ray, and they are talking about getting a replacement for it at the cost of a few hundred thousand dollars.
 
Yeah... but what about the progress of the park itself. I'm glad I didnt buy in portola springs. When we were looking there at bougainvillea, they REALLY sell you on the proximity to the great park on the coming boutique shops and museum. I almost started telling myself it might offset the obvious extra commute time.



Every time I hear about the park its how they are having more delays, downsizing the "greatness" of the park, and cutting out the ambitious/impressive aspects of the project. I recall one article from last year mentioning that the people running the show spent more of their funding on self-promotion than actual park construction in the fiscal year. Sad.
 
there is this nice small park now open to the public... and the ice rink is coming back... yes, the top of the balloon is completely white now, saw it very clearly on the 133...
 
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