New Airport- all it's hyped to be?

[Smiling JOe]

I'm not drinking any Kool-Aide. I'm just telling you the reasons why it is being built. International or not, there is much red tape involved in planning and development for an airport. St Joe has been working on this project for at least 15 years, from what I understand. There is much more than the physical airport which is considered. The road systems to get people to the airport are fairly complex political beasts, and that has been in the works for a while. Believe what you want about the trend of the aging population. It doesn't take a rocket scientists to see the trends. Same thing can be said about the majority of the US population moving towards our coastal borders.

I'm not sure when the last time that any of you have visited Panama City. I drove over last week, and the traffic on the Hathaway Bridge was thick as molasses. It is like that every day. The restaurants in PC are filled every night of the week. They don't even have tourists in PC. PCB is also growing, whether or not you choose to see it. Numbers show that PCB area is the second most traveled to destination in FL other than Disney World. That area will need systems in place to support the people moving to the surrounding area. Want to attract major corporations? You better have a good airport. An airport is just one of the many systems needed to attract people, jobs, and business. -ie- tax revenue.

 

[NotDeadYet]

Hmmm. I think the problem here is future vision. A new airport is based on a vision of essentially more of the same. That is to say, a growth model based on abundant and relatively affordable fossil fuels. I personally reject that as a sustainable vision. We need to be looking at more efficient ways of moving people and stuff. Trains would be a good start. Warren Buffet thinks so, too.

 

[AAbsolute]

Beats me...and I am not sure it will ever be what all the hype says it will be.

When airlines are cutting back service to small communities all over the country, it seems counter-intuitive that anyone would be building an airport.

What we need is a good high speed train service!

I thought I heard talks of a train from Tampa. What ever happened to the idea?

 

[GoodWitch58]

Not sure what the current status is, but years ago I was involved in the rail service from Tampa to Miami--it worked for awhile, but soon the ridership fell off. As with Amtrak, the routes/times/schedules were not convenient, and as long as the price of gas was low; people chose to drive.

It is also true that the concrete/asphalt lobby in this state has historically stood in the way of alternative transportation.

Cong. Allen Boyd is working hard to get the East West Amtrak service restored across Florida. It was stopped after Katrina when the tracks were destroyed.

I agree with Not Dead Yet, we need to have a different vision than more of the same...

 

[beachmouse]

It's not an airport, it's an 'aerotropolis':

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/airport_9541___article.html/kasarda_aerotropolis.html

This is starting to sound more and more like the Springfield monorail project.

Is it going to be an improvement over the previous airport? Yes. But I think a lot of people are being sold a very faulty bill of goods over the project. What you're going to get is a nice modern facility that, if you're lucky, will have comprable numbers and flight options as Pensacola in the first 5-7 years of operations. Which is actually pretty generous when it comes to expected flight growth, something like tripling current numbers. More realistic growth during that time frame would be getting up to VPS numbers.

 

[30ashopper]

Now that they have elliminated 1300 acres of CO2 absorbing, aquifer purifying forest, how do they plan on making up for it?

 

[30ashopper]

Progress, or a step backward?

 

[Smiling JOe]

So how does one accurately predict future (twenty years out) fuel prices, to know whether a long range plan will work?

 

[30ashopper]

I think this is representitive of Panama City in general. The city has rarely shown a concern for careful use of resources, quality of living, etc.. My take is this is "too much, too soon". Heck they should make that the city's motto.

 

[SHELLY]

Now that they have elliminated 1300 acres of CO2 absorbing, aquifer purifying forest, how do they plan on making up for it?

That's just the beginning....the "aerotropolis" :roll: concept is to make the airport a central hub of a "destination," stretching out up to 20 miles: