Bungalower 2015 Story Roundup: I Wish This Was

As part of our 2015 story roundup series we will be taking a look back at some of our favorite posts of the past year.

The following collection of one of our newest columns, I Wish This Was. I Wish This Was is a series of badly Photoshopped images that transform ignored, vacant lots and properties in Orlando into something the City Beautiful could be proud of.

I Wish This Was … a calmer Corrine

Corrine Drive is becoming the issue du jour for urban design fans, Audubon Park residents and the City. For years a group called the Corrine Calming Coalition (Facebook | Website) has been lobbying the City to redraw the road by removing lanes and favoring pedestrians over cars.

To continue reading, click HERE.

I wish this was … a beer garden

The Hoods Up (OCPropertyAppraiser) was once a car repair shop but is now sitting vacant. The overhangs and abundance of windows/garage doors are reminiscent of the Black Bean Deli location on Colonial Drive, and make it stand out as one of the more architecturally pleasing buildings in the immediate area.

Continue reading HERE.

I Wish This Was … a tiny dog park

Ferg’s Depot is getting ready to open their new venue in the former Train Depot on Church Street, but there’s a little sliver of land behind the fancy new shipping container oyster bars that could use a little sprucing up [GMap].

At the moment, it’s really just an ignored “between space” full of sand piles from the nearby construction and tumbleweeds of trash blown in from the street. Oddly though, someone has already installed/sponsored a little pet waste station – which hints at the current use of the space already.

Continue reading HERE.

I Wish This Was … an urban orchard

We love parks … but, some parks were created a little less equal than others. Festival Park in the Milk District [Gmap] is one of the largest parks in the City of Orlando, but it also happens to be one of the ugliest.

Continue reading HERE.

I Wish This Was … a solar parking lot

We’re lucky to have our Bungalower desks located at Canvs (Facebook | Website)  in the Church Street Exchange building [Gmap] downtown. 

One of the many benefits of working at the downtown co-working space is that whenever we need to run an errand, we can use an Orlando Bike Share (Website) bike to pedal around downtown.

Continue reading HERE.

I Wish This Was … an art corridor

This week we’re spending our wish on making our 408 underpasses a little more aesthetically pleasing. The parking spaces under the interstate downtown will be converted post-I4 Ultimate construction, into a Bridge District (or as Mayor Dyer recently revealed at the Canvs anniversary party, “Under I”) with better lighting, gathering spaces and a number of other other additions, but what about the other underpasses?

Continue reading HERE.

I Wish This Was … a pop-up movie theater

This 5,352 square foot commercial lot [Gmap] was built in 1958 and was once a laundromat.

More recently it had a short stint as a weekend farmers market run by Eat More Produce (Facebook), but now stands empty. With Will’s Pub (Facebook | Website) and Lil Indies right next door, we’d love to see some sort of activity happening out here on this corner.

Continue reading HERE.

I Wish This Was … a projection park

This week we wish the empty lot on the corner of Orange Avenue and Pine Street [Gmap] could be something a bit more people friendly … something pop-up friendly that activates the corner with a rotating series of programming.We’d like to see it transformed into a “projection park”.

Continue reading HERE.

I Wish This Was … a literary hub

This week’s iteration of I Wish This Was wants to use our collective brain storming magic to change an empty building right downtown [GMap] into a hub for Orlando’s growing literary scene.

Continue reading HERE.

I Wish This Was … a giant swimming pool

Do you ever love something so much, you just want to get inside of it? Like a cupcake from Blue Bird bakeshop? That’s how we feel about Lake Eola … but to be honest, we’re a little afraid of it too. The green-brown cold brew viscosity of the water seems like it could possibly give us X-Men powers if we ever fell into it … or change us into were-swans like the Come Out With Pride mascot.

Continue reading HERE.