Xanadu Redu?

WOW - MiniVan & SUV paradise.
The human brain cannot imagine the traffic on a Saturday at 1:00 PM in the summer with an event at the sports complex down the street.
Who got a free vacation home in Florida for looking the other way on this brilliance ?

Should be renamed Xanadudu!

I hope there is another highway in the plan. Route 3 is not at all equipped to handle that kind of volume.

Xanadon't!

Now I learn that those brightly colored panels are meant to be permanent! Driving by on the NJTP, they look flimsy, ready to blow into the waters of Berry's Creek at the slightest gust. I really did think they were but temporary, cheap sheathing while the project awaited completion.

A friend from out of state was recently visiting and as we drove by, he said "What the HELL is that?" I think that's probably the most likely reaction to it. UGH.

Nightmare. At least they didnt put up a NASCAR track.

I kind of thought the same thing, that those blue panels were meant to be covered by something more permanent (and more attractive).

I really do think it's rather hideous, but then again, I never did develop an appreciation for abstract art.

I don't think it will stand the test of time either. Reminds me of some office and school buildings from the sixties that had those blue or orange colored panels under the windows. The ones that remain look dated and ugly.

At least they didnt put up a NASCAR track

No, they're putting up a giant Ferris wheel with a flashing Pepsi logo in the center, instead.

One more place in Jersey to avoid like the plague.

(1) Paramus
(2) Route 46 West
(3) Atlantic City
(4) Willowbrook Mall
(5) Walleroo's 'den'
(6) The Starbucks on Valley Rd. - sometimes a scene for tough guy showdowns.
(7) The Starbucks @ Whole Foods - too many hip people on their PDAs and Notebooks
(8) Brookdale Shoprite

I dont care much for the pepsi branding, but depending on how big that ferris wheel is, it'll make for a great view of the city. by the artist rendition, it appears to be at least twice as big as the one they use for the meadowlands fair.

Personally, I can't wait for Xanadu to open. Imagine--indoor skiing in the summer! Finally I can experience the thrill of downhill skiing without having to deal with the outdoors. And now I won't have to schlep all the way to Dubai.

as a skier, I would think that this 'indoor slope' is a waste. long line to get up to the top of a slope, only to be regulated on speed and traffic, and most likely be at the bottom in less than a minute. and god forbid someone is trying to learn ski.... there isnt enough room at mountain creek, and thats a MOUNTAIN!

This whole dog's breakfast of a project looks like a giant version of the "Mousetrap" game that my kids used to play with years ago.
And I don't doubt that there are more than a few equally huge actual rodents lurking in the cattails just outside the gates.

Xanadu is going to be a gangland battle ground.

Considering I go to the current structure maybe once a decade I could care less what they put there. But as someone who has spent a small portion of their life stuck in Rt 3 traffic on football Sundays this is going to suck!

I haven't been to Mountain Crrek since it was Vernon Valley Jimmy, how is it there?

I'm looking forward to Dos Caminos restaurant though...the guacamole is incredible.

It'll be like a brightly colored mecca for child molesters.

hrhppg

its good for what it is. a close by small day trip. come early. ski the snow off the mountain by 11am, and thats about it. most of it is open at night as well

Besides the indoor skiing, I'm also really looking forward to the indoor Formula One race track. Oh...and also the House of Blues, the Cheesecake Factory, the UnderWater World aquarium and the PBS Kids Pavilion. And also the new state-of-the-art minor league stadium that will play host to both the Bergen Cliff Hawks minor-league baseball team and the Bergen River Dogs professional lacrosse team. And also the ESPN Skate Park, the indoor surfing wave, and the Wildlife Museum. An I can't forget Wannado, the revolutionary, 150,000-square-foot entertainment concept where children can role-play adult professions, such as news reporter or television producer, airline pilot or cruise ship captain, doctor, circus performer, banker or dozens of other jobs while learning about earning and spending in an entertaining environment. I'm trying to think if there's anything else I left out. Its been a long time since Xanadu's original proposal, but I think that about covers it. Either way, it will be awesome to do all those things and be just a five minute drive from the new Meadowlands Golf Resort Village, which will consist of two 18-hole public golf courses, two 18-hole private golf courses, 700,000 square feet of commercial recreation, 750,000 square feet of office space, 750 hotel rooms, 100,000 square feet of retail space, 1,130 active-adult housing units, and 850 open-market apartments and condominiums. From what I remember, if their timetable was correct, we should be ready for some golfing by this summer.

If it's like the indoor slope in Dubai, it's not exactly "skiing". A lift takes you to the top and you make your way down with about 15-20 other people in about half a minute. Also, there are so many chemicals in the air that your throat starts to burn after a while. The great outdoors it ain't.

Indoor skiing. And I was thinking we'd run out of ways to waste our planet's resources.

The irony is, because of things like indoor skiing, actual outdoor skiing may cease to exist altogether.

As much as I think Xanadu will flop and cause a hige migraine for the state, the website is actually pretty cool, minus that heinous picture which was used for this article. Perhaps we shouldn't knock it before we try it

http://www.meadowlandsxanadu.com/static/node1304.jsp

FYI a hige migraine is very similar to a huge migraine

All I see when I look at the website is yet another version of a mall, filled with shrieking kids and overweight parents, all moseying to the Cheesecake Factory.

I must say my sons (read: me!) are quite excited about the LEGOland, but did they have to make the place look like it was built with LEGO's?

I object in the strongest possible terms to the completely random mention of my den, Mellon. I don't have a den, I have a porch, or rather the underside of a porch. And it's very salubrious.

Not everybody can afford vacation homes in the Swiss Alps and Vail, jerseygurl -- or was calling attention to your relative priviledge the whole point of that post, as it is to most of your posts?

Walleroo,

If you ever get tired of your current location, I have approximately 200 sq feet of unused space under my front porch.

It's very dry and the earth is as soft as Bermuda sand.

Since it is completely closed off, you wouldn't have to evict any tenants. You could piggy back on my wireless DSL at no additional cost.

Thank you, Mellon. That would undoubtedly be a huge improvement on my current location, which is cramped and dank and inhabited by all sorts of worms and other crawly things. But your porch doesn't have one thing that mine has: the occasional footsteps overhead of the Lovely Liz, the Center of All Heavenly Consciousness, the Bringer of Eternal Happiness, the Goddess of Creation and Destruction, etc etc.

Darn! I was hoping to get a good tenant. Now I'll have to advertise on Craig's list and God knows who might show up...

Hmmmnnnn.. There is 'Rocky', the racoon(of course). He likes the cuisine around here. He's currently living in the sewer drain and also in the crotch of an elm tree across the street. Maybe he'd like the space...

Walleroo - my post here was about the reality of indoor skiing. My company happens to be doing a project in Dubai and the slope there is a novelty, not a ski slope. Not to mention how wasteful it is to keep a place like that cold and the fact that your throat burns after a while is pretty bad. Right here in Jersey we have Mountain Creek just a short 45 minute drive away and very affordable, no need for Vail or Aspen.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Hell.

LOL!

"Yes, Virginia, there is a Hell."

I agree about skiing at Mountain Creek, or as we used to call it Vermin Valley.

Although methinks you refer to Legoland and a world fo traffic and screaming kids, which short of an indoor water park must be one of the seven caves of hell indeed.

The most hellish thing to me is not the hordes of noisy kids but the increased traffic, as Sandy points out. Route 3 is already a mess with the Meadowlands. Why add to it?

The traffic is already unbearable. When there is a name act appearing the rush hour traffic backs up all the way down to 14th street on the westbound side. Now you'll have the added pain of having to look at that while sitting there. Yikes.

Like we need more drab buildings that look like Giant's Stadium, or more red brick semi-traditional structures with pediments and green metal roofing. Nothing worse than a building that is middling in its expression.

That said, this is not a very attractive structure. My criticism is not based on the fact that it is modern or colorful, per se. It simply isn's a well-designed modern, colorful building. The architect, David Rockwell,is known for his interior, "themed" environments, ie: casinos, and I don't think his sensibility translates very well here.

It would be very welcome to have a well-designed building lend some color and interest to the brown and grey drabbness of that stretch of Rt. 3, but unfortunately, this project is not it.

I, too, used to refer to the project as "Xanadon't" (this was before visible construction began). I even had a bet with a friend that it would never happen.

So, now, not only are my eyes assaulted when heading through the Meadowlands, but am I out some hard-earned cash.

I should have learned my lesson when I wagered that no one would move into some certain McMansions.

Xanadoozy!

I can't wait to never go near the place. Indoor skiing indeed! I'd rather eat meal worms.

The design stinks.

You wouldn't be caught dead on the slopes of Mountain Creek, jerseygurl, despite your name, which anyway was intended to be ironic.

I used to go when it was still called Great Gorge and Vernon Valley, every weekend in the winter.

"...I don't have a den, I have a porch, or rather the underside of a porch. And it's very salubrious."

Have you tried a French Drain or a sump pump?

Look at the mobs that continuously turn out for clifton commons and the strip mall across rt. 3. Build it and they will come. Jersey is the second wealthiest state in the country and since people who live here are afraid to cross the state line, xanadu is the perfect downtime destination; What else could they possibly do with all that disposable income? Xanadu is a perfect representation of New Jersey: in-your-face gawdy and unsustainable.

Look at the mobs that continuously turn out for clifton commons and the strip mall across rt. 3. Build it and they will come. Jersey is the second wealthiest state in the country and since people who live here are afraid to cross the state line, xanadu is the perfect downtime destination; What else could they possibly do with all that disposable income? Xanadu is a perfect representation of New Jersey: in-your-face gawdy and unsustainable.

I hear it's sinking.

The faster, the better.

My Genie's Lamp say this will quickly become THE # 1 location in the state for car theft. The largest selection, especially of SUV, minivans and Jeeps, combined with the fact that there will be next-to-no "short-stays". The thieves will have a long lead time to get away, before the theft is discovered, by the vehicle's owner, just what the professionals look for!

In today's Star-Ledger, there is an artist's rendering of what a section of the interior would like like and it's also a nightmare.

What is it with atrocious architecture like the Westin Times Square?

Have you tried a French Drain or a sump pump?

Posted by Conan | March 27, 2008 6:28 PM

Doesn't that discussion more properly belong on one of the Spitzer threads?

It looks like a Borg ship. How many drones does it hold?

I believe wally is smart enough to avoid the sump pump and unless elected has not the resources for the french drain. Alas, the fleeting foot steps above his abode will have to give rise to his desires.

Xanadu

...the new Meadowlands Golf Resort Village, which will consist of two 18-hole public golf courses, two 18-hole private golf courses, 700,000 square feet of commercial recreation, 750,000 square feet of office space, 750 hotel rooms, 100,000 square feet of retail space, 1,130 active-adult housing units....

I hear that Spitzer & McGreevey have already bought a couple of those units.