The title was Haeundae, which is the name of a really famous beach in Busan, South Korea.
It is strange that Haeundae always gets so much more attention than the nicer, and calmer, Gwangalli Beach just down the coast.
The bridge that featured so prominently in the movie isn't actually at Haeundae, but in front of Gwangalli.
The real difference between the two beaches is the area adjacent. Haeundae has tall uninteresting glass towers along most of its length with parking lots and an aquarium between. Gwangalli has a lot more low-rise coffee shops and just a few trees and steps between the city and the beach.
The road running along the beach varies in width from two to five lanes across, and in typical Korean development fashion has multi-storey mixed use buildings all it's length.
Looking carefully at that second image, a Coffee Bean and a Smoothie King are visible. The road is actually quite full of coffee shops--some big, some small.
Although this massive Starbucks is a landmark and common meeting point, I think the building fails in a big way to reach its potential. Yes, from the fifth floor, the view of the beach is amazing, but Busan's winters aren't so bad. People don't go to the beach to hang out inside. This Starbucks, needs to lose some windows as well as the rest of its facade. Check out this Caffe Pascucci,
That's a little nicer, right? The third floor and roof provide nice views of the beach and are open to let people enjoy the weather.
In summers past, St. Louisans consistently demonstrated that given a choice in the summer, they liked sitting out on the sidewalk watching the people go by and the trees swaying in the sunshine. Walk around the Loop on a nice night past Riddles or Blueberry Hill and take note of the pleasant atmosphere.
Where in downtown St. Louis can that kind of atmosphere be enjoyed? Where can people sit and admire the arch? Where can tourists visiting the arch sit and reflect on it while enjoying a coffee or sandwich?
After the new bridge is built over the Mississippi and I-70 is rerouted across the river, City to River wants to reclaim the old I-70 in the near northside and by the arch grounds for citizens and tourists alike as a new pedestrian friendly boulevard.
This boulevard is a 20 block solution to that common tourist dilemma, "Man, what a cool arch! Now where can I sit down for an hour and collect my thoughts?" City to River's boulevard isn't as wide as an interstate highway. It cuts the current width in half and opens up new real estate. Along the length of it, City to River has proposed new low-rise, contemporary, urban, pedestrian-friendly developments like these,
Does something like Gwangalli's Caffe Pascucci fit into this vision?
Yes it does! Look closely.
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