Multinational petroleum giant Shell is leaning into a recently announced strategic pivot towards electric vehicles, with plans to nearly quadruple its existing network of EV charging stations by 2030 — and Austin appears to be one of the first cities on the list for the oil company’s Houston-based U.S. subsidiary, with at least two local properties owned by entities…
streetscapes
The Children Yearn for UNO Everywhere
A resolution passed earlier today by Austin City Council directs our beloved city staff to research how to gas up UNO. What’s UNO? Well, UNO is for you and me, and UNO’s building density. UNO keeps rents lower here than any district far or near! UNO stands for “University Neighborhood Overlay,” of course, but that’s not as fun to sing or…
The Case for a St. Elmo Regulating Plan
Have you heard the good news about the North Burnet / Gateway Regulating Plan? This is the part of the monologue where people typically slam the door in our faces, but since you’re on the internet you can’t get away! Marching into the tedious swamps of land use terminology is a surefire eye-glazer, but all you really need to know is…
Austin, Consider the Bulletin Board
Growing up in Austin, the bulletin board at our neighborhood park was sort of like the early days of social media — you’d find dog-walking gigs, garage sale flyers, and considerably weirder stuff long before anyone was trying to go viral. Most people love this sort of community-minded design feature in the abstract, but the Terminator-like gaze of…
Huh, Turns Out Removing a Lane on Barton Springs Didn’t Destroy Austin
Have you driven on Barton Springs Road in the last six months since the city kicked off its yearlong road safety pilot project? We sure have, and the grand conclusion for drivers seems to be precisely the outcome predicted by the traffic engineers at the Transportation and Public Works Department — for cars, things are about the same, without the…
Yeah, Austin’s Billion-Dollar Convention Center Expansion Needs a Music Venue
Okay, so convention centers attract economic growth and increase tourism dollars. But as we’re mentioned before, their vibes are typically really bad. The paradox of a convention center as an urban land use is that it must be placed smack dab in the heart of the central city to create a vibrant, accessible presence for attendees, but the very…