I’ll start by staking out a risky position for a blog like this: Downtown Austin is a pretty good place. Compared to, say, the moribund central business districts of Dallas or Houston, Austin’s original 179 blocks are, for the most part, a thriving patch of round-the-clock city life. Well, for the most part. But once…
In Decades Past, Austin Was Also Cold
As the remnants of yesterday’s small ice storm quickly evaporate and the temperature climbs back up into the 60s this weekend, it’s nice to remember that the ability of freezing temperatures to completely shut down the city is nothing new. But the record-setting storm that broke all of our brains in the first place happened…
Five Things to Like and Five to Improve for the North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Plan
Susan Somers is a north Austin resident near the North Shoal Creek area, President of urbanist organization AURA, and the genius gif editor who made this blog’s most famous piece pounce. The city recently released a draft version of the North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Plan . North Shoal Creek is on the far edge of what you might consider north central Austin -…
Finally, East Austin’s RBJ Center Redevelopment Will Begin in 2018
It’s been a few years — and then some — since we began following plans for a mixed-use project at the site of the Rebekah Baines Johnson Center, a senior housing development completed in 1972 on an 18-acre site southeast of downtown, and major updates on what’s planned have been scarce for years. Until now, that is. This week,
Vertical Mixed-Use Headed to South Congress Near the St. Elmo District
South of Highway 290, much of South Congress Avenue retains its original appearance of industrial properties, car dealerships, and self-storage units. After all, this area’s pretty far from downtown by the typical standards of density — but you’ll still find pockets of rapid development along the avenue that seem to imply that won’t be the…
With Demolition Pending, Castle Hill’s Graffiti Gallery Isn’t Long for This World
The outdoor graffiti park on the far west end of downtown, located at 1008 Baylor Street atop the crumbling remains of a failed Castle Hill condo development, is about as close to a sacred site for the new generation of the Keep Austin Weird set we’ve got these days. The only remaining step for its…
You must be logged in to post a comment.