Last year, I sketched out why downtown has so many huge parking plinths . But another world is possible! Today, we’ll check out alternatives to the plinth. Then, coming soon, we’ll have a look at how regulations could finally #parktheplinth. Transportation Demand Management The easiest car to park is the one that isn’t driven to the destination at all. TDM programs work with…
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Austin’s Second ‘Jenga Tower’ Could Rise at the Royal Arch Masonic Lodge
After a slightly chilly reception from the city’s Historic Landmark Commission back in June, an adjusted plan for the 30-plus story tower imagined above the historic Royal Arch Masonic Lodge at 311 West Seventh Street in downtown Austin rides again at tonight’s Commission meeting, and its applicants — local architects Brett Rhode of Rhode Partners and Emily Little of Clayton & Little, working with Stone Development Group and DCI Engineers —…
The South Lamarization of East Riverside Is Coming Soon
South Lamar Boulevard and East Riverside Drive have a lot in common. They’re both what the city considers “core transit corridors,” and that means they’re ideal for dense multi-story development often in the form of vertical mixed-use (VMU) buildings, which in theory enhance the street-level pedestrian environment along the corridor by improving sidewalks and adding ground-floor retail…
The Waller Creek Conservancy Is Now ‘Waterloo Greenway.’ What’s That Mean?
The Waller Creek Conservancy has been around town since 2010, but the way CEO Peter Mullan tells it, the organization’s had some trouble getting Austinites to notice. “People tell me all the time that they have no idea where Waller Creek is,” he says. “They’ll say they’ve never heard of Creek Show — which we launched in…
At the Drake Bridge Commons, New Public Space Brings Docks Downtown
The last time we caught up with the Drake Bridge Commons — a project by Austin’s Trail Foundation imagining a new downtown public space beneath the Drake Bridge carrying First Street across Lady Bird Lake — we had two design options to choose between as part of the community engagement stage of the plan. Now, based on that input, the…
Sixth and Lamar is the Worst Intersection in Austin
After two rounds of our extremely rigorous and not-at-all scientific survey about the worst Austin intersections, a majority of votes nearly as overwhelming as traffic itself has brought us a clear answer, at least in the opinion of our readers: Sixth Street and North Lamar Boulevard takes the cake, with more than 30 percent of…