The City of Austin’s historical neglect of park facilities east of I-35 compared with the central crown jewels of its system shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone familiar with the historical neglect of nearly everything east of I-35. What’s more obvious lately is the city’s own institutional awareness of that inequality, now cast in a harsher light than ever and…
city life
One Real Estate Company Now Owns More Than 30 Properties on East Sixth
As part of our longstanding beef with the mismanagement of Austin’s numerous historic properties on East Sixth Street, we’ve often complained that one of the reasons this entertainment district’s conga line of seedy shot bars remain so similar to one another in character is that they’re mostly owned by the same handful of people, who for years have had a…
Protected Bike Lanes and Other Goodies Are on the Way at East 51st Street
The streetscape improvement plan by the Austin Transportation Department known as the East 51st Street Mobility Project is moving towards a groundbreaking after presenting its completed site plan by global engineering firm Atkins to the city’s Design Commission earlier this week, with a number of significant mobility and pedestrian features on deck for East 51st…
Can Austin Take Back the Drag?
West Campus isn’t downtown Austin, but downtown Austin could learn a thing or two from West Campus. This student-populated neighborhood directly west of the University of Texas is sort of like the city’s own little laboratory for urban design, and though it’s generally outside this blog’s area of coverage, the vertical expansion of this district over the course of the last decade…
This is Austin’s ‘Evilest’ Building
Last month, we asked you fine folks to tell us which building in Austin you thought was the most “evil” — we’re talking in the context of the r/EvilBuildings subreddit here rather than any abstract stuff, which is why saying “The Governor’s Mansion” doesn’t cut it since that building doesn’t actually look like a supervillain’s lair. Based on our…
Rainey Street’s Future Skyline Looks Like a Second Downtown Austin
Earlier this summer, we were pretty darn proud to bring our readers the first-ever look at 80 Rainey Street, a 644-unit apartment and retail tower planned by local developers Lincoln Ventures for an assembly of properties between 78 to 84 Rainey Street currently occupied by a food truck park. We find this plan remarkable not only for its…