Do you remember playing in the street? Sorry if this sounds too much like one of those memes about drinking from the hose, but seriously, that’s something kids used to do. The thrill of reclaiming these neighborhood spaces without the fear of getting hit by a car is within our grasp this summer thanks to the city’s Living Streets Program, which is…
streetscapes
Austin, Please Suggest Some Things We Could Put On Top of This Highway
As the Texas Department of Transportation’s Capital Express project widening I-35 though Austin slowly chugs to life, the possibility of a decade of construction crossing the central city has many presumably traumatized locals putting a lot of faith into the plan’s roughly $900 million silver lining — so-called caps and stitches, large and small decks covering the highway and reclaiming up to…
Austin’s Record-Setting Waterline ‘Supertall’ Is Halfway Done Downtown
Waterline, the 74-story “supertall” tower project poised to break the state’s height record upon its expected completion in late 2026, is approximately halfway through its construction schedule, with the building now rising past the 35-floor mark and increasingly visible on the downtown Austin skyline. The mixed-use building by development partners Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential is set…
Austin Agrees, South First Needs a Barton Springs-Style Road Safety Pilot
After reviewing the promising early results of the city’s safety pilot on Barton Springs Road last month, we decided to casually survey our readers on where they might like to see the project’s infrastructure improvements applied elsewhere in Austin. The pilot’s “road diet”-style lane reduction, added protection for bike lanes, and upgraded pedestrian access all constitute a no-brainer for the highly visible gateway…
A Residential Project Dips a Toe Into Sixth Street’s Bar District at The Grant
The apartment project planned for the Grant Plaza offices at 611 East Sixth Street would be the first major residential development built inside downtown Austin’s infamous Sixth Street entertainment district in a generation — and even before a certain sense of uncertainty struck our local real estate market, the proposal first surfaced in 2022 by New York-based investment firm Empire Square Group and national developers Ryan…
The City’s Barton Springs Road Safety Project Works. Where Should It Go Next?
After a history of serious car crashes and a particularly dramatic accident in 2022 injuring 10 people, the yearlong safety pilot implemented on Barton Springs Road by the City of Austin’s Transportation and Public Works Department was a welcome intervention on one of the city’s most popular streets for pedestrians and cyclists at the gateway to Zilker Park — by reducing the road to one car…