downtown Austin's neighborhood and real estate blog
Please RSVP
Thursday, February 12, 2009
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Blu @ 360 Nueces Street. (map)
Please join us at Blu Cafe, Bar and Lounge for this month’s Urban Core Happy Hour on Thursday, February 12th at 6:30 PM. Blu is located at the 360 Condominiums. Sponsoring this month’s event will be 360 Condominiums, where life surrounds you.
Avoid parking hassles and consider planning your trip using Cap Metro’s trip planner.
NOW JOIN DANA!
Photo by KevinFromTexas @ skyscraperpage
Loft Decor consolidates its retail at the Domain (link)
W-Hotel goes after back up financing (link)
CapMetro working to quiet railroad crossings on it’s 32 mile commuter rail (link)
Urban Transportation Commission Adopts Recommendations for Downtown Austin Plan (link)
Governor’s mansion is one of Texas’s most endangered historic places (link)
Official map of Downtown Austin Blog
I spend most of my time downtown and take for granted that not everyone knows where everything is. It’s helpful to have a bird’s-eye-view of Downtown Austin’s condos, apartments, and small businesses. I’ve mashed up the data I collected when counting the number of dwellings in Downtown Austin with the street address of every condo and apartment counted. You’ll find many of the less well known apartments included. A handful of local businesses that I regularly visit are included, too.
This map will be perpetually evolving. Let me know if I’ve missed something, or if you have something you’d like me to add.
-Jude
In this video, James Howard Kunstler tells you why suburbia hasn’t been delivering on what it’s been promising: a respite from the industrial city.
The automobile created the opportunity to own a “country” house. As more people purchased cars, more people also wanted to purchase homes outside the city. What happened is the modern suburban experience became a cartoon of the original desire to have a “country” house outside of the city.
Kunstler advocates sustainability through living locally. Love this guy’s passionate delivery.
NSFW for language
According to his TED conference bio:
“James Howard Kunstler may be the world’s most outspoken critic of suburban sprawl. He believes the end of the fossil fuels era will soon force a return to smaller-scale, agrarian communities — and an overhaul of the most destructive features of postwar society.”
KXAN
MyFoxAustin
KVUE
Statesman
Blind Pig
Blind Pig looks to have paid the biggest toll in this fire.
Exterior of Vice appears unscathed
While there didn’t appear to be much damage to the exterior of Vice, it was clear the fire department had been inside.
View from San Jacinto - GOD SAVE THE ALAMO!
Fire at Vice
We heard the alarms over night, and just woke up to the news of two 3-alarm fires on the 300 block of Sixth Street. Apparently, the fire was centered at VICE on the North side and Blind Pig on the South side. Investigators are uncertain if they are related, (though it would seem unlikely to me that they weren’t). Sixth Street is blocked off from Red River to San Jacinto. The extent of the damage is still uncertain. Photos and details to come.
**Downtown Austin Blog has been given special access to the amazing PBS Downtown TV series. Thanks, DAA!**
One of my favorite clips from the Downtown TV program is the story about Downtown Austin bike messengers. Though I never got into the whole narrow handle-barred-10-speed-sans-brakes thing, I did grow up riding Haros and trying to do tailwhips.
These guys know Downtown Austin like most people never will. They know where everything is and understand the hidden paths to get there. Oh, according to the video, don’t ride your bike past Little City cafe and not expect to be judged by the messengers waiting on their next call.
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More reasons to shop at Royal Blue Grocery
I was having coffee earlier this morning and chatting with someone about how most people in the world purchase their food on a daily or weekly basis. In New York it’s routine to drop in to D’Agostinos and pick up a few things for the next day or so. Then, with synchronicity, a few minutes ago I receieved a note from DANA’s Roger Cauvin telling me that at Royal Blue Grocery you can open a “tab”! That’s cool.
“Did you know that you can open a “tab” with Royal Blue? When you sign up, they take your credit card info and enter you in their computer. Then, whenever you buy items at the store, they simply put it on your tab. At the end of each month, they automatically charge your credit card and send you a statement. There is no fee for the service.
One of the benefits of having a dense downtown is that it makes conveniences such as this one viable, due to the sheer number of residents within walking distance of retail shops.” – Roger Cauvin
The phenomenon of the supermarket was an American invention that paralleled the exodus from cities into suburbs. Well, as people move back to the city to become more connected, it’s nice to see an Austin entrepreneur, George Scariano, meet the demand for more neighborhood friendly businesses that are walkable and accessible on a daily basis. Also, see Waltons Fancy & Staple and Emerald City
Royal Blue is located @ 3rd & Lavaca. Their second location, at the ground level of 360 condos, is expected to open next week.
Vote yes for funding the Waller Creek Tunnel Project
http://www.stimuluswatch.org/project/view/1309
Then, please vote yes for funding Phase II expansion of the MetroRail*
http://www.stimuluswatch.org/project/view/1186
*M1EK, “I have a dream!” 
link to Stimulus Watch
Krimelabb.com
KVUE and FOX 7 news are reporting that the Public Safety Task Force is proposing to cut down on Downtown crime by… get ready for it… adding more light. 
This is a misguided effort to thwart a much bigger problem.
There is a BIG elephant in the room, and it’s called the ARCH. Drug dealers come from all over the city and prey on those with addiction and/or have mental illness.
According to the article, “Austin police call the area bordered by 8th, 6th, Red River and Trinity, a hotspot for crime. Forty-two percent of all drug arrests in downtown happen here.” Adding more street lamps is only going to disperse the problem, and will make the understaffed police force’s job more difficult!
As I’ve said before, the ARCH doesn’t belong across from a major liquor store and a block from Austin’s biggest party – Sixth Street. The way to cut down on crime in Downtown Austin is to: 1) expand the day-time uses of the historic Sixth street buildings, east of Neches St. 2) move the ARCH and its support services away from Sixth Street – though, NOT out of Downtown 3) Revitalize Waller Creek, because right now drug dealing and drug use is hidden from view below the banks of the creek.
Yes, the ARCH should remain Downtown. Doing so relegates to ‘bunk’ status the argument which demands the ARCH remain centrally located, and the NIMBY-ism arguments against moving the ARCH at all. Downtown Austin is a big place with plenty of under-utilized land and buildings.
Jude Galligan, Broker at REMAX Downtown Austin, 512-226-3414
Recent Comments
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RT @downtown_austin: BY THE NUMBERS: Downtown Austin Highrise Sales http://t.co/D8rhUTu7
Specific sales data is reserved for our clients. Any REALTOR, myself included, can assist you outside of the blog.
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