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Girls Night Out – Things to Do in Downtown Austin

AG | December 29, 2013 |

Note: This evening’s itinerary also works for date night!

I like to do a group outing with girlfriends once every week or two, but sometimes we get into a rut – where we are doing the same things, going to the same places, etc.  So, for 2014, I’ve made a commitment to try and mix things up a little (nothing too crazy) and try to do something a little different each time we get together.  Last night was our first night since the holiday madness, and me and gals decided to hit up the northern edge of Congress near the Capitol – frankly, a seeming no man’s land in the evenings.

Me and some of my lady friends enjoying culture at The Contemporary.
Me and some of my lady friends at the beginning of girls night.  At The Contemporary.

Stop 1 – 6pm: The Contemporary – The Jones Center at 7th and Congress

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An artistic shot of the staircase at The Contemporary – The Jones Center. Photo by Lindsey Strobel.

For a steal at $5, you can get in to The Contemporary – Jones Center, and view the exhibitions on site (apparently, your receipt gets you [Read more…] about Girls Night Out – Things to Do in Downtown Austin

Filed Under: around town, austin art, austin lifestyle, austin recreation, austin restaurant reviews, austin small business, Congress Avenue District, girls night out, life in austin

Last Minute Christmas Gifts You Can Buy Downtown

AG | December 21, 2013 |

Christmas is in four days, y’all.  If you want to live dangerously – you can try doing your last minute shopping online and cross your fingers that it gets shipped to you in time OR you can go to the mall and get something completely lackluster, but why risk it?

You can pick up unique gifts right here in downtown without biting your nails about when it will arrive.  One of the many benefits of shopping local.

But, you say, I don’t have the time to visit a lot of unfamiliar stores, look through all their wares, and make a decision.  Never you fear – DAB is here! I’ve done a little of the heavy lifting for you, and below provided you a curated list of some cool shops and some cool stuff they’ve got so you can run in, get a special gift, and run out.

REMEMBER – Check the websites for the store hours!  If you are unsure about something, probably also a good idea to call ahead!

My list, of course, is not exhaustive – if you know of a cool downtown / downtown-adjacent shop – feel free to tell us in the comments below!

[Read more…] about Last Minute Christmas Gifts You Can Buy Downtown

Filed Under: 2nd Street District, 6th Street Historic & Entertainment District, around town, austin lifestyle, austin recreation, austin retail, austin small business, life in austin, retail, small business, urban family

Waller Park Place Submits Site Plan for 3 Towers

Jude Galligan | November 25, 2013 |

At  ~1,400,000 square feet Waller Park Place, a three tower mixed-use plan is the largest private development ever proposed in downtown Austin (correct me in the comments if I’m wrong).  It’s the vision of the Sutton Company, who formally filed their site plan approval application with the City of Austin last week.

Back in September, Downtown Austin Blog first revealed the concept  for the 3 acre tract stretching from Cesar Chavez to Davis Street, hugging Waller Creek.  Then it was being called Waller Center and seemed really to be just a conceptual vision.

wallerparkplacesiteplan1
Birds eye view shows planned orientation of three towers along Waller Creek

Below is what we know (note these numbers have gone up since Waller Center was announced in September and could still change)

  • Tower A – Office, 25+ stories, on the corner of Red River and Cesar Chavez
  • Tower B – Apartments, 50+ stories, internal on the site
  • Tower C – Hotel/Condo, 40+ stories, at Red River & Davis
  • Target FAR is 10:1
  • The architect is the IBI Group
  • No phasing is contemplated – all three towers built simultaneously
  • The site is part of the Waller Creek TIF district

With Block 1 (tbd) anticipated, and Trinity Tower (tbd) being conceptualized, Waller Park Place would be the last opportunity in downtown Austin for waterfront development with protected lake views.

WallerParkPlaceCrudeMassing5
Our own crude drawings showing how the new towers could fit into the skyline

Above and below are a couple of crude massing-drawings I made for each tower to help view the relative dimensions and heights of the three towers, and to help us see how these buildings will fit into the skyline.

WallerParkPlaceCrudeMassing3
Looking south – our own crude drawings showing how the new towers could fit into the skyline
Proposed three-tower Waller Park Place at Red River & Cesar Chavez

Filed Under: downtown austin, Downtown Austin Districts, Rainey Street District Tagged With: waller park place

List of Google Fiber Proposed “Community Connection” Sites Released

Fred Schmidt | November 20, 2013 |

In an update to the story below… Austin City Council elected to postpone adoption of the List of 100 Community Connection Sites until its Dec. 12th meeting saying they wanted to review and tweak the list some more with Google.  KUT has more on Council activity here.

Also floating around out there in the Fibersphere is this post from Google Fiber Chief, Mark Strama, that discusses how the construction process is being envisioned as it makes its way around the city starting sometime mid 2014.

ORIGINAL STORY – Here is a link to the PDFs of the LIST & Council RESOLUTION of Proposed Google Fiber Community Connection Sites coming before City Council tomorrow, November 21st.

And here are those sites neatly MAPPED courtesy of KUT.

After spending only about five minutes reviewing the list, some inexplicable glaring omissions would include:

  • University of Texas – the 40 acres and other facilities like the Pickle research campus, ATI, IC2, etc.
  • Austin Community College – all of their campuses and, in particular, the new Highland Center that will be a major central city magnet for the tech and creative industries over the next 5+ years.
  • Austin Studios – film and production facilities on East 51st St
  • Hospitals in our emerging health care services growth cluster
  • …and no doubt much more!

How is this possible? These are all mega bandwidth users and fit the criteria for inclusion in the Community Connectedness program of public service locations intended for free Fiber service.  St. Edward’s, Huston-Tillotson, Concordia are all on there – appropriately – but not UT or ACC.  Seriously?

Filed Under: around town, austin neighborhoods, city council, development, downtown austin, life in austin Tagged With: Austin, Community Connections, Google, Google Fiber

Austin Bike Share Coming in December – 11 Downtown Area Hubs

Jude Galligan | November 20, 2013 |

It has been a long time coming, but the the first 11 bike share locations in Austin, opening next month, were announced last week.

As expected the bike locations are all located in and around downtown, with nothing north of 11th St.

B-Cycle, the bike provider, has launched an official website — austin.bcycle.com —  touting the official launch as Dec. 21. The website also has an interactive Google-hybrid map of the bike share locations.

I have no bone to pick with any of the install choices, but do lament that they will not have kiosks planned in the initial phase at parking-challenged Barton Springs Pool and the Rainey Street District. (*cough* Put one at the MACC. *cough*).

The website says that the entire 40 station system, which is still in the planning stage, will be completely online and available for bike check out by March 1, 2014.   In the near term, buildings with the closest access to the bike kiosks are the Spring Condos, W Hotel Residences, 5 Fifty Five, and the Plaza Lofts.

[Read more…] about Austin Bike Share Coming in December – 11 Downtown Area Hubs

Filed Under: austin lifestyle, downtown austin Tagged With: austin bike share

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