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Bike Messenger Culture

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**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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East Ave: The Racial Divide

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East Avenue, now I-35
East Avenue, now I-35

Most of you know that I-35 used to be East Ave and that Austin wasn’t born with these two decks of transportation dystopia.   I’ve always assumed that the historical racial divide between East Austin and West Austin was artificially created by the beast we know as I-35. Perhaps not.  According to this Community Impact article…

“Deed restrictions kept African-Americans and Mexican-Americans east of the Avenue until actual segregation laws were passed in the 1920s.”

I’ve been working on acquiring a piece of land in West Austin. Just last week I was reading through the deed records and was shocked when I read something similar. It’s interesting to see that in our history, being on the wrong side of the tracks was actually written into law.

Lake/Flato will design new Central Library in Downtown Austin

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Site of Downtown Austins new Central Libary
Site of Downtown Austin's new Central Libary

Lake Flato has been awarded the design contract for Downtown Austin’s new Central Library.  They’ve got $90MM to work with to build 250,000 square feet by 2013.

Below is an estimated timeline for the new Central Library project:

  • May 2009 ~ Citizen/Stakeholder input meetings –Co-sponsored by Library Commission and Library Foundation June 2009 ~ Design phase begins
  • Spring 2011 ~ Design development completed
  • Winter 2011 ~ Construction begins
  • Fall 2013 ~ Construction complete
  • Spring/Summer 2014-Grand Opening

The site sits partially within a capitol view corridor, so the future building can only be mid-rise and will likely only by three stories.  In that regard I like this choice of location.  Still, I think this is a poor choice of location in terms of accessibility.  I’ve seen plenty of proposed transit maps for ‘future’ Austin, and not a single one shows rail stopping near the library.  The people that would benefit the most from this new Central Library are, in my opinion, going to benefit the most from mass transit that can get them to the library!   It was an easy choice for the City because they own the land; however, the city could have used condemnation to select a better site that would be more accessible.  I expect the building will be beautiful.  I just hope it gets used.

Jude Galligan

Pics of commuter rail at downtown station

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by jude galligan

This past Sunday I caught an impromptu glance at the Commuter Rail Train parked at the downtown station.  Up close, the trains are beautiful.  Compared to a subway train, or if you’ve ever seen the NJ-transit trains, Austin’s commuter rail looks like a Mercedes.  When I arrived, there were about 25 CapMetro workers milling about.  I tried to discretely walk into the train but was cut off by an official looking guy.  Still i managed to grab some pics where you can see the interior.  Looks pretty cool!

Austin Commuter Rail - Downtown Austin Station
Austin Commuter Rail - Downtown Austin Station

One thing I am disappointed with is the gazebos.  They’re small, don’t protect from the elements, and are fire-engine red.  We spend millions of dollars on a train and get these crummy gazebos. The service won’t officially start until March, but it’s good to see this thing moving.  From my window, I can see it going by and it is very quiet.

More pics after the jump!

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