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11 Reasons I'm Thankful to Live in Downtown Austin

AG | November 24, 2009 |

I’m thankful for many things in my life. I have a wonderful family, great friends, and I am in good health. But this blog is about living in Downtown Austin, so I’m not going to bore you with all that mushy stuff; I’m going to talk about Downtown Austin and my top eleven (everybody does top 10, which is soooo Letterman, if you ask me) reasons I’m thankful for living here as opposed to other places.

11. I am thankful for our historic buildings, which give our city character and roots.

10. I am thankful for people watching and the fact that downtown Austin is a place where people want to be.

My Yard Before I Moved Downtown. Just Kidding.

9. I am thankful for the lack of yard work, because I suck at it and I hate it.

8. I am thankful for the feeling of neighborhood and comradery. Downtown Austin has a small town atmosphere, where people know each other. I run into several people I know throughout the course of my day, and it’s always a pick-me-up to share a wave or have a quick chat with a neighbor.

7. I am thankful for cool boutiques, where I can buy things like glow-in-the-dark jellyfish.

6. I am thankful for the availability of unique living spaces with high ceilings and huge windows.

5. I am thankful for relative carless convenience.

4. I am thankful for The Ritz, and being able to order a vodka tonic while doing a Michael Jackson sing-a-long with 10 of my closest girlfriends.

3. I am thankful for Town Lake/Ladybird Lake.

2. I am thankful for a reserved parking spot, which means I don’t have to find (or pay for) parking during South by Southwest.

1. I am thankful for the nearby concentration and variety of services like restaurants, theaters, art galleries, coffee houses, bakeries, neighborhood stores, the library, and art museums. (To search a neighborhood directory click here.)

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Happy Turkey Day, everybody!

Not So Great Streets

Jude Galligan | November 17, 2009 |

The phrase “great streets” gets a lot of lip service in downtown stakeholder circles. This has been going on since 2000. We’re all familiar with 2nd Street District, and I think we can generally agree that the City/AMLI knocked it out of the park with this one. It’s a terrific pedestrian experience.

With the Great Streets Program available since 2000, not all buildings constructed since then have fully adopted the notion. Two examples:

1) Hampton Inn

Sure, the New Orleans style terrace is charming, but if you’ve ever walked by the hotel you were almost certainly dodging valet podiums, bellhops, guests, and tiny bistro tables that are so crowded that nobody uses them.

2) Champions @ Courtyard Marriot

If you know this corner, you know there is a string of cabs parked along 4th street. Here we see a hard fence forcing pedestrians towards the street, and creating an uninviting al-fresco experience for bar patrons. The far end of this fence terminates into a round-a-bout entrance into the Courtyard. A better alternative to activate this corner would be planters like we see at Annies, which would also provide an entrance to the the restaurant along 4th street.

photos courtesy of Mike McGill

New Renderings Of 21c

Jude Galligan | November 11, 2009 |

Hmmm…. I wouldn’t say these renderings show a design that is inspired. Certainly my design expectations for 21c are high. Below is a [hopefully] early rendering of the hotel and museum portion taken directly from the 21c website.

The Skyscraper crew is not happy 🙁

Veterans Day Parade

Jude Galligan | November 10, 2009 |

From Travis County Press Release:

Veterans Day Parade, memorial service to pay tribute to military families

The Travis County/City of Austin Veterans Day Parade will march along Congress Avenue beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday, culminating with a memorial services at the State Capitol. The parade will start from the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge and continue to the Capitol. Spectators can observe the parade at any point along Congress Avenue. A reviewing stand will be at the Inter-Continental Stephen F. Austin Hotel at Seventh Street and Congress. A special ceremony honoring the families of veterans and active duty military will be conducted at 11 a.m. at the south steps of the Capitol. The Commemorative Air Force from San Marcos will also be performing a flyover during the ceremony.

The parade will have some effect on streets in the downtown area. The Ann W. Richards bridge will cause closure of Congress Avenue from Riverside Drive to Cesar Chavez Street from 6:30 a.m. to noon. Also, Congress from Cesar Chavez to West 11th Street will be closed from 9 a.m. to noon.

The parade will celebrate our nation’s veterans and those service men and women currently serving at home and abroad. The City of Austin employs more than 1,200 military veterans and Guard and Reserve members.

City of Austin News Release_Veterans Day Parade.doc

Mayor Leffingwell's State Of Downtown Austin Address

Jude Galligan | October 29, 2009 |

At the DAA’s Annual Luncheon & Mayor’s State of Downtown Address yesterday, Mayor Leffingwell gave a bullish speech about downtown Austin growth.

I sat at the DANA table and observed Mayor Leffingwell as I’ve never seen nor heard him before. A Mayor who recognizes that growing Austin’s downtown is not at odds with preserving Austin’s character, and that growing downtown is in fact complementary and necessary to smart growth for the entire city. This is what we heard yesterday.

PRO downtown Austin growth
PRO urban rail system
PRO getting the bums out and dealing with crime*
PRO hotel and convention center growth

*I’m paraphrasing, he was much more diplomatic.

You don’t have to take my word for it. There was a quorum of City Council members in attendance, including City Manager Marc Ott, who can provide their own testimony. The Mayor provided some genuinely funny jokes, too. The best one [kindheartedly] jibbed former Mayor Will Wynn, a downtown resident, about how much he enjoys greeting construction workers in the morning. 🙂

downtown-austin-alliance-2009-report (pdf)

-Jude