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Martin,
Thank you for your very thoughtful piece. Densification and all the
ramifications thereof are pertinent topics that we, the neighborhood,
need to address "in community".
Given that the population of Austin continues to grow and that our
neighborhood is particularly desirable in terms of location we can
expect that our neighborhood will continue to struggle with growing pains.
A major concern for me - especially, in my immediate area, is that we
became a dormitory community. We can point to the Super2s, stealth
dorms and faux duplexes (barracks) as the major cause, but all those
"things" were built because property owners sold to investors,
developers, flippers (lots of them from out of town). For example,
there are only 3 owner-occupied houses on my block. Can we have
control or at least some influence on sale of private property?
Also important is "who lives in my neighborhood"? My opinion is that
the folks who are residents, temporarily, have no stake in the community
on any level: their residence is where they SLEEP. They are not
interested in becoming part of the community, walking to a store,
restaurant, establishing relationships with the neighbors, socializing
within their immediate neighborhood, etc. Their lives are lived
"outside" their residence, outside their neighborhood and they depend on
their cars to "live" their lives. And, a good many, will leave the area
upon finishing school - whether they move to another area or leave town.
Can we exercise control over or influence who lives in our neighborhood?
Can we help to create a neighborhood that attracts folks to view it as
my home, my community, my neighbors. Don't misunderstand me, I have
several friends who have lived in their apartments (not in this area)
for years and consider it their home, their neighbors, their friends,
their community. So owning or renting is not the issue.
Steering development of multi-use properties within the neighborhood -
a good thing. A good example of this is the Triangle, a development
changed significantly from the original plan to something more
acceptable: the change influenced by intense and persistent
participation of the surrounding
neighborhood.
However, having a deli or cleaners in your building does not make a
person think of the "space" as a home, or his building as a community or
neighborhood. I like being able to walk to get a bite to eat. The
Triangle has become a lively entertainment/dining center. Most people
drive there: many evenings, weekends there is no place to park. Most
people who live there drive to school and work. The majority of folks
who live at the Triangle are students. I know three people who live
there who are not students and even though they work downtown they do
not take the bus - they drive. And, there is no full-service grocery
store in the Triangle or Mueller - have to drive to buy more than one
bag of groceries. I've walked to Central Market to shop - two bags of
groceries or even one relatively heavy bag makes somewhat of an arduous
walk - especially before the sidewalks were built.
Yes, we can influence and steer the development of our neighborhood.
Can we change the a person's feeling about the space he/she occupies?
Can we change our neighborhood from "yes, it is convenient (5 minutes to
everywhere), but, really, once I'm ...., I do want to live in
"dormitoryville." Can we influence someone who says "well, yes, I know
there's a ..... in my building, but I'd rather drive somewhere else to
get whatever or do the same thing".
Musings -
Cheers all,
Mary
Martin Thomen wrote:
> Dear Sebastian and others,
>
> I'm just getting around to continuing the email conversation from last
> week- I think it is pretty important.
>
> I think this question that Sebastian asks is very important:
> "how can we work together to encourage appropriate densification and
> mixed-use development in our neighborhood?"
>
> I'm not sure there is one answer and, like most important questions,
> the answer is probably not one answer- but a variety of answers and
> solutions. I think though, it is the correct question that Sebastian
> asked because I think the facts are that:
> 1 - the neighborhood will (and should) densify
> 2- the neighborhood will (and should) have a variety of land uses in
> the future- more of a mix than their is today
>
> I think that understanding and accepting these things is the first
> step in finding the best way to go about answering the question. If we
> just try to keep things the same or discourage all development then
> we'll be unprepared and probably won't have a say in what does get
> built.
>
> One of the solutions, in my opinion, is to be open minded and think
> outside the box on the issues- especially when it comes to parking and
> traffic. There is an Urban Planning professor named Don Shoup at UCLA
> who has a great book and articles, most dealing with "the high cost of
> free parking". He basically shows that the fact that developments
> almost always come with a glut of free parking spaces, and are
> actually required to have tons of parking by the city, is a terrible
> thing for neighborhood-style development.
>
> During two somewhat recent discussions I was involved in in central
> Austin- the Howard nursery redevelopment and the Northcross mall
> redevelopment- I though that if the neighborhoods, city and developers
> would have worked together to establish parking districts or parking
> schemes which charged for parking (and then used any proceeds to
> improve the area streetscape, pedestrian/bike facilities, transit,
> etc) that some of the tensions may have been relieved. This
> unfortunately didn't seem to be on the radar screens of either the
> developers, city staff or the neighborhood groups. All three basically
> took a "side" and stuck with it. I always think that neighborhood
> groups can instantly improve their bargaining place at the table if
> they go in with an attitude of "we won't just say NO- but we will say
> YES, IF..." I think that was especially true for the Northcross
> Walmart- there was a whole contingent of folks who just said "No"
> without investigating the issues. I was one who was not saying an
> unconditional "Yes" but a "Yes, IF..."- which to me is a big
> difference.
>
> Now, it may seem crazy to some to establish a parking district which
> covers the North Loop, Ave F and Koenig/Ave F area- but its not
> without precedent in the city. Neighborhoods around UT north campus
> area and some in other areas, such as S. Congress, have established
> neighborhood-based parking schemes that basically work to charge
> people who drive from outside the area to park there, but give the
> residents rights for parking in certain places at certain times. It
> would probably be silly to do this now- but a future with density and
> more development in the area, it may not be.
>
> I think this is essentially a chicken and egg issue. Right now its
> seems like we have neither the density to support neighborhood
> resturants, grocery, services (or a parking district) nor do we have
> really appropriate space for those uses. The super 2s are maybe
> gradually raising the density so that the area may one day attract
> businesses to the empty lots along Koenig, Airport and other places.
> Meanwhile we're getting the raw end of the deal because we don't have
> those places the people moving in the super 2s and other places are
> still forced or feel like they must 'cling to their cars' to do the
> basic things like shopping.
>
> I think a better and more direct strategy would be to get a one-off
> development that would raise the densities of the area AND provide a
> mix of uses and commercial spaces where local grocers, hair salons,
> video stores or retail could move in. It could also provide an
> incentive for people to support a parking district or other "outside
> the box" strategies to tackle parking and traffic.I think that's what
> has happened in the triangle, in the area around the crestview station
> and in other areas. I also think that's what could have been done at
> Koenig and Ave F, at highland mall or on several spots along Lamar,
> Airport and even North Loop.
>
> I was pretty excited about the possibility of a mix of uses at
> Howard's and was surprised at the opposition. I think the main thing
> that killed that was, once again, the traffic, parking and cars. The
> fears of this were probably well-placed, but once again, I don't think
> we can have the chicken before the egg. As I said before, I think it
> also comes to personal and collective choices. Do we want a walkable,
> mixed use neighborhood? I mean, not do we want to see people walking
> down the street when we drive past- but do YOU AND I want to get out
> of our cars and walk to do an errand? Do YOU AND I want to take a bus,
> train or a bike to work? It won't really work if our vision involves
> all "those super 2 residents" leaving their F150s in where ever they
> came from small town, TX, and taking the #7 to campus while we all
> continue to jump in our cars to go get a loaf of bread. Again, its a
> chicken/egg problem when you don't have many destinations within
> walking distance- but really- it's not that difficult to walk to a
> bookstore or bar, bike to HEB or the triangle or hop on a
> downtown-bound bus from our hood.
>
> Like I said, I think it will/would require a number of actions, from
> "big" things like working with developers/the city to try and use
> innovative solution like parking districts when/if we get that big
> development and "small" things like trying to do one errand a week by
> foot or bike or commuting one day a week to work or school via
> alternative transportation. Maybe I'm an optimist, but I think, in
> time we can make this an even more attractive, vibrant and
> environmentally friendly neighborhood than it already is.
>
> Again, please take my comments here as my own rambling thoughts and
> suggestions- aimed even more at myself than anyone else- but, I think,
> relevant to the conversation at hand, so I thought I'd share them.
> It's just my 2 cents.
>
> Thanks,
> Martin
>
>
> 2009/5/7 Sebastian Wren :
>> Martin, you make a very good point, but this is the tension and quandary we
>> will need to deal with. Every new development brings the potential for
>> cars. Many people will be opposed to more dense, mixed-use development
>> along arterial streets (Lamar, Koenig, Airport) because that development
>> will likely increase traffic.
>>
>> Yes, we'll have more walking destinations in our neighborhood.
>>
>> Yes, we'll have more people walking around the neighborhood, making all of
>> us safer in a variety of ways.
>>
>> Yes, more people in the neighborhood will increase the demand for better
>> public transportation.
>>
>> Yes, people moving into new construction projects in our neighborhood will
>> improve our local schools (assuming they bring children).
>>
>> And yes, we will expand our tax-base, helping to keep our property taxes for
>> our homes lower.
>>
>> But we do live in a car culture -- new residents will bring their cars.
>>
>> With enough density, I think people will use their car less for the reasons
>> cited above, but getting to that point of density is risky and makes some
>> people nervous.
>>
>> So, when the economy improves in a few years, and building projects return,
>> how can we work together to encourage appropriate densification and
>> mixed-use development in our neighborhood?
>>
>>
>>
>> Quoting Martin Thomen :
>>
>>> Sandra and all,
>>>
>>> I agree with and appreciate the comments about being a family-oriented
>>> community/neighborhood. I can't help but think that even if a nice
>>> family with "4 kids and mother-in-law in the back house" that, in the
>>> current car culture that would still unfortunately mean a 6+ car
>>> household, with as much parking problems as the students.
>>>
>>> I think this is an important point, because the ordinances allowing
>>> these higher densities are also "banking" on and expecting inner city
>>> folks (you and me and the super 2 students- all of us) to adopt more
>>> inner city/urban lifestyles- especially as it deals with everyday
>>> things like grocery shopping and transporting ourselves to
>>> work/school.
>>>
>>> In other words, I don't think this is a "who" problem or even a
>>> problem dealing with specific densities- its a problem of lifestyle
>>> and land use. If we can build neighborhoods (and allow developments in
>>> our neighborhood area- like along airport and koenig) that allow us to
>>> have a more neighborhood-centered lifestyle where we can walk to do
>>> daily errands, to entertainment and take a bike or the bus to work-
>>> then I think some of these problems may not be so intense- especially
>>> the parking issue. I think we need to have this in mind not only when
>>> we're talking about super 2s, but in all matters of development and we
>>> need to make it personal, like asking ourselves what we're doing or
>>> not doing to have a lifestyle based less on reserving large part of
>>> our urban areas for car parking and driving, and using more of it for
>>> space for families to live- and asking how we can make our
>>> neighborhood meet the needs of people who may want to live without
>>> dependence on a vehicle- something that would be better for the
>>> neighborhood overall, no matter who is moving in.
>>>
>>> Sorry if this sounds preachy- its not meant that way- more my rambling
>>> observations and thoughts. My 2 cents on the issue.
>>> Thanks for listening/reading
>>> Martin
>> ___________________________________
>> Sebastian Wren, Ph.D.
>> http://www.BalancedReading.com
>>
>> "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
>> Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
>> ~ Groucho Marx
>>
>>
>>
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>
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