Culture, climate district gets mixed reviews from feedback sessions

An effort to create a new “living room” in the center of Austin along Lady Bird Lake needs some fine-tuning and a more precise mission, according to early community feedback gathered by an outside consulting firm.

A memo delivered on Dec. 30 by Parks and Recreation Department Director Kimberly McNeeley includes the latest work done for a 2021 City Council resolution that sought to create a culture and climate innovation district concentrated mostly along the south shore of the lake beginning just west of MoPac Expressway and extending east past the Statesman planned unit development property.

That area includes Butler Shores at Town Lake, Zilker Park, Barton Springs, Auditorium Shores and dozens of events and cultural assets, making it the biggest hot spot for promoting culture and trying to concentrate businesses and organizations involved in combating climate change.

The report, which was not dated and didn’t identify the consultant hired to complete it, notes the district would be intended to “explore and analyze these (environmentally sensitive) conditions and recommend planning to address the area’s rapid transition due to private development, public investments for the Dougherty Arts Center, transportation and mobility, and increasing population and density  demands.”

Responses to a question about creation of the district. Courtesy city of Austin.

The feedback process conducted in the fall of 2022 brought responses suggesting the culture and climate innovation district could be suffering from being conceived so close in time with the vision plan for Zilker Park, which makes up a substantial portion of the land and cultural impact of the area. The vision plan is currently going through its own evaluation and revision process.

Over the course of six feedback events and interviews, participants shared their hopes and priorities for the area’s future use, but also said the concept needs to be reworked. One respondent noted, “Without people really having a good understanding of what you’re trying to do and what’s at stake, it is hard for people to follow that.”

Other feedback included support for investing in the area’s infrastructure, promoting passive cultural activities, and expanding the district to include both sides of the lake with the southern side possibly extending as far east as Pleasant Valley Road.

The 2021 resolution sought to create clear future guidelines for private development, transportation infrastructure and planning in the area, with the need for a comprehensive analysis of all of the parcels involved in current or planned development, with attention paid to trying to leverage cultural assets and events to establish a clear identity for the district. While PARD was initially tasked with leading the district planning, in a November 2021 memo McNeeley said her department would only be able to carry out some components of the work called for by City Council.

If the city moves forward with the effort, it could lead to the second innovation district in the downtown area. The first is the health care innovation district concentrated along the western edge of downtown, with the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas serving as a sort of anchor for biotech firms the business community expects to be attracted to the area.

In addition to the eventual enhancement of Zilker Park, the area proposed for the culture and climate district is being transformed by the Statesman redevelopment and the larger South Central Waterfront, the creation of a new Dougherty Arts Center, and various pieces of the Project Connect mass transit plan.

Given the mixed feedback, McNeeley’s memo recommends that “the process of creating a CCID not move forward until the Zilker Park Vision Plan is approved by Council, and until the city produces guidelines for how these kinds of special districts should be managed more broadly.”

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