Increased pricing for street-front parking is almost a certainty in downtown Austin’s near future. That tactic was one of more than a dozen recommended by a consulting firm tasked with solving the parking crunch that plagues many areas of Austin’s downtown core almost daily. The plan from San Francisco-based Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates also calls for […]
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Downtown drug crisis pushes Adler, Council to pledge increased support
Austin’s police and public health departments will have extra budget and other resources available soon to help them focus on ending an increase in the use of the synthetic drug K2 downtown. At a press conference Thursday, Mayor Steve Adler was joined by several City Council members and assorted city department heads who have already […]
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Austin Police tout results of homelessness engagement program
As part of a new initiative to combat homelessness, a small group of cops, mental health specialists and medical personnel have been taking to the streets to engage directly with Austin’s homeless. The Homeless Outreach Street Team has had a big impact on the lives of many of the city’s homeless population since it began […]
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Looking for history: Austin’s public squares
From Lyndon B. Johnson announcing his first Senate campaign in Wooldridge Square to Booker T. Washington speaking there in 1911, some of Austin’s most historic moments and stories are set to be preserved in the city’s three original public square parks. The program known as Our Austin Story is a partnership between the Austin Parks […]
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Austin parks groups propose new uses for hotel tax funds
Several groups made their cases for funding last night at a meeting of the Visitors Impact Task Force. The board is charged with exploring new uses for hotel tax revenue before a decision by City Council. Board members heard from Kim McKnight with the Parks and Recreation Department. “While the promotion of amenities paid for […]
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Decision on unmarked graves, chapel at Oakwood Cemetery coming in April
Austin officials plan to have an idea next month of how to move forward with construction work on the chapel at Oakwood Cemetery that was halted in November when unrecorded burial sites were discovered under the building. Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department, which manages five city cemeteries, is working to learn more about the remains […]
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CodeNEXT tech talk focuses on familiar topics
Planning consultant Peter Park picked an apt way to describe Austin’s current building code while talking to a room full of technology entrepreneurs and stakeholders at Austin’s Capital Factory. “The (operating system) is kind of broken, and to get the city you want is kind of an arduous process,” Park said of the ongoing reveals […]
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Council clashes over changes to Austin Oaks plan
City Council members struggled to find common ground on changes to the Austin Oaks planned unit development Thursday. Spire Realty Group’s proposed 1.19 million-square-foot mixed-use project would create a “meaningful employment center” on 31 acres away from downtown Austin, said Michael Whellan, the company’s rep. In addition to the residential, retail and office space, the […]
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Forty years after its fiery demise, a movie theater continues to be missed by East Austin
Ada Harden, 81, stands on a vacant lot at the corner of E. 12th and Salina Streets. While gravel and shorn grass crunch beneath her feet, she sees instead a maroon seat made of velvet and a wide screen where a fence now stands. “Can you imagine a theater sitting right here?” Harden asked, giggling. […]
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Examining Austin’s “smart city” bona fides
Austin’s reputation as one of the nation’s smartest cities went under the microscope Sunday, with policy and academic experts examining the technology, educational, housing and transportation components – and the city’s shifting needs as it grows – that combine to make it a magnet for creatives. The South by Southwest panel “What Is a Smart […]
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Adler: A blue Texas “all but inevitable”
It’s something of an old saw in the political world that progressive cities in otherwise red states are like “a blueberry in a bowl of tomato soup.” Austin Mayor Steve Adler and his mayoral colleagues on Friday’s “America’s Mayors: Holding The Line” panel at South by Southwest didn’t invoke that line themselves but let panel […]
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Austin officials rap about Smart Cities, robot cars at SXSW
Nine months after Austin lost the federal Smart City Challenge to Columbus, Ohio, the vision of a data-enhanced urban future is still alive and well. Top officials from Mayor Steve Adler to Austin Transportation Director Robert Spillar took time during South by Southwest 2017 to publicly address the city’s efforts to leverage data collection into […]