austin, texas.

[smh]

A lot of American downtowns still haven't broken the stigma of being essentially treated like skyscraper office park financial districts for the last 50 years. As such, developers continue building structures that pretend no living person will ever walk past them, even as these districts get more residents and visitors

100%

[FangKC]

Coby Lefkowitz is worth following. He has good insights into urbanism and architecture.

https://cobylefkowitz.com/

https://twitter.com/Cobylefko

[Highlander]

Austin's climate is relatively dry (compared to east Texas) but 42 straight days over 100 degrees may make some of the new residents and corporations wonder why the hell (pun intended) they moved there.

https://www.kxan.com/weather/weather-bl ... es-streak/

[auntbigdog]

Austin city council does away with parking minimums.
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/02 ... -shortage/

[Highlander]

I just spent 5 days visiting my son who has lived in Austin for several years. Everyone knows about Austin's boom and it is impressive (albeit waning) but I was more impressed with the quaint urban neighborhoods in the urban city and the kind of bohemian lifestyle built around them. It was 91 degrees when we arrived (kind of a drag for April) but quickly cooled off so it was more walkable. The rather extensive area directly north of the university of small unassuming homes in neighborhoods like Hyde Park, North University, North Loop, Brentwood and Central Austin are all very pleasant places with a host of great restaurants, coffee shops, bars etc... Mostly young crowd but generally not U of Texas students. Completely safe area as well. I don't think KC really has an analog. The Crossroads and downtown has a similar demographic but that's apartments and condos. Some of the larger homes (but still small) cost upwards of a million so it's not a cheap place to live but it was something I'd love to see KC emulate.

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.3062773 ... FQAw%3D%3D

If ever in Austin, the walk from Pease Park to the Colorado River along the Shoal Creek trail is something most people here would enjoy. Right through downtown but along a creek bed. Can pop back up to street level very easily as one moves through downtown Austin along the path and the Colorado River has a pedestrian bridge (which is the center of a lot of activity) to the south part of the city. I'll post some pictures if I can get motivated to get my Flicker account back up and running.

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2686119 ... FQAw%3D%3D