The Domain: Urban Perversion or the Future of Austin?

ok, i went there today. it is exactly like las colinas in dallas only with more retail and no fake river. kind of like the triangle. Only the triangle has a flipnotics coming in, and mandolas.

It was packed, and lots of women holding shopping bags. i guess folks have money to burn and the banana by them just doesn't do it for them?

Welcome to Dallas... Asshole

One neat point: just like with our "first downtown", credulous nitwits are assuming that nearby-but-not-close-enough-to-walk commuter rail service that requires a bus ride to/from the train station will actually provide enough zing to make high-density transit-oriented development work despite the fact that it's never worked anywhere where you can't just walk to the station.

http://mdahmus.monkeysystems.com/blog/archives/000401.html

It's a fucking stripmall, folks.

On the other hand if I lived there I can have breakfast above Tiffany every day.

I think people in Austin who don't live in the area may not like it. The Domain is not targeting "eclectic" South Austinites. I liked the look of the area because it seemed like live/work areas in Europe. We're not used to the style right now, but larger metro areas like Dallas and cities in CA had to go that way OR deal with more sprawl.

This gateway plan is not something to be taken lightly, it really will change the face of North Austin. First, the Domain DOES include local businesses (St.Thomas, Bettysport), and part of the rebates the city gave went toward helping local, women and minority owned business into the Domain. It's also important to realize what you see at the Domain today is only phase I, there are several more to go and I'm sure it's already a shocking change for north austinites to see IBM's old buildings torn down to make way for new progress. There are hundreds more apartments, hotels and offices coming, so people really WILL be able to LIVE and WORK in the same area. The housing that is being targeted for gateway is aimed at babyboomers looking to cut down on space and transplants from other states. I grew up in this portion of Austin and it irks me to see people dismiss the developments or think north austinites are like some foreign people with minds too narrow to handle high end/contemporary developments

I work for Midway Games, which is located in an older part of the Domain (right adjacent to the Texas Culinary Academy).

Personally, I don't see why anyone would want to live at the mall, but as someone else mentioned, I suppose it beats living in a gated community. And since I work right next door, I suppose working next to a mall is "better than" working next to a construction site, which is what I've been doing for the past year plus. So it's progress, of a sort, but I'm not convinced that it's "good" progress. Like anything, it's all a matter of perspective.

To be constructive, the Domain could really use some local businesses to balance out all the chains. There just aren't many local businesses to speak of at the moment (are there any?), which is a big difference between the Domain and 2nd Street. (That and the fact that 2nd Street is near everything else in the city, whereas the Domain is in the middle of nowhere). Neiman Marcus, Banana Republic, Starbucks, California Pizza Kitchen, Borders .. they're hardly keeping Austin weird up here! I wonder if there are ways the developers can incentivise local businesses to set up shop in this location, but I get the impression from the initial business lineup that it's not really in their best interest.

I hope that The Domain turns into "another urban center" for Austin, but am not terribly optimistic about it.

The domain reminds me of the second street district which reminds me of Dallas. I am not sure Austin will embrace the ridiculous prices not only for the shopping there but the rent as well.I am sure the develepors love the Austin demographics but just because people here make money it doesnt mean they will spend it.

My wife dragged me to the domain on opening weekend and it was pretty dead and I have been a couple of times since, I live close by and it is always dead. There were so many sales people at Macy's I thought I was walking down sixth street....I couldnt go 10 feet with someone asking me if I wanted to try on cologne or sign up for a Macy's card.

I heard they spent over $200,000 on art from local artists, that's not necessarily a bad thing. How much is Circle C or Mueller throwing in towards that?

Beyond that, the place feels like the moon - walk through a maze of parking garages to get to a condo or a Neiman Marcus. Ah, the unfettered joys of the new urbanism in Austin. At least its not the Triangle.

I used to live/work downtown. Most people I run into who live downtown also work around there, or at least pretty close.

It's a lot easier to do that there though, because residences are interspersed with office and bank towers.

North Burnet has a decent chance of success because it is next to high density, high wage employers like UT's JJ pickle campus, IBM and others.

Living at the Domain would be living at the mall.

Personally I'd hate living at the mall, but it might beat living in an enormous suburban apartment complex that lacked even the minimal opportunity for human interaction represented by a mall.

One specific concern I have before the City of Austin takes us much further down this path is to what extent mall-like restrictions on expression and behavior will apply in the many Domain-like "town centers" planned for the Austin area.

Elsewhere I've complained that homeowners associations like the one currently on the table for Mueller are anti-diversity and anti-free speech. Well, if developments like the Domain are run like malls, they're even worse: at least under an HOA you can stand on a soapbox in your yard and speak your mind. But at the mall there is no protection whatsoever for freedom of speech, assembly or the press. At the mall the management is free to kick you out if they think you're there to do anything but spend money.

I like the idea of denser development with a quasi-urban feel. I just hope that what we build are true public spaces, with all our messy rights intact, not authoritarian mini-Singapores.

I'm also very cautiously optimistic. VMU development is much better than the alternative in my opinion. The North is desperately in need of it's own "downtown" core. Hopefully they don't blow this opportunity take control of the sprawl.

Just like everything else. The people who live there don't work there and the people who work there don't live there. Just like the people who work in downtown, they don't live there and anyone who can afford to live there does not work there. I thought all this development was supposed to make us walkable?

sounds an AWEFUL lot like las Colinas in Dallas. That place isn't very cool.

I guess its better to see Austin going the way of Dallas than Houston, but isn't there a third way?

I stopped by there last week. Completely agree w/ the Disney comment. I give the developers a lot of credit for buidling around all of those huge old live oaks, would be nice if there was a pawn shop and a greasy spoon in the middle of it all though. Isn't there another Brookstone 1/2 mile away in the Arboretum?

dan