As if this weather hasn't been enough to get even the laziest of Austinites out and running, Paul Carrozza and his team over at RunTex are creating even more reasons to get out and about in 2008. Over the course of this month, the Lake Austin Boulevard RunTex will be stripped of its retail shelves—in its place will be a running institution aimed at consulting, training, and creating various fitness programs and seminars for local athletes....

Image from Brackenridge Field Laboratory Development StudyMembers of the Integrative Biology section of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Texas have come forward with their own plan (large pdf) for the portion of the Brackenridge Tract currently containing the Brackenridge Field Laboratory. UT's Brackenridge Tract Tack Force recently recommended that the University hire an outside master planner to propose redevelopment for the entire tract, including the field laboratory. The biologists' plan contemplates......

Unless you frequent the Hike and Bike Trail or attend Austin High School, you may not have noticed the recent construction of a lime green wall and several over-sized pieces of fruit on the southwest corner of Veterans Drive and Lake Austin Boulevard. These new additions to a popular West Austin corner, already host to Magnolia Cafe, Thundercloud Subs and Deep Eddy Cabaret, are attributed to the good people at Daily Juice down on......

At the behest of home-builders, Representative Edmund Kuempel of Seguin has filed a bill that would eviscerate Austin's McMansion ordinance, along with similar regulations passed by cities throughout the state. While it is not 100% clear that the McMansion ordinance is a good thing, this seems like an entirely local issue that cities should be allowed to resolve on their own. Allowing the state government to override what cities can do about local zoning......

Katherine Gregor has an excellent article in this week's Chronicle about Austin's move towards Vertical Mixed Use zoning on core transit corridors. It does a nice job explaining what the city's VMU overlay means (residential and office space above retail space), why it benefits developers (allows them to build more condos on a given lot), and why it benefits residents (affordability, better building design requirements, pedestrian-friendly, green, integration reduces need for car trips). The......

A new mid-income housing subdivision in [Far] East Austin was approved by the Travis County Commissioners Court yesterday, paving the way for developers to construct the 1,343-home project that's identical to one already in Pflugerville. The so-called Villages of New Sweden would be so far out in the boondocks (FM 973 and New Sweden Church Road? We've no idea) that surrounding neighbors are worried this first wave of suburban sprawl might "hurt their property......