Brewster McCracken is pushing city council to create a program to build more parking garages downtown. There are already a lot of parking garages downtown, and every new development includes several floors of parking, but it is often not profitable to open these garages to the public. Similarly, it doesn't make economic sense for developers to build public parking garages. According to the Statesman, McCracken estimates that the proposed Seaholm garage would cost $3.78......

Whether you're going nuts over your afternoon commute, pleased as punch about Cap Metro's Long-Range Transit Plan, tonight's your chance to let 'em know—after you've downed a few rounds of liquid courage, if need be. The monthly edition of Keep Austin Blue's Social Hour is happening over at Mother Egan's Irish Pub, and tonight's agenda is all about transportation. Participating public transit aficionados include Matt Curtis (Director Community Involvement, Capital Metro), Todd Hemingson (VP......

In case you hadn't noticed, transit-oriented development (TOD) is picking up steam in Austin. For newbies to Urban Development, "TOD" refers to the process of installing a rail-based public transit system in a city and developing dense residential/retail/commercial projects around it. Yes, people of Austin: It's your old vaporous friend, rail. But this time, it looks like he's here to stay. A few years ago, installing a rail system was just one of many possible......

Happy Holidays! Chances are, you're reading this the day after Christmas, back at your day job after all-too-short a holiday, and the last thing you want from us is stuff about the holidays. But that's just too bad. Because, see, here in the Ist-A-Verse, we do things ahead of time. It might be December 26 for you, but that's what you get for not checking your Favorite Local Blog on Christmas Eve. Austinist is......

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and Austin Energy are hosting a 1-day Green by Design Workshop on November 4, 2006 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It's a short program, aimed at current or future homeowners, that provides information about how to make your home as green as possible. Space is limited - sign up now! Austin Energy and the Wildflower Center both have a variety of programs aimed at helping local residents......

SustainLane's annual rankings of America's Most Sustainable Cities came out yesterday. Austin, which was ranked #6 in 2005 in SustainLane's similar "US City Rankings," plummeted to #14 this year. Other Texas cities among the fifty fared worse, including Dallas (24), El Paso (31), Houston (39), and Fort Worth (46). As far as SustainLane.com -- an "online community site for healthy and sustainable living" -- is concerned, most of our -ist brethren cities (SF, Seattle, Philly,......

Austin's Capital Metro Transit, with the help of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), has declared today an Ozone Action Day. What does this mean for the lay commuter? Free bus rides! It's a great way to forgo guzzling gas or avoid getting pit stains from biking to the office. According to Capital Metro Transit's web-site they estimate an increased ridership of 8,000 on Ozone Action Days. There could be some truth to......