Wal-Mart is planning four new stores near Austin, one each in Cedar Park, Manor, Kyle and Elgin. The Manor and Elgin stores are expected to open in 2013. The Manor store will be conveniently located at 290 and FM 973, adjacent to some of the new roads to be built with Austin tax dollars from the recently passed Travis County Proposition 1. more ›

Do you wish there were more single-family subdivisions in unincorporated Travis County? Wish your taxes were higher? Then Travis County has a bridge (and several dozen roads) to sell you. Proposition 1 would spend $133 million of (mainly) Austin taxpayers' money on roads exclusively outside Austin. more ›

Travis County has two bond proposals on the ballot November 8. They are nicely divided. Proposition 1 is $123 million for road improvement projects, mainly to connect subdivisions to highways. It includes $3 million for unspecified TBD "bike safety projects," which they have rated last in their list of priorities. Proposition 2 is $82 million for parks and land conservation projects. It is understandable that Austinites might want to pay for parks outside the city limits, but why should we pay to build a road to your subdivision? more ›

The release party for the City of Austin's new comprehensive plan "Imagine Austin" will be held tomorrow, October 1st from 10am to 2pm at the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, 1165 Angelina Street, Austin, TX 78702. The party will feature Suzanna Choffel, Riders Against The Storm, Marmalakes, Roy Lozano’s Ballet, Folklorico de Texas and Son y No Son. Come early for free T-shirts, re-usable drink bottles, fun sunglasses and earth-friendly totes! Luv me some earth-friendly totes. more ›

The E. 7th st. Improvement Project began seven years ago, in 2003. Public meetings were held for three years, until 2006. Utility upgrading began in 2007, and then construction crews began ripping up pavement over a year ago, in March of 2010. Finally, three years of construction on East Seventh between Navasota Street and Pleasant Valley Road in East Austin ended Sunday, August 7, 2011. more ›

Earlier today, city council approved a request from White Lodging Services Corp. to waive $4.3 million in fees it would have been required to pay the city in connection with construction of a Marriott hotel on the former site of Las Manitas. According to the Statesman, new council member Kathie Tovo voted against the waivers on the basis that they represent “income we’re forgoing, and that’s a very important condition as we look at budget gaps and closing pools and other quality of life issues.” Bill Spelman supported the waivers on the basis that the development would increase the city's tax revenue, which could be used to pay for pools, parks and libraries. more ›

At tomorrow's meeting, Austin City Council will consider awarding a $1,000,000 contract to PB Americas, Inc./Parsons Brinckerhoff Americas, Inc. to develop a series of short-, mid- and long-range context sensitive solutions that might be carried out by the City, TXDOT or someone else to provide improved mobility along the corridor within the existing footprint of the facility, including options for transit and/or managed lanes, and for improved connectivity across the I-35 corridor from US 290 to William Cannon Drive. Funding for the project was included in Proposition 1, which voters approved last November. more ›

Formula One officials officially requested that the city participate in a plan that would provide a $29 million per year subsidy to Federation Internationale de l'Automobile in exchange for hosting the Formula One race in Austin. $25 million of that would come from the State of Texas. Formula One officials have created a new nonprofit entity that will front the other $4 million for the first year and then be repaid by the city from tax revenue. more ›

Texas Monthly is moving its offices back downtown, to a 21,610-foot space at 816 Congress Avenue. They are currently at the University Park Development, which was recently given back to lenders and sold. Their new space is a class-A spot, recently renovated and only steps from the Capitol. Approximately 80 Austin employees will make the move this summer. The new space has 20 stories, and features 24-hour securitie, covered parking, conference rooms, fitness center, plaza, mail room, deli and a full-service bank. more ›

Former city council candidate Robin Cravey posted a bit of a rant about Central City Suicide, complaining that Austin's central neighborhoods have become fundamentally unsustainable because opposition to apartments, condominiums, larger houses and smaller houses being built in those neighborhoods has driven up the price of housing and driven out young families. more ›

This should come as no surprise to those living in Central Austin. With low rent (well, it used to be low) and the area's close proximity to downtown, it’s actually shocking that it took this long for East Austin to become part of the gentrification process. In addition, the recent development of high-capacity condo and apartment buildings catering to the young and hip made it even more appealing. more ›

The Spaghetti Warehouse that has been at 117 W. Fourth Street for over 30 years will have to vacate the spot soon. The building's new (as of January) owners are looking to score new tenants for the 20,000 square foot space and claim that the location is garnering national attention. more ›

The City of Austin will be holding neighborhood meetings and public hearings starting tomorrow -- and is also accepting online comments -- regarding how the limited amount of funding Austin will get from HUD should be spent. This public input process is just one part of the annual report that the federal department requires each year before funds can be received. Programs the federal funds go towards include homeless services, small business assistance, homebuyer assistance, and more. The city receives funds from four different HUD grants, but expects the amount for FY 2011-12 to be reduced from past years. [SpeakUpAustin] more ›

Our pal Chris Bradford at the Austin Contrarian goes deep on 2011 census data for 78704 and finds, contrary to the perceptions of many neighborhood residents, that the number of kids in the central south Austin zip code declined by almost 18% over the last ten years, despite the fact that the housing stock grew by 10% in that period. This could have implications for plans to close neighborhood elementary schools. We hope it will put more pressure on city council to re-think policies that are pushing families out of central Austin. more ›

The Austin Independent School District’s Facility Master Plan Task Force has recommended closing Barton Hills, Brooke, Joslin, Oak Springs, Ortega, Pease, Sanchez and Zilker elementary schools and Pearce Middle School. The task force also recommends building 3 new elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. The schools to be closed are mainly in or around central Austin, while the new schools would be in the outlying suburbs. This is an expensive problem for AISD taxpayers, resulting in underutilization of existing infrastructure and costly subsidies for sprawl development. more ›

AlterNet has included the $90 million bond that was Proposition 1 among its 5 Smartest Policies Enacted by American Cities in 2010, noting that despite cries from a vocal minority for a package of only wider roads and more highways, we recognized that we can never build enough highways to eliminate traffic congestion and instead opted to also improve Austin's existing streets and make them more hospitable to pedestrians and bicycles. more ›

Census data collected between 2005 and 2009 shows massive population growth in the single-family havens surrounding Austin, particularly Hutto, Manor, Bee Cave, Kyle and Leander. The data also indicated that seventy-two percent of Austin workers drove to their jobs alone. more ›

In a city-wide survey set to close tomorrow, December 10th, the City of Austin is asking residents: “Which Way, Austin?” The survey, the final part in the development of Austin’s “Comprehensive Plan,” asks residents to envision Austin in 2030. Users are given five potential scenarios for development and then asked to rate the importance of everything from bikes and buses to green space to greenhouse gas emissions. more ›

Austin Playhouse has announced plans to move from its current Penn Field location to a new location at Mueller. The new facility will include a 200+ seat main stage and a 99 seat flexible second stage along with a gallery, public spaces, classrooms, and adequate support facilities such as a scene shop, costume shop, and administrative offices. more ›

According to the Austin Business Journal, councilmember Laura Morrison said city officials are discussing an additional $40 million in subsidies for the Formula One race track, on top of the $13.5 million payment city council unanimously approved last week. The $40 million would be paid over 10 years and would be tied to $250 million in subsidies coming from the state. more ›

The developers of the Austin Formula One track are requesting that the city reimburse them for the $13,400,000 they expect it will cost them to run water and wastewater pipes to the planned race track. The city routinely pays similar subsidies to developers of single-family tract housing, and had already approved a payment for the residential development previsouly proposed for the site. City council's approval will be required and is expected to come some time in December. more ›

Have Austinites abandoned the roads-only transportation paradigm and embraced a more sustainable multi-modal system? We'll see (particularly if the next bond election includes urban rail). Either way, this is a victory for bike and pedestrian advocates and a step towards the ability to live car-free in Austin, even if most of the Prop 1 money will still go to roads. more ›

Officials believe that sometime Sunday night or Monday morning an equipment malfunction at the Kyle Wastewater Treatment Plant’s on-site lift station caused more than 100,000 gallons of untreated wastewater to backup and overflow into an unnamed tributary of Plum Creek. After the malfunction was corrected, the overwhelming amount of sewage pumped into the plant caused a discharge of insufficiently treated wastewater to the same unnamed tributary of Plum Creek.
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The Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association (DANA) is hosting the 7th Annual Downtown Living Tour this Sunday, October 24th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. more ›

A variety of special interest groups with benign names, big budgets and overlapping memberships are pressuring voters to oppose the mobility bond on the Nov. 2, 2010 ballot. Backed by long-time power brokers like Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Mike Levy and Jim Skaggs and supported by the PR wing of the local pro-highway coalition, the groups complain that the bond would support bicycle and pedestrian projects instead of only building more roads. more ›

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) are hosting two open house meetings to discuss the planned $250 million expansion of MoPac between Lady Bird Lake and Parmer Lane. The expansion would add a tolled "Express Lane" in each direction, pushing the existing lanes outward and shrinking them from 12 feet wide to 11 feet wide. Several flyovers would be added to connect the new Express Lanes to cross streets. more ›

The 2010 AIA Homes Tour will be this weekend, October 2 - 3, 2010, from noon to 6pm each day. Tickets are on sale now and are $25 in advance and $30 the weekend of the tour. more ›

Mike Buys a Condo. Seen on Jude Galligan's Downtown Austin Blog. From DowntownAustinFacts.com. more ›

The 2010 City of Austin GIS Day will feature a map gallery, GIS and GPS demonstrations, geocaching activity, department information booths and presentations as well as competitions to showcase the breadth of skill and knowledge GIS users possess and exercise. more ›

The 2010 AIA Homes Tour will be the weekend of October 2 - 3, 2010, from noon to 6pm each day. Tickets are on sale now and are $25 in advance and $30 the weekend of the tour. more ›