Quote:
Originally Posted by ATXboom
I love the density in the images.... hopefully that can be achieved.
This is the start of modern node based density... I wouldn't call this sprawl.
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Parts of it look nice (especially the first image), and it's certainly better than rolling out another patch of single-family lots with pod-style gated apartment complexes splotched here and there.
But other parts still seem a little on the sprawly side - corporate campuses, large surface parking lots, etc.
Most of the office space is on the periphery, not in the core. Will people be driving between those offices and the core (or worse, off-development), to get lunch? Is there enough retail/restaurant to serve this much residential/office (I suppose it depends on how efficiently it's used -- is it a few large tenants, or a diverse mix of many small ones?), or will people be frequently leaving for services elsewhere?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ATXboom
To get cars off the freeway we need dense centers of live/work/play distributed... Of course the biggest center should be in the core of Austin.
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I can see the desire for other density sites besides the central city, given how sprawled the existing settlement is (which won't be abandoned any time soon), and the relative lack of NIMBYs with greenfield development -- but there ought to be some sort of transportation plan, or else you'll still be dumping people on the freeway (or arterials) to get between density centers.
I suppose an express bus could run to/from downtown along 35, and possibly the 201 bus could be extended down Old San Antonio Road or 35 to provide some limited connectivity with South Austin, but I saw no mention of transportation in the article or the linked plan document at all (but plenty of images of/references to Austin proper; they're not exactly pitching this as an independent village).
Will this site even be part of the Capital Metro service area? According to
http://www.capmetro.org/gismaps/ada/cmsa.html, the service area runs down the freeway, but not over the adjacent land, apparently following city limits that do the same. Would Austin be annexing the land?