Zoning Change may create "sub-downtowns" along I-35 and TX130

[ATXboom]

Zoning may create 'sub-downtowns' along I-35Austin Business Journal - by Jean Kwon ABJ Staff
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City planners are working on a land-use policy that would create mini-downtowns anchored by major employers just east of I-35 and along parts of the new State Highway 130.

The city's Planning Commission is considering a so-called "mixed-use activity center" zoning overlay that would allow landowners of underdeveloped areas along I-35 to build compact, mixed-use developments or "sub-downtowns," says Cid Galindo, a member of the commission. The City Council will review the proposal as early as the end of the year.

City planners say the new zoning would allow the city to better absorb its steady growth -- an average of 3.5 percent for the last 100 years, and 4.1 percent last year. If the current trends continue, demographers predict that the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction will have 2.5 million residents in its 400,000 acres in 30 years.

A mixed-use overlay would help create regional town centers at 5-mile intervals on large parcels of 500 to 2,500 acres on the eastern edge of the city limits away from environmentally sensitive areas, says Galindo. The city's proposed target growth rate for those areas is 5 percent. To achieve that, the city needs to concentrate growth in more urban forms, says Galindo.

[totheskies]

Sounds like the Austin/San Antonio CSA just got the go-ahead!!

[arbeiter]

Where does it mention San Antonio?

[ATXboom]

Yeah... this zoning would only carry weight in the Austin jurisdictional area.

A lot of coordination and desire would need to happen to align Kyle, Buda, San Marcos, New Braunfels to such zoning principals.

[DrewDizzle]

Originally Posted by totheskies

Sounds like the Austin/San Antonio CSA just got the go-ahead!!

I think what you mean is that Austin just got the go-ahead to look like Houston in a few years.

[Dragonfire]

Originally Posted by DrewDizzle

I think what you mean is that Austin just got the go-ahead to look like Houston in a few years.

Not if the environmentalists have anything to say.

[KevinFromTexas]

Actually, I'm a bit of a nature nut, and I love the idea of 130 being denser. Put it there rather than west of Austin over the aquifer and in more beautiful environmentally sensitive areas. I reiterate this constantly to my family about putting dense development downtown rather than sprawling all over Central Texas. My brother rock climbs out in the Hill Country so he's starting to catch on to the idea of it protecting those areas.