AUSTIN News Thread

[migol24]

http://www.statesman.com/business/ea...s-1618774.html

EA Sports expanding Austin presence, bringing 300 jobs
By Brian Gaar
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Video game publisher Electronic Arts will open a branch of its famed EA Sports game division in Austin, part of an expansion that will bring 300 jobs to Central Texas.

The move — which will be announced at a news conference today — comes after discussions between Gov. Rick Perry and EA's top executives over several months. It further cements the Redwood City, Calif.-based company, already one of the world's largest game publishers, as the biggest player in the Austin gaming community.

[Spaceman]

Looks as those WTP4 will be halted...Lots of $$$$$ lost..Unf------believable.

[The ATX]

The mentality of some on the current city council is is similar to the 1980s where they thought if something wasn't built, i.e., highways, they won't come. But they came anyway, hense our current freeway congestion.

I can't believe people are actually against adding water capacity when we have been in extreme droughts much of the last five years. One argument against it is that we should focus on conservation instead of capacity. There is absolutely no logical reason why we can't and shouldn't do both.

Stopping construction will only create major problems several years down the road when another 500,000 people live here.

[MightyYoda]

Originally Posted by Hill Country

The mentality of some on the current city council is is similar to the 1980s where they thought if something wasn't built, i.e., highways, they won't come. But they came anyway, hense our current freeway congestion.

I can't believe people are actually against adding water capacity when we have been in extreme droughts much of the last five years. One argument against it is that we should focus on conservation instead of capacity. There is absolutely no logical reason why we can't and shouldn't do both.

Stopping construction will only create major problems several years down the road when another 500,000 people live here.

While it sounds like the building may have been premature in that we wont need another treatment plant for 15+ years, we have already set sail. Modify the existing plant to do standard water treatment + reclaiming grey water that way both sides are happy. Throwing away the 100+ million we have spent especially when construction is cheap is a bad idea.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/...e-1686734.html

Scorcher triggers 2nd day of record electricity usage in Austin and Texas

By Laylan Copelin
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Published: 9:28 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011

Record heat equals record electricity usage again.

For the second consecutive day, Texans cranked up a record peak usage of electricity to battle triple-digit heat.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas reported that 67,928 megawatts were used between 4 and 5 p.m. Tuesday, breaking the day-old record of 66,867 megawatts that had eclipsed the all-time record set Aug. 23, 2010.

Austin may like to keep it weird, but it also likes to keep it cool.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/...r-1686569.html

Bid to revive Trail of Lights features trailer food court, concerts and snow

By Sarah Coppola
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Updated: 10:43 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011
Published: 10:35 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011

Picture the Trail of Lights with more lighting displays, a food court of Austin's best trailers, an expanse of artificial snow, concerts on a large stage and flash mobs spreading holiday cheer.

Those are some of the features that an Austin-based business wants to offer at the annual Zilker Park holiday festival.

BrightBlue Combo Platter , a partnership of a marketing firm and an event management firm, is the sole bidder to operate the trail in December.

It would keep and refurbish the usual 40 or so lighting displays and add new ones, such as a display of the Austin skyline.

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/...r-1686569.html

hmmm, a display of the Austin skyline, in front of the Austin skyline.

[KevinFromTexas]

The city hired the company.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...rate_trai.html

Business hired to operate Trail of Lights
By Sarah Coppola | Thursday, August 4, 2011, 11:06 AM

The Trail of Lights is back on.

The City Council voted this morning to hire the Austin-based business BrightBlue Combo Platter to operate the December holiday festival in Zilker Park. BrightBlue is a partnership of BrightBlue Marketing and the event management firm Combo Platter.

BrightBlue plans to charge admission of $5 for attendees age 11 and older, but will have one free night for the public and another free night for military personnel and their families. The city will get back $1 for every ticket sold.

As we explained in a story earlier this week, BrightBlue envisions a Trail of Lights that includes the usual 40 or lighting displays and some new ones; a grouping of Austin’s best food trailers; an expanse of artificial snow; a bonfire; flash mobs; a 5K run; and two stages, one for performances like dance troupes and choir groups and one for live music every Friday and Saturday night.

[the Genral]

Hey...we'll probably be in the top 5 of another poll, for a city this size where you have to pay to see holiday decorations That's great!!!

[BevoLJ]

I take it what they mean is there has been over 300,000 in the past two months alone? That is a LOT of people! I wonder what the number would be if they counted the those who hang out in the pools under the little dam?

Barton Springs looks to blow the doors off the old record of 350,000 in the summer of '09.

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/...type=rss_local

Record heat producing record attendance at Barton Springs Pool
By Farzad Mashhood
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Published: 8:12 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011

The record pace of 100-degree days in Austin has led to power grids laboring to cope with uncommonly high electricity usage to keep buildings cool.

But another method of keeping cool is on pace for records this summer: visits to Barton Springs Pool.

In 2009, the pool logged a record number of visits, with more than 350,000 coming in June, July and August. By comparison, the pool had more than 308,000 visitors in June and July this year.

"I would be shocked if we don't break that record," said Wayne Simmons, aquatics programs coordinator for the city's Parks and Recreation Department.

The attendance figures for the pool don't include those who frolic for free in the pool's spillway, as several dozen people were doing Saturday afternoon.

In years when creeks dry up, such as this year, the pool usually sees an increase in visits, Simmons said. This year, the drought has combined with an economy that is keeping more people in town and a record heat wave to bring more than just an uptick of visits, Simmons said.



...

[BevoLJ]

http://sxsw.com/node/9310?utm_source...28SXSW+News%29

Gary Hustwit's Urban Design Documentary "Urbanized" Comes to Austin
Posted by jim on August 10, 2011

Gary Hustwit is something of a SXSW veteran, having screened the world premieres of Helvetica and Objectified in 2007 and 2009, respectively. His latest, Urbanized will world premiere at TIFF next month, and it gives us huge pleasure to announce that the film comes to Austin on Wednesday, October 5. The special event will feature a Q&A with Gary following the screenings.

Urbanized does for city planning what his previous films did for typography and industrial design, featuring "some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers". The Urbanized Special Screening with director Gary Hustwit in partnership with SXSW will take place at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar.

...

[Samwill89]

Originally Posted by BevoLJ

http://sxsw.com/node/9310?utm_source...28SXSW+News%29

This is great news! I helped to fund this awesome project and am happy Austin was chosen to help launch the film.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/ne...site-near.html

Ailing Austin Lyric Opera to sell site near downtown

Austin Business Journal
Date: Friday, August 12, 2011, 6:25am CDT - Last Modified: Friday, August 12, 2011, 6:26am CDT

In an effort to get on firmer financial footing, Austin Lyric Opera is selling its property on Barton Springs Road.

“After a rigorous analysis in past months, the board determined the current property does not match the future needs of the organization,” said Jo Anne Christian, chairman of the board. “This is a long-term, strategic move in order to gain efficiency and sustainability.”

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.statesman.com/business/te...s-1739697.html

For Austin, a new wave of data centers is coming

By Kirk Ladendorf
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Published: 6:45 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, 2011

Austin's first big wave of public data center expansions stopped shortly after the dot-com boom fizzled in 2000.

A high-profile Silicon Valley company called Exodus Communications had built two of the giant data storage facilities in Northeast Austin in the final year of the boom, 1999.

By 2002, Exodus was bankrupt, and a few years after that, its Austin data centers were bought at bargain prices by Dell Inc. and Home Depot Inc.

Now a second wave of data center expansion is starting up. But this time, investors say, it's different.

[KevinFromTexas]

This is how it should be. Encourage smart growth with denser development in the core of the city, and discourage development in environmentally sensitive areas. Use some of that surplus from redeveloped vacant lots in downtown and increased tax revenue to protect the region's natural resources and create amazing natural areas and parks.

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/..._comments_list

Austin to buy 611 acres to protect water quality in recharge zone

By Sarah Coppola
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Published: 9:50 p.m. Monday, Aug. 15, 2011

The City of Austin plans to buy 611 acres in the heart of the sensitive Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, a deal officials are hailing as a major step in protecting water quality in the aquifer and in area springs, including Barton Springs.

The $11.8 million parcel in northern Hays County is owned by 668 Avana Land Holdings LLC . The city will pay most of the cost with money voters approved for purchases of open space in a 2006 bond package.

The 611 -acre parcel has sinkholes, caves and other porous features through which rainwater filters into the Barton Springs portion of the Edwards Aquifer. The aquifer replenishes Barton Springs Pool and is a source of drinking water for rural areas in Travis and Hays counties. (Austin draws its drinking water from Lake Austin.)

Development rights on the 611 acres allow the construction of up to 500 homes. The city's purchase of the land will prevent development there.

[MightyYoda]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

This is how it should be. Encourage smart growth with denser development in the core of the city, and discourage development in environmentally sensitive areas. Use some of that surplus from redeveloped vacant lots in downtown and increased tax revenue to protect the region's natural resources and create amazing natural areas and parks.

This is very exciting to me. I did not realize how much land Austin had purchased over the Aquifer or that they were trying to connect 30+ miles of greenbelt. I love walking/running through Barton Creek Greenbelt and more is welcome.

I believe that continous greenbelt is important as otherwise they feel more like parks and you loose that vibrancy of nature. It becomes for the lack of a better word, "stale". Having that many miles of connected greenbelt in the heart of the city would be amazing!

[BevoLJ]

That is a huge chunk of land. Good for them. I'd be interested in knowing how they are going to connect that to Barton Creek. Isn't Circle C and Oak Hill kinda in the way?

[KevinFromTexas]

http://impactnews.com/central-austin...infrastructure

IBM interns work to "smarten" Austin's infrastructure

By Bobby Longoria
Tuesday, 16 August 2011

AUSTIN — IBM interns met with City of Austin officials Aug. 10 to present their work on new software and solutions, for creating an efficient and "smarter city."

IBM's Smarter Cities initiative is working toward integrating city functions and departments, from the water utility to public safety and energy. By leveraging technology within a networked environment, IBM's software may help traffic flow smoother, improve educational efficiencies and predict crime.

"We know with the number of people moving into cities and the growth rate we see—the problems are just going to get more challenging," said John Gordon, director of strategy and market management for IBM's Smarter Cities initiative.

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/...a-1757355.html

Austin to restrict lawn watering to once a week

By Marty Toohey
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Updated: 8:58 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011
Published: 10:59 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2011

Homes and businesses in Austin will be restricted to watering lawns once a week starting Sept. 6.

One-day weekly watering schedule:

Tuesday: Commercial and multi-family residences with addresses that end in odd numbers

Friday: Commercial and multi-family residences with even-numbered addresses

Saturday: Homes with odd-numbered addresses

Sunday: Homes with even-numbered addresses

[Mopacs]

Originally Posted by BevoLJ

That is a huge chunk of land. Good for them. I'd be interested in knowing how they are going to connect that to Barton Creek. Isn't Circle C and Oak Hill kinda in the way?

Here's an overview map published on the Hill Country Conservancy's website. Looks like it will share some stretches with existing roads.

http://www.hillcountryconservancy.or...letcrowntrail/