Back from a Second Trip to Oregon

...and am trapped drawing fantasy transit maps for Austin still. Need to do more writing of depth, about Austin and its urban environment versus other cities, etc.

This is also where people could suggest thins for me to write about?... :-)

Austin Subway Fantasy Map

After some other comments, came up with a freelance Austin subway map. Pretty fantasy stuff.


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What do ya think?

What Austin Could Look Like Part II... Crestview Station

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Airport at Lamar, that's where Austin's first attempt at Transit-Oriented Development is supposed to be built. Well, apparently the proper intersection is Lamar at Justin, but who knows of Justin Ln., outside of the Brentwood and Crestview neighborhoods?


(artist's rendering)

It's to be called Midtown Commons at Crestview, a 73-acre site in total, being completed in phases, consisting of 900 apartments and 64,000 sq. ft. of commercial space. Its just two miles north of UT, four north of downtown; currently, it has greater bus access than the Triangle, with five bus lines down Lamar next to it: the local 1, the limited 101 and crosstown routes 300, 320, and 350. Going north or south on Lamar, bus frequencies are still less than 7 minutes on weekdays, similar to the Triangle, but with additional service every 10 minutes to East Austin, every and every 30 to Northcross and Highland Malls, as well as down I35. It's 15 minutes from UT, and 20 minutes from Downtown.

Don't want to plug this realtor or anything, but a cool look around Crestview Station:



Along with Airport and Lamar, the City of Austin designated five other areas as TOD Districts in the city, along the Red Line. Each of these district groups the land involved into five different categories, TOD mixed-use, corridor mixed-use, live/work flats, high-density apartments, and medium-density apartments, in descending density.

• Crestview Station Plan


• Lamar/Justin District Plan
  

One of the more curious things will be to see how the existence of this TOD development effects the suburban neighborhoods around it. Crestview, to the northwest, is one of the first post-war suburbs of the city, and for a while existed as an old-timey place to live; in a time-warp of sorts. As well, right across Lamar from the TOD is Highland, which has been going downhill for the last several years, as more and more stores leave Highland Mall, Austin's grande dame of the malls. TOD is almost diametrically opposed to the style and set of ideas that gave rise to both these auto-centric neighborhoods, and the mall that was their centerpiece.

Can this TOD create a new center for the communities in the area, a more urban one?

Austin Chronicle - TOD in Crestview (2006)

Next...consequences of commuter rail? A first-hand look at TOD in Austin?

What Austin Could Look Like? Part I

Dense, walkable development in Austin, outside of Downtown, UT, and SoCo, is a rare bird indeed. Unlike cities such as Portland, Oregon, and even Dallas, Austin hasn't had a rail transit infrastructure extant to provide a stimuli to densify or create greenfield New Urbanist developments. However, it new walkable developments exist, and in some of the oddest places, too.

Streetcar Lofts, Pearl District, Portland, Oregon:



(SP8254 on Flickr)

The Triangle is one of the most obvious dense developments in North Austin, and one of the best, is purposely designed to be pedestrian-focused, located in the triangle formed by the confluence of Guadalupe and Lamar, two of the main corridors in North Austin. Guadalupe-Lamar is also the main transit corridor in Austin, being the route of both the local 1 and the limited 101 bus lines, which provide approximately 7 minute headways at the Triangle. (bus schedule Triangle P&R)


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Along with this fact, the Triangle is only about 10 minutes travel time from UT-Austin and 20 minutes from downtown Austin via bus, at almost any time of day. Easy access such as this, makes it highly attractive to those seeking an urban lifestyle.

The Triangle, Lamar and Guadalupe:


(pfrench99 on Flickr)

So even though it's not along a light-rail corridor, The Triangle is the closest Austin has to anything resembling transit-oriented development, with a focus on residential space, and small, local stores and restaurants. Due to its high levels of transit service, as well as its proximity to Central Market, a large organic grocer, it's an easy sell to people wanting to lessen their reliance on the auto.

Part of the reason that the Triangle was able to develop as an entire pedestrian-oriented community, rather than one building, is due to it being a combination of greenfield and infill development, being built on land that where previously, the Austin State Hospital stood.

(Next post... Midtown Commons at Crestview)

Austin Transit Fantasy Map

Been playing around with making up LRT, Streetcar, and BRT routes for a fantasy Austin transit system.


View Austin Transit Fantasy in a larger map

Oh yeah....

...I'm back. Or at least I hope I am. Refocused the blog too, hopefully over the summer I'll have the opportunity to do some hands-on reportage.

And by the way, I Twitter.

MetroRail Article I'd Never Seen

Maybe it's just that I'm extra jaded today, but I thought this article (Metro Jacksonville), an overview of CapMetro's MetroRail Red Line, and the development around it, is relatively naive. Never seen it before, either.

MJ is advocating a Red Line-style DMU line as a replacement for Jacksonville's proposed BRT lines. They put it forward as

>...an affordable alternative for a traditional light rail plan that was rejected by Austin voters back in 2000.

Ha.