What ails this city? / What could it be?

[mcnichol]

I've had far too much coffee. I came off so reactionary in that post -- sorry. And to a classist, no less!

John, I completely agree with you. This city has been a "car city" for nearly 100 years so it's much harder to now implement a new form of transportation for everyone to jump on board.

And regarding the people riding from the burbs to 6th st to party / giving people a reason to ride... yes. I think building something much more efficient won't just incent people to ride, but will become the one logical solution. The suburbanites in chicago who ride the El or the Metro don't ride it in to party, it's how they get to and from work because it's half the time or less than to drive the same thing -- their traffic situation has gotten that bad. Right now that's not our case -- I can get from St. John's to 8th in 12 minutes most days, and I know that new rail going in will take me 30 or 40. But sometime soon, those drive times will go nuts and it would be great to already have things in place for people to transition to instead of, at that point, saying "Gee, we should start thinking about mass transit."

I don't know what the answer is to incentivize people to be excited now about something that will really just benefit them years later, but factors like increasing gas prices, the ever-increasing distance between where we work and where we live, and the general acceptance that our environment is leaning towards "fucked" should be a good start.

And I definitely want to remain open to all options and not just disregard non-rail / non-public trans ones. But, I tell you, I go to these sprawling cities (*coughhoustoncough*) and it sends a chill down my spine that it could be us within a generation or two: highway upon flyover, upon abandoned stripmall. That's where we're going now.

I know it will definitely be heavy lifting* for all, but I think that -- whatever the answer is -- we need to start working on it bigtime (beyond this rail thing going in next summer, which is admittedly a tiny step in the right direction) now.




*It's REALLY hard, I know. All of the right-of-way stuff itself is exponentially more difficult than even raising the cashola or gaining public acceptance. But I believe that continuing along this same path will seriously turn this city to complete shit.

[kbadr]

I have little to add other than the fact that if there were some convenient mass transit that could get me to work quickly, I'd totally do use it. I'm even going to try out the commuter rail (or whatever buzzword-rail it's being called now) when it goes live in a year or so. 30 minutes spent sitting and reading beats 30 minutes in traffic any day.

[ratliff]

I know this will make me sound like a total dick but...Please for the love of god do something about the homeless problem downtown.

By "do something," do you mean "address the conditions that produce homelessness" or do you mean "put them where I can't see them"?

Ruling on your total dickishness hangs in the balance; answer carefully.

[slappywhite]

I know this will make me sound like a total dick but...Please for the love of god do something about the homeless problem downtown.

By "do something," do you mean "address the conditions that produce homelessness" or do you mean "put them where I can't see them"?

Ruling on your total dickishness hangs in the balance; answer carefully.

Do you mean fundamentally change society to eliminate homelessness? I don't think the Austin city council wields that level of power.

But building multiple homeless shelters in various parts of town would be a good start.

[Wesley]

Fewer red light cameras (and laws being turned into revenue generators as opposed to true public safety measures).

Bring back smoking (and business owner rights).

Stop legislating my morality and well-being.

If you really want to be a forward-thinking city, go do a fact-finding tour to Ithaca, NY. They recycle everything everywhere there. Even foodstuffs at the farmers market and the mall go into compost bins instead of regular trash.

Stop wasting taxpayer time passing frivilous resolutions like anti-war crap which our little city has no say over anyway.

Stop being dishonest in your intentions and making up fake programs just to give out one or two forgivable loans.

Stop doing stupid things like putting gift shops in out City Hall. (Seriously? You thought that was a good idea?)

Stop throwing $11,000 retirement parties on the taxpayer's dime. (Seriously? You thought that was a good idea?)

Basically just stop trying to "out stupid" other cities and start being actually responsible with our money, land, and rights.
Treat us like adults, make tough unpopular but necessary decisions that equally affect the rich people in Terrytown on occasion, and generally try to make this a better place to be, regardless of the state or opinion of the outside world.

Oh, and fix the god-damned traffic problems where the problems actually are!


Also, someone should really, truly start a campaign totalling millions of taxpayer dollars to tell people to stop shaking babies and other things that any competent persons should already know without a muilti-million dollar campaign, like "Just stop eating so much and get some exercise, fatty!" and "Don't walk in front of trains!"


And, since I know it is easy to criticize and not compliment: Except for maybe that one incident with the idiot who shot himself and the plane, so far it seems that you've done a pretty good job with that new local police chief.

[Jeff]

RIP Fringeware, Europa Books, Liberty Lunch, Electric Lounge, Sound Exchange, Cafe Solaire, ABCD's, Duval Discs (yay EoaE), Technophilia, the old Quack's on the Drag, GM Steakhouse on the Drag with a PA system where employees would playfully harass passersby through the window...

Many happy returns on the relatively recent birth of Torchy's Tacos, The Buenes Aires Cafe, Habana Downtown location, Eastside Pies, Flip-Happy Crepes, Epoch Coffee House, The End of an Ear, Bird's Barbershop, Big Top Candy, Craft-o-Rama, Hey Cupcake!, ColdTowne Theater, The Alamo Drafthouse at the Riz...

I hate to see old, cool places going, too, but I do think Austin continues to generate new and interesting local businesses.

I agree, but like I said, it's really sweet to have an independent book store on Congress, but that's become impossible with rent prices. Liberty Lunch was definitively Austin music venue, with its sense of being in a huge long punk rock barn, and the Electric Lounge was a swank, but kinda dirty loungy place with a couple of dark outta the way rooms and a crescent-shaped bar and lots of groovy little decorations and art, and a lot of the most interesting and experimental bands played there. Yes, Austin continues to have cool businesses, but nothing has sufficed to replace the music venues of Liberty and Electric, and there's no way to chill in the middle of downtown Austin in a cute little bookstore, and Fringeware used to be an alternative and kinda subversive style bookstore that hosted film festivals and had interesting writers show up for book signings and other events, and that was right next to Mojo's, which made it a fun central location, and although now there is MonkeyWrench, that doesn't match the... it's kinda creepy and quiet in there, and it's so far out of the way unless you're already hanging out at Epoch. And there used to be a wide diverse array of CD stores, but now it's pretty much End of an Ear, Cheapo, and Waterloo. And yes, Bob, Sound on Sound as well. I could talk for a lot longer about this, because I think there is something missing that's worth being sad about its absence, because it used to be here. If I'm gonna go see a live music show, I'm probably going to Stubb's or whatever Mercury Room is called these days, or Mohawk. Those are fine, but... nevermind, I'm seriously just going to stop talking about this.

[ratliff]

Oh, and fix the god-damned traffic problems where the problems actually are!.

My next-door neighbor is the president of my neighborhood association (which is waging a valiant but losing battle against all the McMansions going up where 70-year-old bungalows once stood). He claims that some intersections (e.g., 6th and Lamar) are deemed "failed," and no longer figure into traffic planning once so designated.

I don't vouch for the accuracy of this; I merely pass it on, and observe that maybe some traffic problems are unfixable without a behavioral change along the lines Bob has suggested.

[improvstitute]

Oh, and fix the god-damned traffic problems where the problems actually are!

For the record, SOME of the traffic issues in Cedar Park have been relieved by 183A. Cedar Park had some of thelongest delays in the metro area before 183A. As a homeowner in Cedar Park/Leander I am glad to have it. I drive it when I have a deadline to be somewhere because it really is much faster and ther are NO slow spots ever. Unfortunately, it will soon be inadequate because the growth/development in that area is unbelieveable. 45 is another story altogether. It is a clusterF*** logjam every morning at the Parmer intersection. Seems like it is causing another traffic problem, but I know that all of those cars were contributing to other traffic problems on other roads before 45 was built. 130 = worthless unless you live in Georgetown or Hutto and work at the Airport or in Bastrop. City officials must own land east of 130 and are hoping developers want to buy it at a hefty price. Nobody drives on it - it is not convenient to access - it is expensive.

Anybody have any good ideas for fixing the traffic problems on 35 and/or Mopac?

[Wesley]

Anybody have any good ideas for fixing the traffic problems on 35 and/or Mopac?

How much are you willing to spend?

[HerrHerr]

Less bird shit.

[improvstitute]

Anybody have any good ideas for fixing the traffic problems on 35 and/or Mopac?

How much are you willing to spend?

Brilliant ideas never start with a pricetag. If the idea is good enough people will spend whatever it takes. I don't think Austinites would have a problem spending more money if it is for a good solution that works for the majority of citizens. Let's start with ideas and then figure out the costs and compromises a little further down the road.

I think we should do this...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimizu_Mega-City_Pyramid

[slappywhite]

Imagine the traffic when they are actually forced (which will happen at some point) to replace the 35 upper level

that'll be a fun 3 years.

[scook]

My dream would be to have a subway system. But that's just a dream, I doubt that would ever happen here. Light rail is a slight start, I suppose.

[nadine]

Too corporatized.

Er, don't you work for a massive corporation?

Yes, and I work in Round Rock.

Keep Round Rock mildly unusual.

[kbadr]

My dream would be to have a subway system. But that's just a dream, I doubt that would ever happen here. Light rail is a slight start, I suppose.

A subway system would only work if the city had a semi-consistent grid layout. Austin doesn't have that, to say the least.