Watson Wire: Celebrating Austin’s Living Room
Downtown Austin used to be pretty dead. It had no energy, no vibrance and – after the bankers, lawyers and state employees went home at the end of the day – almost no people.
?
Breathing new life into downtown became the mission of the Downtown Austin Alliance, and, Wednesday night, we celebrated 30 years of the DAA and the amazing transformation of downtown during that time.
?
Downtown matters. It’s the living room of our community. It’s how we present ourselves to the world. And now we present to the world a place that’s dynamic, interesting, distinctive and full of spirit and possibilities – just like the people of Austin.
?
Thirty years ago, the Austin City Council held meetings in the retrofitted old Calcasieu Lumber Company building, which had been serving as temporary chambers for a very long time. And when I was elected Mayor the first time around in 1997, we were still operating out of that “temporary” space.
?
For yesterday’s City Council meeting, we convened in our permanent chambers in City Hall, in the heart of the Second Street District. The vision for the District stemmed from a recommendation by The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team (R/UDAT) when they first came to Austin in 1991. The creation of the Downtown Austin Alliance was also a R/UDAT recommendation.
?
领英推荐
I brought R/UDAT back to revisit their recommendations in 1997 because we hadn’t made much progress on realizing the vision for a vibrant downtown with a mix of uses, including residential. Experts had told us that we needed more retail downtown before private developers would build housing, and private developers were hesitant to build without retail. We forged ahead to prove up the concept and created a public-private partnership with Post Properties to build a 200-unit residential project near Seaholm. The units leased up faster than anyone expected, and demand took off. Now, more than 14,000 residents live downtown.
?
When Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) wanted to build a sprawling suburban campus in #Austin directly over the aquifer, we lured them away with a few of the virtually dormant blocks the city had purchased back in the early 1970s. That deal helped pay for our current City Hall.
?
You see, there were obstacles and naysayers— like there always are— but once we laid out the vision of what downtown could be, the creativity of Austinites took over.
?
Downtown is now much more than just a #business center. It’s a place that captivates, entertains, and engages folks.
?
It’s a special place, and I love to see people enjoying it every day.
Sales Representative at Elliott Electric Supply
1 年Living room needs a cleaning ??
Broker, owner - BlueStone Partners
1 年Appreciate Mayor Watson highlighting ONE CONGRESS PLAZA! Naming it "one-eleven," we, at Vantage Companies, developed the corner of 1st & Congress, alongside much more experienced peers who developed 100 Congress, 98 San Jacinto (Four Seasons) & 301 Congress. During Austin's CBD 1980's growth, we 2X'd Austin's CBD Class A office market. Soon after, Stuart Shaw & his team shaped the West District, introducing Class A multifamily homes, top retailers & food. Austin has benefitted from amazing & creative growth ever since - now spanning Town Lake to the future 305 South Congress. William D. Gump @sandygottesman @ronnylandry #austinrealestate #lincolnpropertycompany, #trammelcrowcompany, #bonnercarrington, #endeavorrealestategroup
Immersive Newsroom Coach and Strategist + Business and Nonprofit Media Marketing and Crisis Communications.
1 年This is a rose-colored view of our downtown if I've ever read one. You fail to recognize the enormous price we've paid for this brand new "living room" we have today. The furniture turned out be really expensive. I'm no nay-sayer, downtown certainly is vital and can be engaging. It is also a place where we have lost many (most?) of our legacy cultural venues, be they musical, arts, or retail. Change is not bad as long as it is well-planned. While you and the DAA promoted huge corporate businesses and developers downtown, you failed to ensure that the infrastructure to support them kept up and you failed to protect the things that made Austin, Austin. Our traffic issues, perhaps worst in the country, are directly associated with downtown growth. Those monster, largest in Texas skyscrapers have turned our skyline into something resembling Miami, and has come at the expense of traffic, cost-of-living, failed infrastructure and most dearly, the loss of cultural identity that once made Austin weird and now makes it just another glossy downtown replicated all over the U.S. Growth is necessary, downtown is important. In Austin, we deserved something better planned, better maintained, and less costly to our daily lives.