In 1978, journalists Bruce Hight and David Frink collaborated on seven stories in the Austin American-Statesman, published every day for seven days between May 8 – 14. The title of the series was “Downtown: On the Brink,” and this week of warnings told the story of a declining downtown Austin — highlighting both the early... ...
Can Austin’s Bike-Sharing Go Dockless Without the Entire City Losing Its Mind?
Earlier this month, a former mayor of San Luis Obispo, California, wrote a letter to the editor of that town’s newspaper in which he felt it perfectly acceptable and cool to describe a proposed bikeway as a “gigantic urban rape.” “Yes, rape!” Ken Schwartz wrote before graciously elaborating, “No other word would be proper. The rape will not... ...
Uptown’s Latest Apartment Pitch Receives Mixed Reactions From Neighbors
By a narrow margin, Lincoln Property Company secured the support last week of the Oak Lawn Committee for a mid-rise, high-density residential project adjacent to the Katy Trail in Uptown . The 16-to-14 committee vote gives this very well-financed developer the customary neighborhood support expected from the City Plan Commission, at least once the case gets... ...
Cambridge Tower, a Midcentury Milestone in Downtown Austin, Seeks National Historic Recognition
Cambridge Tower, a 15-story residential building at 1801 Lavaca Street near West Campus, was downtown Austin’s tallest apartment tower when it first opened in 1965. Though you might not give the building much thought now, the innovations of its time were significant — with an assortment of amenities for its residents including restaurants on the... ...
Downtown Austin’s Most Mysterious Building Proposals, Mapped
Here’s a bold prediction for you — we’re going to get more residential towers in downtown Austin. When you follow this stuff, sometimes you come across buildings in the early stages of development that aren’t even far enough along in their design process for plans to exist, and those are the hard ones to write... ...