Click below for a hilarious take on the pros and cons of downtown living:
Mike Buys a Condo
http://www.youtube.com/user/downtownfacts#p/a/u/0/WokPQt56g_g
To build out or up, that is the question….
Mike Buys a Condo Let your voice be heard as a downtown stakeholder: check out Imagine Austin growth impact scenariosby Roger Cauvin Many of you know that the City of Austin has been engaging its citizens in "comprehensive planning", planning that will shape the future of the city. Staff has been holding a series of community forums to get citizen input. In the first round of community forums, Austinites voiced what they like and dislike about the city, and what kind of city they'd like Austin to be in the next few decades. The Citizens Advisory Task Force (CATF), a group of citizens appointed by the City Council, incorporated this and other input in a vision statement, which City Council eventually approved after some minor modifications. In the second round of forums, citizens created growth scenarios for Austin (land use and transportation maps of how the city could best accommodate population growth). City staff then composed four growth scenarios they deemed representative of the maps created by groups of citizens. Since then, consultants have analyzed the impact of each scenario according to various measures of sustainability, including vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and other metrics. The third round of forums will take place in September and October. Don't miss out on your opportunity to participate. Come to a community forum in your area to review the scenarios and provide your thoughts. You can also review and provide comments online. For more details on the process, and how to get involved, visit www.ImagineAustin.net, call 3-1-1, or visit your local branch library, and ask about the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan. Nominations are Now Open for the 2010 Urban Vision Awards!We as an organization are looking to recognize the very best (and worst) in Downtown Austin to help encourage a vibrant urban environment for our city and to call out some of the aspects of downtown that hinder us from getting to that vision. Also, in a new category, we would like to request nominations for DANA members/downtowners to recognize and appreciate who are working hard to make a difference in our community. It is named in honor of our friend, former board members, and legal advisor, David Weaver, who contributed greatly to this organization before sadly passing away this year. So…send a message to info@downtownaustin.org with your nominations for the three categories. All submissions will be compiled anonymously and voted on by the board on October 7th. Awards will be given out at this year's Downtown Living Tour Reception. Urban Light Award: What aspect of downtown points towards a brighter future? Urban Blight Award: What aspect of downtown, a recent project or a long lingering issue is representative of what we hope to avoid in Austin's Urban Center? David Weaver Memorial Award for Individual Service: Who is selflessly making a difference for DANA and Downtown? Become a DANA Facebook Fan Page Fan!!Hey DANA! We just recently created our Facebook Fan Page. We need you to show your support by being a fan here: DANA Facebook Fan Page . Once a fan, you will be able to stay on top of DANA news feeds and updates. As we improve our site, we will be integrating social widgets, like the Facebook "like" buttons on to our main website to give you the best experience and an opportunity to give us input onto DANA and the content it provides. Stay tuned and be a Fan!
Downtown Sidewalks Are Not BillboardsCourtesy of Jamie Lagarde
DANA is a big supporter of the annual SXSW conference. It is a great event bringing the world to Downtown Austin! As fantastic as it is, do companies have to paint their logos on downtown sidewalks? It has been 5 months since the event and we still see sidewalks like the picture here. The city should ask Whrrl to clean this up and fine anyone who does it next year.
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