Quote:
Originally Posted by starvinggryphon
You mean the way you celebrate, condone and encourage Austin's similar rape of the Hill Country?  |
Well, I was going to make a post, but Mozilla crashed so I lost what I was going to post.
But as I recall, one of the reasons arbeiter left Austin was that he didn't like the sprawl of Texas. And believe me, I doubt he condones sprawl in the Hill Country, (near Austin or not). I don't either. As someone who loves nature, loves to hike, bike and rock climb, it angers me. I'm most upset about the Hill Country Galleria on Texas 71 in Bee Caves in Southwestern Travis County. My brother and I rock climb in Reimer's Ranch Park. This was a family owned ranch that had been in the family since the 1880s. They sold the ranch to Travis County so that it could be turned into a park. It's a 2,500 acre park in a very remote area of the county. I can't imagine why anyone would want to live that far out. We live 7 miles from downtown, driving distance, (5 miels as the crow flies). It takes us no less than 35 minutes to get to Reimer's Ranch. It's at least 10 miles from Texas 71 and there is NO development out there. Just ranch land. The road winds and turns and goes up and down the hills. The park itself is incredibly beautiful. You'd never guess that such a place exists in Central Texas. As you enter the park you drive down a 1 mile road which goes way up on a hill then back down. The views are incredible. Packsaddle Mountain which is a 1,500 foot in elevation mountain, (rises 600 feet above the area), is located in Llano County some 25 miles away, and you can see it from the park. There's hiking, biking, swimming in the Pedernales River and rock climbing on the cliffs which are up to 100 feet tall. As you take the trail down into the hiking area and rock climbing it drops in elevation by about 50 feet. There are overhanging cliffs and caves. Cypress trees, and different mosses. The temperature there drops 25 degrees. There's a creek, and a waterfall. In the caves which are just cliff overhangs, there are stalactites. The place is truly special. The 2003 version of The Alamo was filmed on the ranch across the river and the set is still there.
Travis County's page for Reimer's Ranch Park.
http://www.co.travis.tx.us/tnr/parks/reimers_ranch.asp
Sorry for the rant, but this is the kind of stuff that deserves protection. People in Austin and San Antonio are truly lucky that we live in such a stunningly beautiful region like Central and South Texas. We shouldn't take it for granted. Anyway, this thread is a compilation thread, some chit chat about sprawl is fine, but I don't think sirkingwilliam wanted it to deviate from the focus of the projects, and rightly so, it should stick to that subject.