[rriojas71]

[QUOTE=Syndic;5700054]Well that children's museum looks positively bland.

I don't know about y'all, but Mueller has been a big disappointment to me, starting with the big box stores they put in there. Then, all the unnecessary parks. There's very little mixed-use. It's all basically suburbs with moderately more density. It's not like you can just walk to a corner store there and buy a gallon of milk. I'd prefer a bunch of little stores to one big H-E-B store. And the plans just keep changing.


I totally agree with you here. I love Austin and I'm glad to see they are getting some attention to their skyline, but I visited recently on a trip home to FW to see my family and I don't like what they are doing DT.

I know I'm going to get slammed on here, but I am just commenting on my impressions about my recent visit. I was initially excited about because it had been a while since I have visited Austin and I have not been since all the new skyscraper growth. I like a lot of the buildings and the effect on the skyline, but I was actually disappointed with what I saw at ground level where one can truly measure the vibrancy of it's central core.

All the new buildings seem too far apart and the areas surrounding them felt lackluster and sterile. There are too many parking lots and all they do to an urban environment is create a void between each development. It's like going to an art exhibit where each of the works of art is shown in a different venue. Just when I was starting to get excited I was interrupted by 2 or 3 parking lots. It didn't feel urban, but instead felt like a residential/office park near DT.

I really hope they start to focus more on infill in between to create more of a neighborhood feel. More small corner stores and independent grocers and drugstores to discourage people from having to drive for their goods & services. Less car centric, although that can be difficult in TX cities, but Austin has the where-with-all and the intelligent people to pull it off.