Quote:
Originally Posted by austlar1
I really think you guys are missing the point here. The hotels want the sky-bridges (and I am guessing the convention center also wants the sky-bridges) because it provides more contiguous convention exhibit and meeting room space and makes the venues more attractive to large conventions. They might try to sell it to the local public as a means of reducing excess pedestrian traffic in congested areas, but the real attraction for the hotels and the convention attendee is direct access to the various venues. These two sky-bridges are not going to have any kind of major negative impact on overall street level interaction for visitors. People want to come to Austin for all the reasons mentioned already in this thread, and they will venture out in their free time for food, entertainment, shopping, etc. The Marriott is too far away to get in on the sky-bridge action, at least that is the case with the present configuration of the convention center. The Fairmount and Hilton are certainly appropriate candidates for this amenity.
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Yes, this is absolutely also correct. But it's not as easy to argue on that ground, because a dangerously large chunk of the electorate don't believe that expanding convention business is a proper place to expend city dollars or political capital.