AUSTIN | Projects & Construction II

[migol24]

Originally Posted by JGFrisco

Here's a question. Austin is significantly larger than OKC...and the radio market size is larger (I checked), but the TV market is smaller. Why?

that's basically the same thing i'm asking.

[OU812]

Originally Posted by Northcrossed

OKC is the #46 Nielsen TV market with 673,700 households. Austin is #54 with 583,700 households, and the Spurs are a 1.5 hour drive away (or 2 hour-ish commuter train ride, some day). BTW: SA is #37 with 793,500 households.

But, hey, let Cedar Park and/or Round Rock pay for a billionaire's sports arena-hotel-condo-mall-restaurant-convention center-water park-pipe dream...it's their bond rating at risk, not mine.

Now, if someone will mention Austin not having an amusement park we can reprise that classic topic too.

What is Green Bay's TV market like? I realize they can sustain a pro team because the Packers have been there like forever and their fans are rabid like UT football here. But man Green Bay is alot smaller than Austin, no? What about Portland OR? They have the TrailBlazers. Umm lets see, Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills (who might be moving to Toronto actually).

Sooner or later Austin will have a team. I would venture to say within the next 20 years at least. I wouldn't be surprised if Michael Dell buys a pro team someday. By the way, I always thought that the intersection of 290/183 would be a perfect place for a sports stadium.

Speaking of amusement parks, yeah that will eventually arrive someday too. The city of Austin is still just a child, maybe pre-teen. We have ALOT of growth coming. Maybe someone can convince Disney to build a park here. I mean East coast and West coast has one. What about the 3rd coast? I bet Houston would be a more likely place though.

[OU812]

Originally Posted by hookem

Which is why any stadium for pro sports would probably end up in Cedar Park or Round Rock.

That would be a shame. East Austin has sooo much potential. It's still mostly undeveloped.

[OU812]

Originally Posted by crewer

I was recently in both Bangkok and Tokyo, and though they have skylines, I didn't find them to be as impressive as Hong Kong's skyline, which is especially dramatic since the skyscrapers are built directly on surrounding hills/mountains.

Tokyo and Bangkok, though densely populated, sprawl everywhere, but the skyscrapers, unlike NYC, are not as concentrated.

Bangkok went through a huge building boom in the late 90's, but was hit hard during an economic downturn. Amazingly enough, you can still see abandoned skyscrapers that were never completed throughout the city.

Yeah actually Hong Kong (not Bangkok) is what I meant. THAT'S the place with all the skyscrapers alongside the mountains... Beautiful stuff.. I believe they used to have an airport that was right in the middle of city and landings over the mountains/skyline were treacherous. Seen lots of cool YouTube video of it.

[breathesgelatin]

Originally Posted by OU812

Speaking of amusement parks, yeah that will eventually arrive someday too. The city of Austin is still just a child, maybe pre-teen. We have ALOT of growth coming. Maybe someone can convince Disney to build a park here. I mean East coast and West coast has one. What about the 3rd coast? I bet Houston would be a more likely place though.

Dear God. Don't get me wrong - I actually love amusement parks, but a Disney one? In Austin? God forbid.

[KevinFromTexas]

From 5/17.

Nearly topped out. Just the mechanical penthouse frame.






It's funny, they looked to be about the same height because of the angle, but The Austonian is about 100 feet taller.








5/18.









































Very top of the Capitol Tower with the new lights.

[KevinFromTexas]

Disney? No thanks. The problem is that things like pro sports and amusement parks don't "fit" Austin. Neither of those are sustainable either. Amusement parks are have been having a hard time for years, and putting one in Austin doesn't make sense with San Antonio being so close by. The same thing goes for pro sports. It's too expensive, they'll just be asking for more money, doing poorly and will eventually move out and leave a huge empty building unsuitable for any other purpose. They're a waste of land really.

[nixcity]

Thanks for sharing the pics Kevin, I especially like the first two and all of the night shots. I have always thought the only real fit for pro sports here would be soccer, the MLS. But that league has to be very careful about it's expansion.

[Northcrossed]

Originally Posted by migol24

i'm not even sure how that figure adds up. i'm not too big on the idea myself of having a professional franchise team... (although it kinda would be cool). i'm just comparing population to households how those numbers are figured. oklahoma has an estimated pop. of 537,734 according to wikipedia, but then there are over 600,000 households?? i mean that would mean every person has a house... and some others have more than one?? am i missing something? am i that stupid here?

austin has an estimated pop. of 743,074. how does austin have lesser households?

even if you went by metropolitan pop. austin beats it 1.6 mill to 1.2 mill. not to mention considering that austin has been the second largest growing metro population in the nation, after raleigh, nc. that's according to forbes.com, wikipedia, and census bureau.

btw, i always take an hour to get to san antonio when i drive there.

TV DMAs (Nielsen's term) are not cities. A DMA often includes many cities (especially suburbs), and may include multiple radio markets as well. The OKC DMA is most of Oklahoma, excluding Tulsa and a few counties in the Ardmore-Ada, and Wichita Falls-Lawton DMAs (I'm working from memory here so cut me some slack...I quit the ad business in the last millennium).

My figures were Nielsen's from a couple of years ago. Here is the same (via the TV Bureau's website) for the current TV season all on one page:

http://www.tvb.org/rcentral/markettrack/us_hh_by_dma.asp

The numbers are a little higher now, but the relative rankings are the same.

And Green Bay has had the Packers since 1919, decades before the beer commercial was invented.

[jowens]

Love the Pics Kevin!

[KevinFromTexas]

Thanks guys.

You can see the rest at the link below:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=169519

[migol24]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

From 5/17.
[/img]

i'm just wondering how crowded this spot will be when the greenwater treatment project will be completed. will definitely balance out the skyline. right now it already looks beautiful. btw, it's my favorite picture.

[hookem]

Originally Posted by migol24

i'm just wondering how crowded this spot will be when the greenwater treatment project will be completed. will definitely balance out the skyline. right now it already looks beautiful. btw, it's my favorite picture.

Even sooner, the W will add a huge effect to that particular view...

Fantastic pics Kevin. It's amazing to look at a pic like the one below, and see how 100 Congress (a staple of our skyline for 2 decades) is just completely dominated by the new buildings...

[OU812]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Disney? No thanks. The problem is that things like pro sports and amusement parks don't "fit" Austin. Neither of those are sustainable either. Amusement parks are have been having a hard time for years, and putting one in Austin doesn't make sense with San Antonio being so close by. The same thing goes for pro sports. It's too expensive, they'll just be asking for more money, doing poorly and will eventually move out and leave a huge empty building unsuitable for any other purpose. They're a waste of land really.

Well you're probably thinking in terms of the here and now. I'm more referring to like 20 years from now. Sorry I'm always thinking big picture and long term. Truth is, no one knows what will be a "fit" for Austin 2+ decades from now.

By the way, kind of weird how I measure things in terms of years or decades. But I think it has something to do with getting older. Time really seems to just fly by. I remember when I was younger everything was measured in weeks or months. Now 2, 3, 5 years just flies and I don't seem to notice it as much.

[priller]

Really nice photos, Kevin. Love the night shots. I noticed the lights on at the Spring myself last night. Looking good!

[Scottolini]

Doesn't fit in with Austin? Maybe not you or your family or friends. You can't speak for the city as a whole.

There are tons of people around here who could care less about UT athletics, but are still sports fans.

And maybe you don't like roller-coasters, or don't mind driving 1 1/2 hours to Fiesta Texas, but a lot of people, especially families would love to have an amusement park in Austin.

When, or if these things arrive they will probably end up in Williamson County, just like the Express and Stars.

[Scottolini]

Originally Posted by OU812

What is Green Bay's TV market like? I realize they can sustain a pro team because the Packers have been there like forever and their fans are rabid like UT football here. But man Green Bay is alot smaller than Austin, no? What about Portland OR? They have the TrailBlazers. Umm lets see, Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills (who might be moving to Toronto actually).

And Memphis, Nashville, Charlotte, Orlando, Raleigh, Columbus, New Orleans, Salt Lake City....

[JGFrisco]

With regard to Green Bay, they play in the city but much of their fanbase comes from Milwaukee, which isn't far.

[Scottolini]

And Milwaukee is yet another smaller city and metro than Austin which has two major league teams, three if you count the Packers.

[zx14]

Starting on floor 46 today. From the mopac bridge it looks to be and is the same height as frost. To see it in person is really impressive. Cant wait to see it topped out at the end of the summer. Also when you rent a boat you can see the AUSTONIAN just now poking up above the trees at zilker park.