AUSTIN | Projects & Construction III

[N90]

I don't bet on things but even I'm willing to be that Austin will be joining the 6 million + club (for metropolitan areas) within the next 30-40 years. San Antonio will likely get to 4-5 million and the central Texas region will have 9-10 million on its own.

[Syndic]

Originally Posted by N90

I don't bet on things but even I'm willing to be that Austin will be joining the 6 million + club (for metropolitan areas) within the next 30-40 years. San Antonio will likely get to 4-5 million and the central Texas region will have 9-10 million on its own.

That's a scary thought. I don't like the idea of that many people living in this city. I would hope we could not sprawl anymore, but instead build highrises to accommodate all these people. Highrises all over, from William Cannon to Louis Henna. No more damn sprawl. I don't want us to be like Houston or Dallas; just suburban sprawl as far as the eye can see.

[N90]

Originally Posted by Syndic

That's a scary thought. I don't like the idea of that many people living in this city. I would hope we could not sprawl anymore, but instead build highrises to accommodate all these people. Highrises all over, from William Cannon to Louis Henna. No more damn sprawl. I don't want us to be like Houston or Dallas; just suburban sprawl as far as the eye can see.

If you're worried about Austin looking like Houston or Dallas then you don't have to worry because it wont but we should take a better look at Atlanta now and start fixing some problems that it went through much earlier in our development stage. Austin by development is almost a baby version of Atlanta, strong downtown core but leap frog type of sprawl from there on out. Dallas and Houston have weak downtown cores but their sprawl is extensively continuous by development.

Austin's different then them because of the topography alone, its leading Austin to sprawl much differently. The highways/freeways are already an indication of what we need to work on, otherwise our traffic will compete with the best of them with Atlanta and Washington DC.

[Jdawgboy]

Are you sure it was KVUE, I could not find anything on their site about it. Im interested in seeing that 3D model.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

Are you sure it was KVUE, I could not find anything on their site about it. Im interested in seeing that 3D model.

Yeah, it was KVUE. I only caught a glimpse of it, but the model/rendering showed what looked like two white colored buildings that had sloped roofs.

It may have been just a conceptual design.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by N90

If you're worried about Austin looking like Houston or Dallas then you don't have to worry because it wont but we should take a better look at Atlanta now and start fixing some problems that it went through much earlier in our development stage. Austin by development is almost a baby version of Atlanta, strong downtown core but leap frog type of sprawl from there on out. Dallas and Houston have weak downtown cores but their sprawl is extensively continuous by development.

Austin's different than them because of the topography alone, its leading Austin to sprawl much differently. The highways/freeways are already an indication of what we need to work on, otherwise our traffic will compete with the best of them with Atlanta and Washington DC.

In a way I agree with this. Even with the attempt to create a secondary downtown (Domain v. Buckhead) or with a world-class event (Olympics v. F1), but we also have failed in ways where Atlanta excelled: mass transit.

[JoninATX]

Austin does resemble Atlanta in a way, only difference I see is the lack of mass transit and we don't sprawl out as much.

[N90]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

In a way I agree with this. Even with the attempt to create a secondary downtown (Domain v. Buckhead) or with a world-class event (Olympics v. F1), but we also have failed in ways where Atlanta excelled: mass transit.

Well we have to remember a few things though. MARTA began its train service in 1979 when Atlanta was a metro of 2,284,100 people which is considerably 500,000 or so more than what Austin is today. Give Austin time to get it.

Austin's topography is the main reason it sprawls more like Atlanta than either Dallas or Houston. Austin's development pattern has a lot of 'leap frog' effects and it becomes harder to build high density on the hills. The reason I bring this up is because Austin's got the same form of development as Atlanta, which is now the least dense major urban area in the world and Boston (another city with similar constraints) follows up on that. Austin in contrast is the least dense major urban area in our state, its behind Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, El Paso, and San Antonio.

Austin's future:

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by N90

Well we have to remember a few things though. MARTA began its train service in 1979 when Atlanta was a metro of 2,284,100 people which is considerably 500,000 or so more than what Austin is today. Give Austin time to get it.

Austin's topography is the main reason it sprawls more like Atlanta than either Dallas or Houston. Austin's development pattern has a lot of 'leap frog' effects and it becomes harder to build high density on the hills. The reason I bring this up is because Austin's got the same form of development as Atlanta, which is now the least dense major urban area in the world and Boston (another city with similar constraints) follows up on that. Austin in contrast is the least dense major urban area in our state, its behind Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, El Paso, and San Antonio.

Austin's future:

But Austin has more urban residents than Dallas or Houston will ever have....

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by ahealy

But Austin has more urban residents than Dallas or Houston will ever have....

Austin also has the densist neighborhood in Texas. While I can see where N90 is coming from on a metro level, Austin on a city level is becoming fairly dense and if Imagine Austin becomes the blueprint of all future growth inside the city limits, Austin will become the densist city in Texas.

[NYC2ATX]

Originally Posted by N90

Austin's future:

Maybe I missed something but I have to know, where did you find that image? Can I see it bigger?