Quote:
Originally Posted by Syndic
I'm tired of this "Mueller is not urban" conversation. Who cares if it's urban? Seriously. That doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. Plenty of suburban places are interesting. Most Austinites don't live and work in a walkable neighborhood. If you can't get over the fact that it's not urban, then don't visit it. It's that simple. But most Austinites grew up in suburbia, so we can mentally handle a little non-urbanism.
People just bash Mueller for cool points. Fresh Plus is suburban compared to many places in America. But you still like it, don't you?
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I agree with M1ek that this stuff matters. It's important for Mueller and can serve as a model for the city. He's right on all those points.
I agree that the Mueller HEB is essentially a suburban model - it's a single use building with a large setback, lots of surface parking in the front, etc. none of those things are disputable.
That being said there is a pretty good approach as I've shown for pedestrians and cyclists from Mueller. It goes via Berkman to Garcia and is fronted by business, ultimately on both sides of the road (Mueller is inchoate) and will provide a pleasant and engading approach for pedestrians and cyclists.
I also greatly dispute is assessment that the rest of Mueller is traditional suburban stock, it is not, not by a long shot. The neighborhood is of a kind that cannot be built anywhere else in Austin. And for all the charms of Clarksville and Hyde Park if they were destroyed by a meteorite you could not rebuild them under existing codes, not even close. At best they would look something like Allandale. And likely more like Circle C.
Finally, the core of Mueller has yet to be built. But they already started on the structured parking for town center - a very good sign. The plans for the rest of Mueller are very New Urban and I expect great things from it.
So my responses are to provide a little perspective and understanding that M1ek's one-side and harsh attacks simply fail to address.
Anyway, looks like there's been some progress since last photo updates, I'll try to take some pics today.
But does this stuff matter? On this point I'm in 100% agreement with M1ek, it matters a great deal.
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