AUSTIN | Misc. Discussions - No Politics

[ohhey]

Seattle and Boston have much more interesting views than Austin would.

[ahealy]

Not to steer more off topic, but Austin lacking some form of a public observation deck makes me so mad.

We're definitely in a place now where only the upper class/connected can really enjoy the city from a higher perspective. I'm not saying tickets for Tower of the Americas are cheap, but when you go to SA you'll see an array of folks enjoying the view and admiring architecture--some visit the bar up there on a regular basis.

I just hope we can reconnect tourists and locals alike to some elevated point for appreciation of this beautiful city. Wilson would be awesome for that, but yeah, way too narrow for individual elevator bays. Let's just continue the TX tradition and build an observation tower here too (yes I am counting spindle-top in Houston).

Perhaps we can stick out more and do something like Tokyo Tower:

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Tower

[Echostatic]

I'm on PEC in a neighborhood with underground lines, so we've been up the whole time. But about half our crepe myrtle and a big branch off the oak have cracked off.

[Lobotomizer]

Doug Sahm Hill in Butler Park would be a great location for an observation tower imo.

It will never happen, but I think it is an optimal location.

[We vs us]

I'm in northwest Austin, in Rattan Creek/Millwood. Power's been out since 6pm yesterday, but the tree destruction is just immense. So many mature trees just split right down the center. I'm really afraid our hood will never fully recover

I drove downtown to work today, and honestly north and central Austin are looking fairly good. Slightly less ice and whole lot less tree slaughter, at least that I could see.

[drummer]

Sorry to hear about you guys without power. I hope it gets resolved quickly. We're with City of Georgetown for electricity and have had power the whole time - though it flickered on and off a few times. I know that a lot of other folks in Georgetown have lost power, but I don't know what utility they're with. Lots of the folks I've heard about are down south of Inner Loop going toward 1431 adn the Round Rock border. We did lose internet for about half a day yesterday, but that just gave me a chance to take a break from work, so I didn't mind.

Fortunately, I trimmed our big oak tree last weekend, but I did end up sticking some 2x4s out to hold up some of the larger spans because we certainly don't want to lose the shade. All the other trees are around a year old and don't have leaves to collect all the ice, so we're in good shape there. My neighbor lost about half of his giant live oak tree in the front yard. Several others in our neighborhood have significant limb losses - didn't see any damage though on my drive this morning.

[EagerTurnip]

Originally Posted by Lobotomizer

Doug Sahm Hill in Butler Park would be a great location for an observation tower imo.

It will never happen, but I think it is an optimal location.

When I have family or friends visiting for the first time, I like taking them to get bbq at Terry Black's and then walking to this hill to show them the great view of downtown.

[the Genral]

We have underground electric so we didn't lose power but most if not all my trees suffered extreme damage. Trees I personally planted 25 years ago. I'm going to clear what I can but I'm going to have to hire someone to get the higher branches and haul off the mess.

[austlar1]

Southwest Austin got slammed. Major tree damage in almost every yard. Power has been out in large parts of the area since last night.

[ArchGuy1]

Originally Posted by ahealy

Not to steer more off topic, but Austin lacking some form of a public observation deck makes me so mad.

We're definitely in a place now where only the upper class/connected can really enjoy the city from a higher perspective. I'm not saying tickets for Tower of the Americas are cheap, but when you go to SA you'll see an array of folks enjoying the view and admiring architecture--some visit the bar up there on a regular basis.

I just hope we can reconnect tourists and locals alike to some elevated point for appreciation of this beautiful city. Wilson would be awesome for that, but yeah, way too narrow for individual elevator bays. Let's just continue the TX tradition and build an observation tower here too (yes I am counting spindle-top in Houston).

Perhaps we can stick out more and do something like Tokyo Tower:

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Tower

The Eureka Tower in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Sapphire Tower in Istanbul, Palm Tower in Dubai, and the Q1 in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia have observation decks open to the public despite being purely residential otherwise. Shows you why the Wilson Tower should have had an observation deck open to the public. Also, Waterline would have been a good building for an observation deck as well.

[AusTex]

Allendale in North Central Austin has had power but we too have had major tree damage. Split live oak trees blocking Shoal Creek Blvd, total collapse of the top of other trees, and even small trees taking the main leader out. Just a mess everywhere. City crews are out cleaning up the mess.

[Urbannizer]

We have four large Oak trees that not only span over the house and street but also stand next to one another in our backyard. Very fortunate to only experience minor damage (small limbs down here and there). The sudden cold around Christmas shocked our tallest Palm. I’d be surprised if it comes back, we’re going to wait and see till late Spring before we cut it down.

No power lost and other trees in the neighborhood also faired well compared to the rest of town. We have friends staying over-their power is still out in North Loop and 360 near 2222.

[clubtokyo]

I love the Tokyo Tower

[ArchGuy1]

Originally Posted by ohhey

Seattle and Boston have much more interesting views than Austin would.

Why do Seattle, Boston, New York City, and Chicago have more interesting views that what would be seen in Austin.

[lzppjb]

There's some damage in my 'hood in Kyle. I have 2 oaks and one of them lost 3 or 4 limbs, but doesn't look to have harmed the trunk. They are about 20 year old trees.

Neighbor's tree has a split trunk now. Awful.

[futuresooner]

The really terrible part is that a safe rule of thumb is that if the total loss of crown is 30% or greater, the tree just needs to come down because it'll never recover fully and will be exponentially more likely to die in the near-term.

This is a truly devastating storm for a large portion of the urban Austin area tree canopy and will have negative impacts right away. There is likely to be a minor, but noticeable, increase in the urban heat island and overall energy consumption by homes from the loss of shade.

[ArchGuy1]

Originally Posted by ahealy

Yes. I mean living there. I have so many transplant clients who live dt that have moved from the Bay Area. Top levels are apartments, not condo last I checked??

The John Hancock Center in Chicago has an observation deck open to the public near the top despite being a mixed use office and residential skyscraper. The Shard in London, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and the Lotte World Tower in Seoul have sky high observation decks despite the fact that all of those buildings are mixed use apartment, hotel, and office buildings. Makes me wish Sixth & Guadeloupe and Waterline both had observation decks open to the public on their top floors.

[SproutingTowers]

I have 10 Oak trees and some have serious limbs broken. On same PEC circuit as Seton Southwest so did not lose power. Tree guys coming tomorrow hoping to salvage one with a tree swing.

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by futuresooner

There is likely to be a minor, but noticeable, increase in the urban heat island and overall energy consumption by homes from the loss of shade.

The damage is devastating - no doubt. However, I don't think people will really notice (physically). It will be more psychological than anything else.

Any scientific affirmation of temperature (heat island) change would be significantly small - and temporary. The vast majority of trees are still there - some with fewer limbs and branches.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

The damage is devastating - no doubt. However, I don't think people will really notice (physically). It will be more psychological than anything else.

Any scientific affirmation of temperature (heat island) change would be significantly small - and temporary. The vast majority of trees are still there - some with fewer limbs and branches.

I don't know. I've read commentary from arborists that's pretty grim. If something like over 30% of the canopy comes down, the damage is deep enough that the tree becomes a future danger when the next or the next or the next storm comes through. That 30% is enough to compromise the entire tree.

And honestly that's my fear -- that in addition to the obviously destroyed trees, we have a second tranche that seem fine enough, but that in actuality need to come down because they're going to be a danger in the future. It won't be throughout the entire city, IMO, but certain neighborhoods (like mine) will see wholesale transformation.