Posted Nov 14, 2007, 4:23 AM
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Meh
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Austin,TX<-->Dripping Springs,TX<-->Birmingham, AL<-->Warm Springs,GA
Posts: 57,205
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I watched the Fox7 segment tonight on downtown. Tonight they focused on traffic. First off, I thought the segment was not in depth enough. They weren't really saying anything informative. Also I got the feeling they were more against highrise projects, saying that traffic has increased. They even took a flight with APD in their chopper. They asked the pilot if he's noticed more traffic in and around downtown over the past few years. He said, yes. Well duh, Austin is growing. I'd be more shocked to hear that traffic has decreased with the way the city has grown. Also I got the feeling the pilot was speaking more about traffic on I-35, which of course no doubt is affected by downtown's population/development and activities, but I-35 serves not just Austin, but every city from Laredo, Texas to Duluth, Minnesota, and even continues onward in Mexico and Canada with their highway system.
They also interviewed the mayor and talked about how many times a week he actually walks to work. The mayor of course lives downtown at the Austin City Lofts. They set up a camera across the street and recorded cars coming and going from the building. The mayor was seen leaving. Mayor Wynn said he walks to work at least 3 days a week, but drives to work every once in a while when he has errands to run, such as taking the kids to school. In all, they counted 25 cars coming and going from the Austin City Lofts. I forget who they had interviewed, but the guy said "That's 25 more cars in downtown making trips that wouldn't have been there before the building opened." I couldn't believe the stupidity of that comment.
Let's look at the numbers. 25 cars coming and going in one day. The building has 82 units. So let's consider that there's only 2 people living in each unit, only two adults of the age to drive. That gives you a possible 164 cars coming and going, and 246 if there's at least one teenager of the driving age. Instead, there were only 25. That's not too shabby. Walk up and down a suburban neighborhood, or even one here in the city, but not in a truly urban environment and watch to see how many cars come and go from 82 houses. I betcha the number is much higher than 25, in fact may even be triple or even quadruple or more the 82 number, since you'd have to imagine teenager drivers would also have a car. Let's look at that. 82 houses. Two parents with cars. Lets say they have 3 children with cars of the driving age also. That would be as many as 410 car trips a day. Instead, in downtown there's as few as 25.
They interviewed a woman who also had a unit in Austin City Lofts. She said she walks a lot. She said she's saved a lot of money on gas. Just imagine living in a neighborhood dense enough, and not even just dense, but having everything you need within walking distance, or within reach of public transportation, and so convenient that a car would be unnecessary. No car payments, no insurance, no inspection fees, no gas bills and no repairs.
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That'd be nice!
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