@Samson's Wig already did a good job summarizing my thoughts at a high level, but at a macro level I don’t see how any of the plans you bulleted are world-class. Quite the opposite specifally on the 1962 highway plan that would have cut a freeway right through some of Austin’s most valuable land. I can’t imagine Austin being the city it is today with a freeway parallel to Town Lake going down 1st St and then crossing the lake in the center of downtown. The hike and bike, arguably one of Austin’s crown jewels and one of its most unique features would be adjacent to a gridlocked freeway. It would be analogous to the Pierce Elevated in downtown Houston that the state is about to spend billions to remove.
One point I will fully agree with you on is Austin’s outdated land use code. But given Austin politics since forever, the inability to make any meaningful changes is a feature not a bug of Austin city government.
This idea that Austin is a world-class city is far-fetched. Is it one of America‘s great large (not mega) cities? Absolutely. It’s a long way from being considered world-class and a lot of that is centered around the fact that Austin, outside of UT and the Dells, does not have a history of philanthropy. The wealth in Austin is relatively recent and built off of tech and those folks haven’t really given back in any meaningful way (again, the Dells being the exception).