What the fuck is wrong with you, Austin?

[Samson's Wig 3,191]

I like roundabouts and have no issue with the one at 51st.  It's not the best setup, but it's better than before.  It will probably feel like you're risking your life when using it for another generation before Austinites learn how to use it, though.  Lots of fuckery every time I go through it.  To be fair, that's the case at almost every intersection in this town lately.

Some people never hear of a modern urban planning concept they don't like.  Sometimes they're right.  Often they're just distracted by new shiny things and can be easily taken advantage of. This city is too easily distracted by new shiny ideas, and we waste an insane amount of money on projects that add zero value but feel good because they tickle the right ideological bone.   That roundabout at 51st is not one of those things.  Kudos are due when they're due.

 

 

[jimmyjazz 45,888]

36 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Old men who don’t use it much hate change so there’s that.

Jeez, you don't have to get personal.

[Armybrat 40,822]

4 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

I can see that. Another major improvement they could make to throughput would be to replace all the controlled intersections between MoPac and Lamar with traffic circles and build a roundabout at Lamar and Barton Springs. Basically peak speed comes down, but throughput goes way, way up and congestion gets smoothed out by eliminating backups at timed stops.
And BTW traffic engineers know this, and it’s cheaper than most of the alternatives, but the political blowback would be too intense and nobody wants to take it on. 

A roundabout at Lamar & Barton Springs?

 

Edited February 3 by Armybrat

[Armybrat 40,822]

But I like the two roundabouts we use frequently in Round Rock…

It’s easier to get to the donut shop.

 

Edited February 3 by Armybrat

[Bozo_Casanova 26,437]

33 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

Some people never hear of a modern urban planning concept they don't like.  Sometimes they're right.  Often they're just distracted by new shiny things and can be easily taken advantage of. This city is too easily distracted by new shiny ideas,

I’m not an urbanist but come on man. New Ideas? This city doesn’t want new ideas. People here want a Time Machine to take them back to the day they moved here. We still *haven’t started* priority program #1 of our 2012 comprehensive plan. Literally nothing we do or try to do is new or unproven. We choose not to do anything different. Don’t confuse different or scaling up with novel. We can’t even accept 30 year old best practices.

[Orange&White 5,522]

You can always tell when bozo is on his high horse when he starts accusing everyone that disagrees with him of being Todd and Bob fans.

[Bozo_Casanova 26,437]

Edit- none of this matters btw. The city is fuckef. We had a window and we blew it. Different reasons but We’ll be Detroit on the Colorado in 40 years or so. 

[Armybrat 40,822]

8 minutes ago, Orange&White said:

You can always tell when bozo is on his high horse when he starts accusing everyone that disagrees with him of being Todd and Bob fans.

People still listen to talk radio?

[HenryJames 66,038]

30 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

We’ll be Detroit on the Colorado in 40 years or so. 

Except Detroit has water.

[Bozo_Casanova 26,437]

53 minutes ago, Orange&White said:

Todd and Bob

Bob? What happened to Donn Pryor? Too woke?

[BurntEyes 5,958]

1 hour ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Edit- none of this matters btw. The city is fuckef. We had a window and we blew it. Different reasons but We’ll be Detroit on the Colorado in 40 years or so. 

I would really be interested in you saying the top 3-4 biggest mistakes in order of severity.

I've already moved out and on from Austin. I have my own list, but it's all personal shit. Really would like to hear, from a City level perspective, how you think Austin missed.

[MissingInAction 25,012]

I see austin becoming a collection of Burroughs due to people just not being able to get more than 2 miles from home due to the fuckery. 

It's kind of that way already with South Lamar/congress, Burnet road, Mueller, Domain, etc.

The dumbest shit about narrowing lanes is it will restrict fire trucks and ambulances. People will die unnecessarily because of that stupid shit.

Edited February 3 by MissingInAction

[HenryJames 66,038]

8 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

I see austin becoming a collection of Burroughs due to people just not being able to get more than 2 miles from home due to the fuckery. 

I want to live in William S.

[YGIFS 19,449]

"Detroit on the Colorado".  Good restaurant name.  Our patrons will eventually die of poisoning.  But we could have a helluva run for the next 15 years prior to...

[Cap33 384]

3 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

I’m not an urbanist but come on man. New Ideas? This city doesn’t want new ideas. People here want a Time Machine to take them back to the day they moved here. We still *haven’t started* priority program #1 of our 2012 comprehensive plan. Literally nothing we do or try to do is new or unproven. We choose not to do anything different. Don’t confuse different or scaling up with novel. We can’t even accept 30 year old best practices.

The city would get a lot more buy in if they'd actually listen to what the people have to say instead of charging ahead with stupid shit and then telling us that we don't know what we're talking about. 

[Bozo_Casanova 26,437]

1 hour ago, Cap33 said:

The city would get a lot more buy in if they'd actually listen to what the people have to say instead of charging ahead with stupid shit and then telling us that we don't know what we're talking about. 

Who are these people and when do they show up? I’m done with all of it forever, but over the last two decades I spent a lot of time around city hall.  Council, staff and B&Cs only really hear from the same 300-400 people who bother to put time into giving input, again and again. 

Now don’t get me wrong- that number includes some of the best but also nearly all the worst people in the city- grifters and morons make sure and get a word in on everything.

That said, for all its many imperfections, this city’s government is nothing if not accessible to basically anybody. Basically anybody with enough patience and persistence can get heard by the person or group of their choice. So the good news is that If you want to matter as much as a lunatic or moron with an axe to grind, you can! Look at the Council- Do these people seem like some kind of cloistered elite to you? The barriers to entry are LOW.
But if “the people” don’t show up, they really shouldn’t be surprised when they don’t think they want, however uninformed or misguided it is. 

Edited February 3 by Bozo_Casanova

[Cap33 384]

10 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Who are these people and when do they show up?

I can't speak for others, but I answer surveys about planned projects, show up to planning meetings (though not full blown council meetings -- talk about a magnet for the best and worst), and send feedback to the city departments and my councilwoman. Do you know how many times a plan has been modified or even slowed down for more review based on neighborhood feedback? Zero. Guess how many times I've even gotten a response to very neighborhood specific concerns I've shared? Zero.

As has been discussed on this thread previously, it feels like the city hires consultants who are here for about 10 minutes, then they look at a street map and say, "here's how we're going to improve!" If people who actually live in the area have a different opinion, we're labeled NIMBYs or obstructionists or worse.

I agree with you that we've missed the best window to really improve, and I bet we agree on a lot more. The city can't make everyone happy. I get that. I just wish that someone would listen to our very local perspectives and input before finalizing a plan and then complaining that we don't appreciate the effort. 

[Deej 76,755]

57 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Who are these people and when do they show up?

Since they've made it damn near impossible to drive into downtown and park, never. 

Should have put city hall somewhere other than one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in town.

.

[CooterBrown 18,003]

The lane narrowing on 31st and shoal creek right by the school is the stupidest fucking thing in the history of the world. Between the new super wide bike lanes and walk lane and the cars parked on the road it’s basically one lane that cars going opposite directions are left to fight over. Turned a peaceful little street into thunder dome every weekday morning. I would be livid if I lived on that street.

In my hood, they recently narrowed a residential street (Green Haven) that hits Greenlawn. For just 10 feet the curb now juts out 5 feet narrower at the intersection for no reason. I’m constantly seeing cars having to wait to turn because only one car at a time fits through that bottleneck.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11,819]

56 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

In my hood, they recently narrowed a residential street (Green Haven) that hits Greenlawn. For just 10 feet the curb now juts out 5 feet narrower at the intersection for no reason. I’m constantly seeing cars having to wait to turn because only one car at a time fits through that bottleneck.

Same here off Slaughter between Menchaca and Brodie.  Most the side street entrances were narrowed so much that fire trucks and school buses run over the curbs.  You have to almost come to a complete stop on slaughter to turn right onto any of these streets.  Craziness in the name of slowing down traffic on Slaughter.

[Guest]

Word on Reddit is that someone was just murdered in the Fiesta parking lot.

As for that one on February 1st, look at this tragic shit:

"On Thursday, February 1, 2024 at approximately 12:02 a.m., Austin Police Department (APD) officers responded to a gun call at 4200 S IH 35 at the Super 8 Motel. The caller stated that her friend, later identified as Rahsaan Dobbins, was in trouble and there were males on scene with guns. As officers arrived, they heard gunshots. Officers found that Dobbins, who was nude, had just shot another man on the Motel 8 grounds. The officers gave commands to Dobbins, who was still holding the gun. Dobbins complied and was taken into custody. The victim was identified as Warnero Young. EMS attempted life saving measures but Young was pronounced deceased on scene.
 
"Homicide detectives and crimes scene specialists responded to process the scene. Preliminary investigation revealed that Dobbins was in a state of paranoia. Dobbins opened his motel room door and shot and killed Young, who happened to be on the stairs of the motel. Dobbins admitted he did not know Young."

Looked up the victim's name -- a sales supervisor at Office Depot from Seguin. Just made the mistake of staying at a hotel where this guy was. What a fucking shame.

 

[Armybrat 40,822]

17 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

I see austin becoming a collection of Burroughs due to people just not being able to get more than 2 miles from home due to the fuckery. 

It's kind of that way already with South Lamar/congress, Burnet road, Mueller, Domain, etc.

The dumbest shit about narrowing lanes is it will restrict fire trucks and ambulances. People will die unnecessarily because of that stupid shit.

13 years ago the old style speed bumps on Morrow up in Crestview  caused my son pure agony whenever the ambulance taking him to the ER drove over them. The slowdown also helped him bleed out another liter of blood on top of the two he had already lost.

[Armybrat 40,822]

11 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Same here off Slaughter between Menchaca and Brodie.  Most the side street entrances were narrowed so much that fire trucks and school buses run over the curbs.  You have to almost come to a complete stop on slaughter to turn right onto any of these streets.  Craziness in the name of slowing down traffic on Slaughter.

*manshack

[Judge Roybeanbag 11,819]

10 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

*manshack

Was waiting for that.  

[B00M 6,414]

19 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

We still *haven’t started* priority program #1 of our 2012 comprehensive plan.

What was that program and what is the chief argument against it that’s causing the decade+ delay?

Edited February 4 by B00M
Invest in a “compact” and “connected” Austin?

[royiv 9,254]

15 hours ago, Deej said:

Since they've made it damn near impossible to drive into downtown and park, never. 

Should have put city hall somewhere other than one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in town.

.

The construction of City Hall where it is was a huge catalyst in redeveloping a dead zone of downtown. The reason it's one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in town is due to the 2nd street deal that included a new City Hall.

[Deej 76,755]

2 minutes ago, royiv said:

The construction of City Hall where it is was a huge catalyst in redeveloping a dead zone of downtown. The reason it's one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in town is due to the 2nd street deal that included a new City Hall.

I'm sure downtown would have been revitalized without it. 

[royiv 9,254]

1 minute ago, Deej said:

I'm sure downtown would have been revitalized without it. 

We'll never know, but at the time it was certainly a catalyst for redevelopment in that area of downtown. I'm as big a critic of Austin's city government as anyone, but that's one decision that I think they got right.

[Armybrat 40,822]

53 minutes ago, royiv said:

We'll never know, but at the time it was certainly a catalyst for redevelopment in that area of downtown. I'm as big a critic of Austin's city government as anyone, but that's one decision that I think they got right.

Except for the shitty design of the building.

But yes, that area of old Guy Town had been pretty much dead since pre-WW1 - aside from the Covert dealership, the train station and a few commercial businesses. 

[Bolero88 277]

On 2/3/2024 at 10:49 AM, FirstTimeCaller said:

Source? I love roundabouts, but that one is a mess. I'd be surprised if there are fewer accidents simply because it confuses the hell out of people.

The diverging diamond stuff they put in at Parmer/35 is similar in that regard. It's supposed to be better but it's wildly confusing. Drove through there the other day and there was a major wreck in the middle of it and I can't blame people if it's because they got confused.

I use the diverging diamond on slaughter all the time. It’s easy. If you can’t figure that out, you probably shouldn’t be driving at all. 

[royiv 9,254]

2 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Except for the shitty design of the building.

But yes, that area of old Guy Town had been pretty much dead since pre-WW1 - aside from the Covert dealership, the train station and a few commercial businesses. 

Yeah, I wasn't a fan of the design, but it's grown on me over the years. Maybe its just that it's become part of the background as the city has grown up around it.

[Armybrat 40,822]

Well, at lease those steps provided the homeless camp a safe hangout…. temporarily.

[Samson's Wig 3,191]

17 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

In my hood, they recently narrowed a residential street (Green Haven) that hits Greenlawn. For just 10 feet the curb now juts out 5 feet narrower at the intersection for no reason. I’m constantly seeing cars having to wait to turn because only one car at a time fits through that bottleneck.

 

16 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Same here off Slaughter between Menchaca and Brodie.  Most the side street entrances were narrowed so much that fire trucks and school buses run over the curbs.  You have to almost come to a complete stop on slaughter to turn right onto any of these streets.  Craziness in the name of slowing down traffic on Slaughter.

 

23 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

I see austin becoming a collection of Burroughs due to people just not being able to get more than 2 miles from home due to the fuckery. 

It's kind of that way already with South Lamar/congress, Burnet road, Mueller, Domain, etc.

The dumbest shit about narrowing lanes is it will restrict fire trucks and ambulances. People will die unnecessarily because of that stupid shit.

 

21 hours ago, Cap33 said:

The city would get a lot more buy in if they'd actually listen to what the people have to say instead of charging ahead with stupid shit and then telling us that we don't know what we're talking about. 

 

5 hours ago, Armybrat said:

13 years ago the old style speed bumps on Morrow up in Crestview  caused my son pure agony whenever the ambulance taking him to the ER drove over them. The slowdown also helped him bleed out another liter of blood on top of the two he had already lost.

 

You are all clearly just misguided and uninformed.  

 

The notion presented above by our resident urban jingoist that the city council or city management in this town will listen to citizens who bother to participate is hilarious when time after time, this city's leadership moves forward with all kinds of graft-laden nonsense expressly after hearing from countless citizens just how much they don't want it.  It often takes lawsuits and voter referendums to prevent the city from ramming crap down the majority's throat precisely because they don't listen.   We haven't reached Chicago levels of backroom skullduggery, but damn if this isn't a sweet city to work the local government for easy money.  The average voter here will eat any pile of shit put in front of them so long as it's seasoned with imitation progress. 

[demos 3,002]

Why the fuck can’t Austin make a straight fucking line on the road with all these mobility improvements?

Congress at Stassney is fucking mess right now. They painted new lines but you can still see the old ones.

[Nicole44 22,057]

I believe the stabbing occurred at West 26th and Nueces. Or at least that’s what the short KVUE article said. That hits very close to home. 

[gsoda3 3,245]

On 2/3/2024 at 10:49 AM, FirstTimeCaller said:

Source? I love roundabouts, but that one is a mess. I'd be surprised if there are fewer accidents simply because it confuses the hell out of people.

The diverging diamond stuff they put in at Parmer/35 is similar in that regard. It's supposed to be better but it's wildly confusing. Drove through there the other day and there was a major wreck in the middle of it and I can't blame people if it's because they got confused.

the parmer/35 DD has made that intersection so much better in every direction (except going north turning out of the heb).

[landman 559]

13 hours ago, royiv said:

The construction of City Hall where it is was a huge catalyst in redeveloping a dead zone of downtown. The reason it's one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in town is due to the 2nd street deal that included a new City Hall.

That area was going to be developed whether City Hall was there or not.

[YGIFS 19,449]

Yeah, that’s true.  It was aching for renewed development regardless.  The head scratcher remains the Central Library.  Despite its size, unless you take into account its event space of which it has ample, it’s not even in the Top 5 libraries in Central Texas for circulation.  This despite being far the largest.  And even with robust TI offers, nobody wants to take over the dead restaurant space inside of it.  And they continue furrow employees at an increasing rate and/or have them go work at outlying branches where people still actually go and checkout books and attend community events.  
 

as for the west campus stabbing.  Go and walk around there sometime during semester.  It is way more densely populated nowadays.  It is a literal city within a city.  That more crime doesn’t occur there in this era is a testament to the University and law enforcement.  

[DalTxHornFan 3,097]

12 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Yeah, that’s true.  It was aching for renewed development regardless.  The head scratcher remains the Central Library.  Despite its size, unless you take into account its event space of which it has ample, it’s not even in the Top 5 libraries in Central Texas for circulation.  This despite being far the largest.  And even with robust TI offers, nobody wants to take over the dead restaurant space inside of it.  And they continue furrow employees at an increasing rate and/or have them go work at outlying branches where people still actually go and checkout books and attend community events.  
 

as for the west campus stabbing.  Go and walk around there sometime during semester.  It is way more densely populated nowadays.  It is a literal city within a city.  That more crime doesn’t occur there in this era is a testament to the University and law enforcement.  

I'm meh to neutral on City Hall.  The Central Library is bad gubmint on steroids. 

I'm even more bothered by the Seaholm Power Plant.  That could have been a terrific Austin cultural resource if it had been done correctly. 

[YGIFS 19,449]

City Hall's design is still holding up pretty well after ~25 years to be fair.  I got no issue with a few muni buildings be centrally located for direct citizen access from all points beyond.  The library is just an out and out embarrassment and that we don't even talk about it anymore, even at the City level, means everybody just wants to pretend it never happened.  But yeah, City Hall is fine by me.  What bugs the fuck outta me is the continued Capitol Plaza complex north of the Dome.  Their argument continues to be that they needed all that land and money for new builds to provide services for Texans.  When we all know goddamned well none of us goes in person to any of those buildings, even those of us who do business with the State.  It's bullshit.  Those employees hate the fucking commute because they can't afford to live anywhere near it, it's hundreds of millions in new buildings that we all have to front in taxes, parking sucks, and we can access almost any state service online.  It looks nice, don't get me wrong.  But it would have better served by private development or UT campus expansion.  For every head-scratcher on City Hall, there's a dozen buildings in that Capitol/State complex that could just as easily been moved out to far North or far East Austin and not a single fucking citizen would have batted an eye.  And the government employees would actually have a better quality of life.  Big part of the reason cost of real estate is so damn expensive in Austin is because our government owns way too much of the fucking land (at all three levels).  /rant  

I think the Seaholm office space (if that's what you referring to) is pretty cool.  Not the absolute best use of space, but have a friend whose company in there and I used to frequent that restaurant space and think it turned out pretty good.  Most architects I know like it.  Or if you're talking about the intake building across the street on the water, that remains to be seen.  I think the idea is a cultural resource but yeah, City will probably find a way to fuck it up.  But I really dig that part of that downtown aside from the library.  During Covid, we'd take the kids down there to shop at Trader Joe's and watch the dogs run around the lawn spaces.  Urbanspace/K.B. have been big drivers of making that a nice area that's still accessible and not overly douchey.  

 

[PvilleStang 2,875]

1 hour ago, YGIFS said:

What bugs the fuck outta me is the continued Capitol Plaza complex north of the Dome.  Their argument continues to be that they needed all that land and money for new builds to provide services for Texans.  When we all know goddamned well none of us goes in person to any of those buildings, even those of us who do business with the State.  It's bullshit.  Those employees hate the fucking commute because they can't afford to live anywhere near it, it's hundreds of millions in new buildings that we all have to front in taxes, parking sucks, and we can access almost any state service online.  It looks nice, don't get me wrong.  But it would have better served by private development or UT campus expansion.  For every head-scratcher on City Hall, there's a dozen buildings in that Capitol/State complex that could just as easily been moved out to far North or far East Austin and not a single fucking citizen would have batted an eye.  And the government employees would actually have a better quality of life.  Big part of the reason cost of real estate is so damn expensive in Austin is because our government owns way too much of the fucking land (at all three levels).  /rant  

You do realize why all these state agencies work in close proximity to the capital? The three or four most overpaid figure heads of each agency has to spend like 4 days every biennium answering to the state leg as to where the money went, and why they want so much more in their next 10 year financial forecasting.  
 

For what it's worth, TRS did it right and moved away from 10th and Red River to Mueller.  Sold the premium real estate for some slightly cheaper and larger digs.  I think you have to take in consideration that any place you work that's pulling in the middle class, you can't just move to the outskirts without alienating your staff.  Take for instance if you moved from downtown to off 130 on the far east side.  Anyone coming from Leander or Cedar Park or Oak Hill just got pissed.  You move from Downtown to the Domain, all your people from Buda and Kyle just took a big commute hit.  I think the appeal of downtown is you can pull from talent pools in all directions fairly equally.

Edited February 5 by PvilleStang

[YGIFS 19,449]

Yeah, I get it.  But when I think of your words, 'Talent Pool", i don't really think of paper pushers at the Texas Workforce Commission or GLO.  I get they need to a few days every 2 years walk over to the Capitol, but last I checked they're still allowed to drive over and park for free.  I have business in the Capitol regularly and I somehow make it work without having 500 square feet of office space and a reserved spot costing taxpayers $15,000/year just in overhead.  I mean, it's cooler now with that plaza and all between UT and the Dome, but it's just 10,000 workers taking up valuable space that could just as easily do their job in another part of town or remotely and hoof it in a couple times in odd-numbered years to deal with their overseers.  

[Guest]

How the hell is the city more expensive to live in and seems worse than ever?

[PvilleStang 2,875]

8 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Yeah, I get it.  But when I think of your words, 'Talent Pool", i don't really think of paper pushers at the Texas Workforce Commission or GLO.  I get they need to a few days every 2 years walk over to the Capitol, but last I checked they're still allowed to drive over and park for free.  I have business in the Capitol regularly and I somehow make it work without having 500 square feet of office space and a reserved spot costing taxpayers $15,000/year just in overhead.  I mean, it's cooler now with that plaza and all between UT and the Dome, but it's just 10,000 workers taking up valuable space that could just as easily do their job in another part of town or remotely and hoof it in a couple times in odd-numbered years to deal with their overseers.  

There's a certain kind of person / mindset that works for the state.  Having worked for several agencies, I can attest that there is actual talent working for most agencies, but the some of the front end workers are the ones that give the rest a bad name.  That said, most state agencies want(ed) to have all their employees working in the same building and close to the capitol, but I think those sentiments are a few years past their prime.  You might also notice that most the agencies that are in close proximity to the capitol are the more high maintenance agencies, if you will.  And I know there's still some tunnels from the capitol to a few of the buildings north of 15th, so I have a feeling those agencies will be the last to give up their office buildings. 

[YGIFS 19,449]

Because we can't figure out sensible solutions to our two biggest issues besides expensive-traffic and homelessness.  They're all obviously all three-deeply intertwined.  

We also have to come to grips with the fact that we're talking about on this thread derail (guilty as charged), but the vast, vast majority of Capital cities in this country are cities with negative growth.  We're in a weird bucket in that, like Phoenix, Indianapolis, Columbus, Nashville, and a just a handful of others.  We are growing massively with external migration.  And a metric fuckton of our real estate is owned by the government (at all three levels) and is in extremely valuable tracts of land that could be better utilized on other functions.  Our "Limited Government" state has the largest square footage footprint of any urban-capital on Earth.  

But yeah, I just got followed to my car again at a gas station yesterday off of Ben White by a homeless lunatic.  I'm almost completely out of empathy at this point.  We're not gonna buy hotels our way outta this mess with these folks.  And then it took me a solid 15 minutes to get from that Target to the right turn onto North MoPac on a fucking no-rain Sunday.  I am thankful for getting to live close to downtown, good schools, wife's work, and campus.  But this is just fucking exhausting.  Never mind the fucking pile of cash we had to send to Bruce last week to keep our house from being seized.  For what?  I have no fucking idea.  I guess so ACC can open up another campus somewhere to host servers with which students can dial in remotely for course instruction?  Or Austin city services I never see except when they contract out to meter reader third-party services to charge me for waste-water averaging when somebody forgets to flip a switch.  

[Orange&White 5,522]

23 hours ago, royiv said:

The construction of City Hall where it is was a huge catalyst in redeveloping a dead zone of downtown. The reason it's one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in town is due to the 2nd street deal that included a new City Hall.

Great! It succeeded. Now downtown is fully revitalized and doesn't need any more support.

The City can now sell that premium piece of property to a private developer build a 40 story tower that will actually contribute to the tax base, and they can use the proceeds of the sale to move to site less economically valuable. Anything left over they can just dump into more bike lanes or black hole of homeless spending.

[Deej 76,755]

 

10 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

(except going north turning out of the heb)

[Guest]

Also, went on a daytrip yesterday. Came back about 2 p.m. on Sunday through the Y. The light at 290/William Cannon is flashing red in all directions. Took 20-30 minutes to get through. Heaven forbid there be a cop directing traffic so that it isn't backed up for miles.

[Shaggy3.0 1,695]

On 1/31/2024 at 6:48 PM, crash_davis said:

BOTLO for a hot blonde stealing your phone and CC. Ok, maybe not the hot part.

https://mailchi.mp/austintexas.gov/apd-detectives-search-for-a-woman-suspected-of-drugging-and-robbing-multiple-victims

Case:                            22-0431239: Drugging, Credit Card Abuse series
                                     23-5030270: Drugging, Credit Card Abuse
 
Date:                            January 2022 – December 2023
 
Location:                      Downtown Austin Entertainment District


The Austin Police Department Robbery Unit is requesting the public’s assistance with identifying a female suspect in connection to multiple drugging and credit card abuse cases. The incidents occurred in the Downtown Austin Entertainment District and involved male victims who were potentially drugged, and their credit cards and cellphones taken.  The credit cards and cellphones were then used to commit over $75,000 in fraudulent purchases and transactions utilizing the banking applications on the cellphones and physical purchases in various businesses using the credit cards.
 
The suspect has been linked to several incidents reported in early 2022, and as recently as December 2023.
 
The suspect is described as:

White Female

Blonde hair

Approximately 5’6” tall

Heavy build

Facial makeup

Hays county FUPA.  

[PvilleStang 2,875]

26 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Never mind the fucking pile of cash we had to send to Bruce last week to keep our house from being seized.  For what?  I have no fucking idea.  I guess so ACC can open up another campus somewhere to host servers with which students can dial in remotely for course instruction?  Or Austin city services I never see except when they contract out to meter reader third-party services to charge me for waste-water averaging when somebody forgets to flip a switch.  

He says thanks!  Gotta keep his living room stocked with the latest in model train accessories.