Beautiful Sunday, September 7, 2008

One of the great things about life is that you absolutely have the right to see what's going on in the city. Today, just for kicks and giggles, I walked in Hyde Park along the 45th street area. What I can't help but admire is the way that this area is clearly an example of density, but that there are old and new houses, old and new businesses, and people are genuinely pleased. It's interesting that there are so many people in Austin against density, but that density is where you always find people in Austin, both old and new neighborhoods. Similar locations are on Northloop and Duval, along S. 1st and Mary, Manor Road (near IH-35), and S. 5th and Mary.

After my walk, I went down to Juan in a Million for lunch and noticed that there were condo closeouts on Chicon and Cesar Chavez. Naturally, after lunch I had to walk in that direction and find out more about the property(www.waterstreetaustin.com). There I met the owner of Mode, another business owned by people under the age of 30, who also work other jobs (modeaustin@gmail.com). I realized that new development accentuates old businesses by increasing visibility and initiating business growth in an area. There are several businesses in Austin that have existed for years, but because they are in areas that are primarily residential, there are no people and less pedestrian traffic which makes it hard to see the fruits of labor. One thing development could do is work to make sure that it encourages the start of newer small businesses around older businesses, increasing the economic development.

The Saltillo stop is an excellent example of transit oriented development. The stop itself has restrooms, a stage for live music, lots of public seating, and of course, businesses across the street. Because of the delay in service for the Red Line, one of the businesses located there had to move. There are still some businesses that could benefit from their location at the Saltillo stop if Austin would only let them, white collar businesses that would encourage other white collar businesses to be located near transit, like maybe the tech industry. For those new to Austin, you can find the stop at 1601 E. 5th Street.

Finally, I viewed an open house put on by Constructive Ventures, who had two properties with availability. The first property, 2124 (www.twentyone24.com), had amazing spaces for people looking to live central, and start a small business downstairs. What is great about Constructive Ventures is that the company is Austin-based, therefore not just developing a product and leaving the area immediately. A counter-intuitive move by them includes forgoing a gym, which the agent explained lowered the HOA fees. The property is Este Condos, which take flex space, and add a hook (www.esteaustin.com). More than the properties, I loved hearing that Constructive Ventures sold space to the University of Texas at Austin charter school (http://www.utexas.edu/provost/elementary/), and they will be constructing a 50,000 square foot school, and that the Live Strong Foundation (livestrong.org) will be locating nearby, introducing even more jobs to the area.

For the people who are completely opposed to new development in East Austin: one could question your motives, largely because job availability and affordable housing were problems before the developers appeared. Several non-profits are creating white collar jobs, and luring more businesses keeping East Austin residents safe. Southwest Key (swkey.org) moved there over a year ago, giving an example of an educated Latino leader dedicated to bringing up the youth in the community, and showing them that all minorities are all things. All those minority businesses in East Austin are getting free advertising by the people located on their streets, and including new residents. While it may be more expensive to start a business, it's more expensive not to start a business, and keep an area stagnant.