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Our goals for 2010
1. "Room to Live" open space initiative. We hope to move beyond consensus-building in 2010, to concrete policy and funding changes that assure strong transit station areas near MetroRapid, family-friendly pocket parks, and other design elements that make mixed use districts along suburban transit corridors truly neighborhood-friendly.
2. Influence and garner support for: a. increased functional open space required for future mixed use districts b. increased pedestrian/bike connectivity within and beyond mixed use districts c. short-term and long-term solutions to traffic, including robust mass transit
3. Inform and educate our neighborhoods on urban planning issues.
Results
2010 was dominated by the Strategic Mobility Plan. Sustainable Neighborhoods members participated actively in this City process. We attended the public input meetings and submitted "gaps" as part of the City-wide solicitation of gap projects. SN submitted and lobbied for numerous gap proposals, including:
In retrospect, our results were mixed. Rails with Trails had already secured federal funding and was not really in contention for Bond funding. Sidewalks on Burnet was highly ranked and should have been funded in the bond package, but was subsequently removed from the list. The sidewalk funds that would have gone to Burnet Rd were reallocated to projects all over Austin - no sidewalk gaps will be fixed in 2011-2012 on Burnet Rd itself, although SN's recommendation to install a sidewalk on 2222 from Burnet to Arroyo Seco did get onto the list. It appears that the Anderson Trail will be funded. It is not yet clear whether any funding will go to expand MetroRapid station areas at places like Burnet-2222, where the ROW is only 5 to 8 ft.
SN was able to work with other stakeholders to keep CapMetro "on track" with the original Rails with Trails design, whereby a trail would run straight along the track from N Lamar to Morrow, and not meander down nearby streets. CapMetro has since performed yeoman work to get the project implemented.
The biggest disappointment in 2010 was our failure to get language in the Parks Department Long-Range Plan that would treat VMU the same as TOD for purposes of parkspace support and location. This despite extended efforts over more than a year.
Perhaps the biggest tangible accomplishment of 2010 was the planting in October of 11 trees at Lamar Middle School, on the northwest corner of the Burnet-2222 intersection. This planting occurred despite the nearest source of water being over 1000 ft away.
Our goals for 2009
1. "Room to Live" open space initiative. We hope to build a broad consensus for changes to City policy and budget that ensure adequate open space in mixed use districts like on Anderson Ln.
2. Influence and garner support for: a. increased functional open space required for future mixed use districts b. increased pedestrian/bike connectivity within and beyond mixed use districts c. short-term and long-term solutions to traffic, including robust mass transit
3. Inform and educate our neighborhoods on urban planning issues.
Results
2009 was a great year for Sustainable Neighborhoods. Highlights included
Our goals for 2008
1. Influence and garner support for: a. increased functional open space required for future VMU districts b. increased pedestrian/bike connectivity within and beyond VMU districts c. short-term and long-term solutions to traffic, including robust mass transit 2. Support NA's in removing VMU from properties that are not in a viable VMU district, or where additional planning is required to resolve site-specific problems. 3. Inform and educate our neighborhoods on urban planning issues.
Results
During our first year as an organization, Sustainable Neighborhoods helped to popularize the "neighborhood center" approach to mixed use in North Central Austin. We supported Allandale Neighborhood Association's successful request to remove VMU from the long, narrow parts of the Burnet Rd. corridor which are poorly suited to create vibrant, pedestrian-friendly districts, at least in the mid-term. We created visions for the two most promising potential neighborhood centers - at Burnet and North Loop and along Anderson Ln from Mopac to Burnet. We supported North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Association in winning a commitment for minimum open space at The Village VMU redevelopment on Anderson.
Our members have also participated in the one-year review of the Commercial Design Standards and VMU ordinance, where we have pushed hard and with some success to make people aware of the risk of mixed use development on corridors like Anderson if they are not supported with adequate open space to create a truly pedestrian-friendly environment.
We have reached out and provided feedback to other groups as well, including Envision Central Texas (ECT), Liveable City, the Austin Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and the City Parks and Recreation Department.
In November we made presentations on the critical value of open space throughout a mixed use district to our neighborhood associations, thereby laying the groundwork for our 2009 "Room to Live" open space initiative.
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