Comments on: Condo-mania In Downtown Austin

By: Hutch

Hutch — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:22:16 +0000

I suspect Condos will be a bit behind the formerly commutable (pre-$4 gas) Mini Country Estates in facing reality.

By: Yossarian

Yossarian — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:53:24 +0000

Twist:

I remember, at some point in my undergraduate days as a Sun Devil, actually seeing a master plan of sorts for Phoenix. The Urban Core Village one, that included the Rio Salado project. I remember then, thinking why were they planning all this new stuff, and ignoring what the neighborhoods actually were made up of?

By: freemonster

freemonster — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:25:07 +0000

I was wondering what was going on with all the condos for rent in Austin. Some of the pictures I’ve seen of the layouts just don’t seem to match up to the rental rates. And what’s with the property tax rates in Austin? Hopefully this isn’t the NewYorkifacation of one of the last sane cities in America.

By: twist

twist — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:45:07 +0000

Yossarian-

I haven’t seen where it has been mandated, but I am fairly confident that there is a master plan in Maricopa County to make sure that any building in the Valley with charm, character or history is to be either paved, stuccoed or covered with gravel- and I think it’s a shame.

I’ve read critics of Phoenix who say that it’s a city without a history or a soul. It has both, but sadly, we don’t worry much about preserving either.

By: Yossarian

Yossarian — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:08:47 +0000

In Phoenix, they would (have already) destroyed whatever parts of modern history and architecture they had to, for the sake of progress.
Downtown Phoenix mavens make abig deal about the ‘Palace West’ restored old movie theater. When I was a kid, we much preferred the stately atmosphere of the Fox theater.. which was torn down to build a badly designed bus terminal.. which has almost no shade.
The I10 through downtown, I understand ran right through an old Hohokam burial ground… can’t have that. The Sky Harbor westward expansion (how ironic is that?), essentially destroyed the old Hispanic ‘Golden Gate’ neighborhood… leaving one semi-historic church undemolished, and completely alone on its own city block. You used to be able to see this church, right before you touched down on the south runway… really funny looking. Old church.. nothing around it.
And of course, the Baseline Avenue Japanese flower farms, the orange groves…. all gone… in favor of Taco-Moderne beige fake stucco suburbs nobody needs.
These are just things that come to me, off the top of my head. It’s no wonder James Kunstler has such ire for Phoenix (the developers, actually) .. I do, too.. and I grew up there.
And by the way… Portland has your Austin condo tower problem, in spades. They just haven’t quite figured it out, yet…. because it’s different here.