We Need More Freeways! (Houston, Austin: real estate, Home Depot, school)
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Houston and Dallas are like how they are because of absolutely no city planning and total acquiescence to business desires.
There are fairly new cities in this country with solid infrastructure and without the sprawl and ridiculousness of Houston and Dallas.
The idea that if we have adequate infrastructure that we will ruin the city is nonsense. Yet somehow this mentality is prevalent at the highest levels here.
I did by my house in Rollingwood for 200K back in 1981 - you can guess what it's worth today by looking at my property tax bill.
But, my comments stand. If one has to work in town, I'd still suggest looking for a place to live inside the city limits, and not Buda, Manor, Cedar Park, Round Rock, etc. There are plenty of homes in Austin in all prices ranges to rent or buy. There are main streets like Lamar, Burnet, South Congress, South First, etc. that can get you to downtown from the city limits within 30 minutes (barring a major wreck, long-term street repair or construction, etc.)
If I were 32 years-old, had a family with two kids in elementary school, had to work in a Congress highrise, and needed a three-bedroom detatched house, garage, and backyard... Well, I see as of today that there are available on the MLS: 35 150K-250K houses in 78758, 96 in 78727, 98 in 78729, 30 in 78752, 27 in 78722, 43 in 78703,69 in 78705,113 in 78704, 170 in 78745, and 187 in 78748.
And there are hundreds of houses available priced between 250K and 400K all over the city.
By the way, I grew up in Crestview (Vajello) and Allandale (Fairlane), 78757. I walked to Brentwood Elementary, road my bike to Lamar JH, threw dirt balls at cars while hiding in Arroyo Seco -- Dart Bowl enchiladas, represent! The first house I bought in 1978 was on Stillwood. Right now, I'd love to buy a three bedroom house in 78757 for $250,000 and remodel it, and just take the #3 or #5 bus downtown.
"Next time you're searching for a parking space and someone grabs a spot from right in front of you, it might seem like the last space left on Earth, but ponder this: there are at least 500 million empty spaces in the United States at any given time."
And of course there are only about 250 millions cars in the U.S. A lot of wasted space, huh?
My employer pays for parking for all employees but really this is a subsidy that in the end comes out of my paycheck. My suggestion is to either make employees pay for parking or give those that don't use it a rebate.
I did by my house in Rollingwood for 200K back in 1981 - you can guess what it's worth today by looking at my property tax bill.
But, my comments stand. If one has to work in town, I'd still suggest looking for a place to live inside the city limits, and not Buda, Manor, Cedar Park, Round Rock, etc. There are plenty of homes in Austin in all prices ranges to rent or buy. There are main streets like Lamar, Burnet, South Congress, South First, etc. that can get you to downtown from the city limits within 30 minutes (barring a major wreck, long-term street repair or construction, etc.)
If I were 32 years-old, had a family with two kids in elementary school, had to work in a Congress highrise, and needed a three-bedroom detatched house, garage, and backyard... Well, I see as of today that there are available on the MLS: 35 150K-250K houses in 78758, 96 in 78727, 98 in 78729, 30 in 78752, 27 in 78722, 43 in 78703,69 in 78705,113 in 78704, 170 in 78745, and 187 in 78748.
And there are hundreds of houses available priced between 250K and 400K all over the city.
By the way, I grew up in Crestview (Vajello) and Allandale (Fairlane), 78757. I walked to Brentwood Elementary, road my bike to Lamar JH, threw dirt balls at cars while hiding in Arroyo Seco -- Dart Bowl enchiladas, represent! The first house I bought in 1978 was on Stillwood. Right now, I'd love to buy a three bedroom house in 78757 for $250,000 and remodel it, and just take the #3 or #5 bus downtown.
The houses are there...
Yes, they're there. I get that the neighborhoods don't suit everyone's tastes, but I wouldn't live anywhere else if I could help it. Dart Bowl... it might raise your cholesterol, but just walking into that place lowers your blood pressure a little.
But the reality is that they do rank higher. If you are going to complain about Austin's ranking on the list, you've got to accept that Dallas and Houston both rank higher -- in the top 5. And it's not because of population; they have a higher # of highway miles per capita than Austin -- in fact, they have more than most other big cities in the US (see the previously linked chart).
You could say it's because they are so spread out, but what difference does that make to the guy in Dallas stuck in traffic longer? Is he/she supposed to feel good because they get to drive 10 mph faster on their 20 mile longer commute? And why do you think they are so spread out in the first place? Could it be because they went nuts and built road after road, farther and farther out, with no consideration to how the city would develop around those roads, or what would happen to the population density?
Of course they rank higher, it would be ridiculous for Austin if they didn't. But in perspective, I think it's worse that Austin is a much smaller city, both population and land area, yet so close behind them in the ranking.
The hypothetical guy in Dallas driving 20 miles.... sure, but he's moving at least. He's probably going to work, not going to run errands in which case he probably stays within few miles range. Here I get delayed waiting for one stupid light at non-rush hour, and too many other cars going the exact same route because there's no alternative, to go 2 miles. In my experience in Houston and Dallas the traffic problems are mostly a rush-hour or peak-hour event.... in Austin, it's more unpredictable and almost contant in some parts.
And no, I don't think they sprawl all because of roads. A lot of the developments were already there, then the upgraded road came much later. At least in Houston's case. I-10, Westpark Toll and Beltway 8 are prime examples.
Quote:
Originally Posted by orbius
Houston and Dallas are like how they are because of absolutely no city planning and total acquiescence to business desires.
There are fairly new cities in this country with solid infrastructure and without the sprawl and ridiculousness of Houston and Dallas.
The idea that if we have adequate infrastructure that we will ruin the city is nonsense. Yet somehow this mentality is prevalent at the highest levels here.
How do you do "city planning" for areas outside of the city limits? Which a lot of the "sprawl" is outside of. This is one of the problems in Texas in general.... the counties have almost no development control powers.
As far as these other cities you mention, give some examples? Maybe we can learn something from them.
Now your last statement, I am in complete agreement with.
Not really. Austin really does have an inadequate road/freeway system for a metro area of its size. All it has to do is look at it's neighbor an hour to the South to see how to build an efficient road system for a metro area of its size. Simply put, Austin needs more freeways, as well as more transit.
My main man Scarface713 said it correctly. I was going to post the exact same thoughts about Austin being greatly underserved by freeways. It needs to improve what it has and also build some more new freeways. Get rid of the Y at 290 and 71. Upgrade 360 to freeway status and complete S.H. 45 as a freeway and not a toll road. Do yall remember the plan for the Camp Mabry Freeway? That would have been nice. I think that Southwest Parkway should also be upgraded to freeway status.
Well I'll tell you why since you cant imagine why anyone would not be for toll roads. We pay a tax for the construction of roads. Every single gallon of gas we buy has a % tax attached to it.
We buy our roads, the State then forcing us to pay every single day we ride on them is ridiculous. Also the contracts they are signing for these roads is ridiculous also. These toll roads should be turned over to the public the minute the roads are paid for. Instead we're signing them over to Spanish companies for 50 years? Ridiculous.
Lets put it to a vote and see what the public wants. Aka Either: 1. All future highway projects will be profit pay toll roads you will have to pay everyday to drive on. or 2. Free roads to be funded by the gas tax we pay.
There have been polls done that show 90%+ of people do not want toll roads. So you're in a heavy minority.
I live in Houston. This city is overrun by toll roads. I have an E-Z Tag and use the toll roads but I hate that we pay twice to use them. Toll roads get traffic jams too!!! It happens every single day here. I just love knowing that when I am sitting in traffic on the Hardy Toll Road or on the Beltway thinking to myself that I got the luxury of paying for the opportunity to sit in traffic when I could have done that for free on IH-45. Toll roads are not the answer!!!!!
amberazeneth, once more, Austin is not Houston and a whole lot of us very much do NOT want it to become so - if we wanted to live in Houston (which has its own vices and virtues, quite unlike Austin's), we'd move there. Throwing roads, toll or otherwise, at the problem is not the solution.
The only solution is to forcibly relocate 500,000 Austinites to other cities, states, or countries.....then ban further immigration here for anybody. ;-)
I know you're joking (or being sarcastic, not quite sure which), but not really. The only real solution is to address the issue seriously, not from a kneejerk "we need more roads" perspective, keeping the fact that we're in Austin, not Houston, not Anywhere, USA, firmly in mind, so that a real workable long-term solution (or, more likely, combination of solutions) can be found.
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The first house I bought in 1978 was on Stillwood. Right now, I'd love to buy a three bedroom house in 78757 for $250,000 and remodel it, and just take the #3 or #5 bus downtown.
