H-E-B to break ground on Dripping Springs store (Austin, Round Rock: 2009, houses)

[iceshots]

Just got this in an email.

H-E-B to break ground on Dripping Springs store
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, August 13, 2009
H.E. Butt Grocery Co. said Wednesday that it will start work this fall on a Dripping Springs store that has been in the works for three years.
The 68,000-square-foot store will be at U.S. 290 and Rob Shelton Boulevard.
"This hopefully will keep a lot of residents shopping in their own community," H-E-B
spokeswoman Leslie Lockett said.
The supermarket is to be part of Dripping Springs' largest commercial development, a 55-acre project that includes a Home Depot and offices of Chase and Broadway banks.
The Dripping Springs City Council approved plans for project in September 2006. The Home Depot opened last year.
H-E-B's plans for the store include a gas station and car wash, a drive-through pharmacy, a sushi bar and a bakery. The store, to be staffed by 300 employees, also will stock items from the grocery chain's Central Market brand.
H-E-B is finalizing construction bids, Lockett said.


I have not seen the web article for myself. Lets hope this time its for real.

[LongTimeAustinite]

Very exciting news!

I think I got the same e-mail.

[orngkat]

Yeah...more sprawl!

[LongTimeAustinite]

Originally Posted by orngkat

Yeah...more sprawl!

So I guess if you build anything anywhere, good or bad it's "sprawl"?

[iceshots]

Originally Posted by orngkat

Yeah...more sprawl!

How is this more sprawl? The residents are already in place. Putting services in the locations where people are living is reducing traffic heading into the city and relieving congestion for the people around the Y.

Personally, I am in favor of any new business that allows me to center my activities around Dripping Springs instead of having to travel into Austin all the time. That way I am supporting the local community and not just treating it as a bedroom community.

[verybadgnome]

Because it will induce more people to live out there in DS where there are virtually no "real jobs." These new communities will be 100% auto dependent by design which means all the existing residents as well as the new ones will clamor for new and expanded highways. In the end you end up with typical Sunbelt suburban development, the kind that Pheonix and LA have been trying to get away from.

[iceshots]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

Because it will induce more people to live out there in DS where there are virtually no "real jobs." These new communities will be 100% auto dependent by design which means all the existing residents as well as the new ones will clamor for new and expanded highways. In the end you end up with typical Sunbelt suburban development, the kind that Pheonix and LA have been trying to get away from.

Sorry to inform you, but the houses and the people are already out there. And putting things like retail centers out there will create real jobs. People will move to where they are comfortable. Not everyone wants to live in a city.

If you restrict services to a specific area, then you will have sprawl in that people will live further out and have to commute in both for work and for any kind of shopping. Once you start to provide services in the immediate community you start to make the bedroom commuters feel part of that community. The more their focus is on their immediate area instead of the adjacent city, the more they will want to support and develop that community. Once a work force is established in an area, larger businesses and other job sources will move in.

I have seen many small town grow like this and it works quite well. They tend to keep the small town spirit alive and have a sense of identity. In my opinion, there is nothing better than identifying yourself with a small town, and nothing worse than identifying yourself by how far you live from the city center.

Whenever I hear people complain about urban sprawl, I think of the science fiction novels where the majority of people live in confined rigid cities and only the elite are allowed to enjoy the countryside.

People will live where they want. There are studies showing that in some areas people are leaving the suburbs and heading back into the urban areas. To each his or her own.

[LongTimeAustinite]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

Because it will induce more people to live out there in DS where there are virtually no "real jobs." These new communities will be 100% auto dependent by design which means all the existing residents as well as the new ones will clamor for new and expanded highways. In the end you end up with typical Sunbelt suburban development, the kind that Pheonix and LA have been trying to get away from.

So what small communities around Austin do you approve of? And what kind of stores do you think they should have? I guess you think it's better to drive in to Austin to shop?

We have enough critics here. Let me be happy that we're getting a HEB OK.

[orngkat]

Sorry but the majority of the houses weren't "already there" until recently. A new grocery store is a good thing though; I recall when I first moved to Round Rock when it was only a few folks in the burbs and we had to drive a long way to get groceries. I guess I am just saddened by watching the endless pavement, roads, etc. so that people can have a overly-sized house full of stuff at a lower cost. Most of those folks will never work in the area; they drive into Austin. Next comes even more roads, strip centers, traffic...we just keep doing it the same way. Dripping is just one more iconic place to be ruined by this endless development.

[hoffdano]

So these sprawlers are just supposed to suck it up and live near Austin, where it costs more, they get less space, and pay more taxes?

I don't want to live in an urban environment! I'm not the only one (obviously).