Be honest - if you live outside of Central Austin, how often do you go there? (Round Rock: crime, home)

[campbetc]

Back on topic? I had a few people recommend Spicewood at Bullcreek or Great Hills. How are those are far as access to downtown? I know they're in RRISD (at least parts of Great Hills are) and would be a good commute to Cedar Park.

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by campbetc

Back on topic? I had a few people recommend Spicewood at Bullcreek or Great Hills. How are those are far as access to downtown? I know they're in RRISD (at least parts of Great Hills are) and would be a good commute to Cedar Park.

Not too bad -- Mopac can be a parking lot at certain times of the day, especially southbound from 2222 to the river. Trying to get downtown for a weekend festival or night out? No problem, depending on exactly where you are and the feeder route, maybe 20-25 minutes. Trying to get downtown on a weekday afternoon, between 4-6 pm? much more painful.

[EzPeterson]

Both are easy access to quite a bot of the central Austin stuff (15 minutes by car), and still close to some of the non-downtown cool stuff about Austin (lakes, etc.)

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by Komeht

This assertion that the jobs aren't in the core is nonsense. How do you explain the traffic jams on North Mopac and 183, headed central? South IH35 and Mopac doing the same. . .every single day.

The jobs are there - the people are not located near the jobs.

I've never once promoted any sort of government jobs program - where do you people come up with this crap?

And the problem with development being expensive in the center city is because it is too expensive too cumbersome and too restrictive. If the central areas were more amenable to infill, multi-mixed use with less restrictive zoning you would see significant relief in housing prices in the central area. But the only way to do this is to densify.

I didn't say there weren't jobs in the core. But growth in the core isn't meaningful if there isn't GROWTH in jobs in the core.

They don't make semiconductors in the core. Nor is a lot of software written there.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I'm going to trust the word of someone who actually lives in a particular area about how far they have to travel to work, school, shopping, parks, etc., far more than I am going to believe you with your particular let's all live in skyscrapers agenda.

Many people would say the very same thing about what you want for Austin, by the way. Lifeless, soul sucking skyscrapers - they're even famous for being so!

Where are you getting that I'm advocating everyone live in a skyscraper? You keep repeating this nonsense and it's never been true.

Skyscrapers are great in the CBD - in fact in the CBD there shouldn't be any height restrictions. But outside the CBD there are tons and tons of ways to densify that don't involve skyscrapers. I've never once advocated for such.

Infill, VMU and MF zoning, ending moratoriums on development, encouraging infill where ever possible in the urban core. . .none of these things I advocate have anything to do with skyscrapers.

[Jennibc]

We live about 12 miles SW of downtown. We go downtown/zilker park at least twice a week for entertainment purposes. My son has an improv class downtown (so that gets us there once a week) and then we typically walk Town lake every week.

[jb9152]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

I didn't say there weren't jobs in the core. But growth in the core isn't meaningful if there isn't GROWTH in jobs in the core.

They don't make semiconductors in the core. Nor is a lot of software written there.

True, but UT isn't located in Cedar Park. The fact of the matter is that about a third of the TOTAL jobs in the five-county CAMPO planning region is located in a few zip codes downtown. And with pipeline projects considered, we're looking at employment growth downtown that will turn I-35 and MoPac into more of a parking lot than they already are.

[mesmer]

Originally Posted by jb9152

True, but UT isn't located in Cedar Park. The fact of the matter is that about a third of the TOTAL jobs in the five-county CAMPO planning region is located in a few zip codes downtown. And with pipeline projects considered, we're looking at employment growth downtown that will turn I-35 and MoPac into more of a parking lot than they already are.

Is UT hiring significantly more people than five years ago? I mean, all of Apple's 3000 new jobs are off of Parmer, and so are GM's 500 new jobs. Is there a good comparison of the job growth rates in the core vs. the suburbs? This thread was started by someone whose husband is working in Cedar Park. I used to work downtown, and I used to know people that work downtown, but that's not the case anymore. The jobs seem to be moving out.

[gpurcell]

There's going to be a new medical school and a ton of development along Waller Creek.

[jb9152]

Originally Posted by mesmer

Is UT hiring significantly more people than five years ago?

Not to my knowledge, but it's not something that I'd be routinely privy to. That's not what I was referring to, anyway. There are other "pipeline projects" (like the consolidation of state office space downtown) that will result in significant job growth or movement of jobs downtown. My point about UT is that it isn't going away, and it as an institution will certainly not be hiring any LESS than it does now...

Originally Posted by mesmer

I mean, all of Apple's 3000 new jobs are off of Parmer, and so are GM's 500 new jobs. Is there a good comparison of the job growth rates in the core vs. the suburbs? This thread was started by someone whose husband is working in Cedar Park. I used to work downtown, and I used to know people that work downtown, but that's not the case anymore. The jobs seem to be moving out.

Anecdotally, that may be true for you and the people you "used to know", but if you check out the NCTCOG and CAMPO web sites for population and employment projections, you'll see that the suburbs *do* grow significantly. So does the downtown, which already has 1/3 of all jobs in the area concentrated in a few zip codes.