lucky dogs that live close to this (Austin, Riverside: 2013, living)

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

The Trail Foundation: Meet > Trail Projects > Riverside Boardwalk

Pretty cool they're putting a trail over water.

[steve78757]

Great for developers and new rich crowd living on East Riverside, oops, I mean the "South Shore". Bad for taxpayers. This is being built while libraries and public swimming pools close. Strange priorities.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Originally Posted by steve78757

Great for developers and new rich crowd living on East Riverside, oops, I mean the "South Shore". Bad for taxpayers. This is being built while libraries and public swimming pools close. Strange priorities.

I guess that kinda puts it in perspective.

[Austin97]

or the 10 million that went to affordable housing

Austin City Council Puts $10 Million into Affordable Housing: Austinist

[owlman]

Originally Posted by oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots

lucky dogs that live close to this

Lucky humans, too

[buffettjr]

Originally Posted by steve78757

Great for developers and new rich crowd living on East Riverside, oops, I mean the "South Shore". Bad for taxpayers. This is being built while libraries and public swimming pools close. Strange priorities.

What an odd thing to say, to admit this is great for developers and the rich people who will be living on expensive property along the river and then in the same breath say it will be bad for taxpayers -- it boosts property values in a very heavily taxed area.

I lived for years right on the water right where this trail is going in (the opposite of rich, I paid $600 - $800 / month with no roomates!). The trail was awful here. It is a 10 mile loop that just breaks down and leaves the river, and forces people to run on busy roads and over the highway with absolutely no signage or no clue where to go. Took me months to figure it out and I lived there. People from out of town who wanted to run one of the "crown jewels of Austin" had to stop and ask where they were and say how dreadfully lost they were. But really what happened most is people just turned around and ran back the other way, leaving half the hike and bike trail unused and east Austin cut off from everyone else.

This trail will remove the community scar that is I-35 from the equation, reunite east and west in one way, encourage more people to use the entire second half of the trail that is already there and built but sits unused (what could be more efficient than that?), AND likely pay for itself since it will boost property values in an entire five mile loop. We'll gain a giant new useable strip of trail by building a small piece along the water.

I can scarcely think of a more valuable public works project for the city than this, nor one that is smarter or more efficient. Immensely more efficient and valuable than a public swimming pool, and used by orders of magnitude more people too.

[Trainwreck20]

Immensely more efficient and valuable than a public swimming pool, and used by orders of magnitude more people too.

Have to agree with this. That part of the trail has needed completing for decades.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by buffettjr

. Immensely more efficient and valuable than a public swimming pool, and used by orders of magnitude more people too.

I found your post enlightening, since many years ago, I was one of those folks who 'just turned around' and went back after believing I had reached the end of the trail.


BUT...what the heck does the bolded phrase mean???? How MANY orders of magnitude? I'm finding this term, along with "exponentially" , as two of the most meaningless terms in discussions such as those on C-D. All either one now means is "a whole bunch"; since, taken literally, they almost never apply in real life. Why not assign a real number to the population being discussed?
Let's say 200 people swim in a pool on a given day. Would that mean 2000 use the trail? No, since the value given was 'orderS' of magnitude MORE, it must mean 200x10x10(at least), so we're looking at 20,000 per day on the trail???

If I've told you once, I've told you a million times...DON'T EXAGGERATE!!!

[Trainwreck20]

It could be fractions of orders of magnitude, then it could still be less than 100x, although it would need to be more than 10x.

Ofc, over the year, the pool will often not get used at all, so maybe the 100x WOULD apply .

And remember, exponentially can mean a fractional or even negative exponent, so it is not necessarily exaggerating, it is just completely without meaning....

[scm53]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

If I've told you once, I've told you a million times...DON'T EXAGGERATE!!!

Like this?

Originally Posted by buffettjr

This trail will remove the community scar that is I-35 from the equation, reunite east and west in one way ...

What it is going to unite is Travis Heights and the rapidly gentrifying areas of west Riverside Dr. This is a RE development play, pure and simple. It has nothing to do with any altruism, reunification, equity, justice or any other buzzwords.

Remember,

And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!