Mueller Project (Austin, West, Rice: custom home, neighborhoods, living)

[gpurcell]

Man, that's a brutal draw for schools.

[Melissa78703]

Originally Posted by austifornian

You are not alone. Smaller lots are one of the cornerstones of new urbanism. Smaller yards not only translate into less work, they also allow for houses to be built closer together which in turn makes it easier to create walkable neighborhoods. A good play structure in a 1 acre public park works much better than 50 swingsets in the backyards of 50 half acre lots.

I'm with you, 100 percent! The neighborhood I live in has small lots of small lots and is very walkable. I grew up in neighborhoods like this; my grandparents lived in neighborhoods like this as well. Loved the neighborhood parks, too. Those were just the greatest -- it was a special treat, getting to play on the swings and on the tennis courts. Neighbors were really your neighbors, and there was a sense of community, unlike the big McHouses in the McSprawl I've seen in, um, certain parts of the Austin area.

We considered Mueller, and the only thing that made me hesitate was the price point. I'm not convinced that these homes will go up in value anytime soon and in fact, the project might fail abysmally. The quality of the schools are irrelevant to us -- we don't have kids -- but good schools attract good neighbors, and good neighbors can make all of the difference in perceived land value.

It just wasn't worth taking that chance.

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by gpurcell

Man, that's a brutal draw for schools.

Go private for K-6th or K-8th and then Kealing and then LASA or McCallum Fine Arts. Or just apply for a transfer at elementary. Ridgetop is close by and now has dual language.

[homeinatx]

OK. I hate Mueller. Massive opportunity for interesting new urbanism and currently huge FAIL. The pools are great, as is the proximity to much of what makes Austin Austin, and the Sunday farmer's market is one of the best in the city.

Otherwise tragic: the retail is all suburban big box. Is there a single independent shop or restaurant in the entire development? The town center is delayed indefinitely.

There are perhaps 5 architecturally attractive houses in the neighborhood, which will cost you 650K plus. Everything else is cookie cutter: a slice of Round Rock in Central Austin without yards.

So you get all the horrors of suburban living - grotesque cheaply built new house with no design or craft values, no space, no mature trees, and you still have to drive everywhere; and then all the horrors of urban living - congestion, noise from Airport Boulevard and I35, with none of the charm or amenities. While I think in twenty years, it MIGHT be better, RIGHT NOW you have the worst of both worlds: no space, crappy schools, no good walkable restaurants or nightlife. GHASTLY.

If you want an urban life on the East side, look south of Airport - north of 38 and a half street in Wilshire Woods you will find beautiful 1950s mid century modern houses built out of Austin limestone - not the crappy stone cladding you find in Mueller, on quarter acre lots with hundred year old Post Oaks zoned to the same schools. South of 38 and and a half charming 1930s bungalows in walking distance to some of the best restaurants, bars and live theater in Austin on Manor Road.

Unless you want a big new house with textured walls to cover up the fact that the undocumented worker who built it had no clue how to plaster or drywall, and why should he? -he was not even being paid minimum wage, in a very ugly treeless development that is pretending to be new urbanism, more like faux urbanism, why live there? If you want an urban experience on the east side, you can get better and cheaper housing south of Mueller, and if you want suburban living you can get better and cheaper housing north??

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by homeinatx

OK. I hate Mueller. Massive opportunity for interesting new urbanism and currently huge FAIL. The pools are great, as is the proximity to much of what makes Austin Austin, and the Sunday farmer's market is one of the best in the city.

Otherwise tragic: the retail is all suburban big box. Is there a single independent shop or restaurant in the entire development? The town center is delayed indefinitely.

There are perhaps 5 architecturally attractive houses in the neighborhood, which will cost you 650K plus. Everything else is cookie cutter: a slice of Round Rock in Central Austin without yards.

So you get all the horrors of suburban living - grotesque cheaply built new house with no design or craft values, no space, no mature trees, and you still have to drive everywhere; and then all the horrors of urban living - congestion, noise from Airport Boulevard and I35, with none of the charm or amenities. While I think in twenty years, it MIGHT be better, RIGHT NOW you have the worst of both worlds: no space, crappy schools, no good walkable restaurants or nightlife. GHASTLY.

If you want an urban life on the East side, look south of Airport - north of 38 and a half street in Wilshire Woods you will find beautiful 1950s mid century modern houses built out of Austin limestone - not the crappy stone cladding you find in Mueller, on quarter acre lots with hundred year old Post Oaks zoned to the same schools. South of 38 and and a half charming 1930s bungalows in walking distance to some of the best restaurants, bars and live theater in Austin on Manor Road.

Unless you want a big new house with textured walls to cover up the fact that the undocumented worker who built it had no clue how to plaster or drywall, and why should he? -he was not even being paid minimum wage, in a very ugly treeless development that is pretending to be new urbanism, more like faux urbanism, why live there? If you want an urban experience on the east side, you can get better and cheaper housing south of Mueller, and if you want suburban living you can get better and cheaper housing north??

A few counter points. Town center wasnt delayed indefinitely. It's under construction right now. Drive around and see if you like. So in 5 years I think most of your other points go away. As for being treeless...it was a airport...it started out treeless, no getting around that one. But the tree planting has been fairly impressive and the older parts already have nice trees coming...again only cure for that is time.

As for lack of amenities, well, again all that is coming but in the meantime its still in central Austin and that means short drives or bikes to just about anything you want to do in Austin. So no, it's not the same as being in RoundRkck, not by about 40 mile round trip or so.

Also you can build interesting architecture and custom builds for 200sf and sell for 300sf but you can't sell 5,000 house of such. Mueller has shot for a middle ground because that's where the market it. The nice thing is the builders are generally good ones building quality homes (if ot fancy) and the porches out front, short setbacks, alleys and garages in the back make for a really nice place to be. It will take years to develop the patina of an older neighborhood - no way around that.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by homeinatx

OK. I hate Mueller. Massive opportunity for interesting new urbanism and currently huge FAIL. The pools are great, as is the proximity to much of what makes Austin Austin, and the Sunday farmer's market is one of the best in the city.

Otherwise tragic: the retail is all suburban big box. Is there a single independent shop or restaurant in the entire development? The town center is delayed indefinitely.

There are perhaps 5 architecturally attractive houses in the neighborhood, which will cost you 650K plus. Everything else is cookie cutter: a slice of Round Rock in Central Austin without yards.

So you get all the horrors of suburban living - grotesque cheaply built new house with no design or craft values, no space, no mature trees, and you still have to drive everywhere; and then all the horrors of urban living - congestion, noise from Airport Boulevard and I35, with none of the charm or amenities. While I think in twenty years, it MIGHT be better, RIGHT NOW you have the worst of both worlds: no space, crappy schools, no good walkable restaurants or nightlife. GHASTLY.

If you want an urban life on the East side, look south of Airport - north of 38 and a half street in Wilshire Woods you will find beautiful 1950s mid century modern houses built out of Austin limestone - not the crappy stone cladding you find in Mueller, on quarter acre lots with hundred year old Post Oaks zoned to the same schools. South of 38 and and a half charming 1930s bungalows in walking distance to some of the best restaurants, bars and live theater in Austin on Manor Road.

Unless you want a big new house with textured walls to cover up the fact that the undocumented worker who built it had no clue how to plaster or drywall, and why should he? -he was not even being paid minimum wage, in a very ugly treeless development that is pretending to be new urbanism, more like faux urbanism, why live there? If you want an urban experience on the east side, you can get better and cheaper housing south of Mueller, and if you want suburban living you can get better and cheaper housing north??

Mueller is a good use of the land that was previously there. It was an airport with fields so obviously there won't be a lot of trees. In 20 years there will be plenty of shady trees. It is close to downtown, and it is infill. It's not perfect but it is a good choice for many people that don't want to spend most of their day commuting but still want a decent house.

There's a lot worse than Mueller you know.

[mayfair44]

Originally Posted by homeinatx

Otherwise tragic: the retail is all suburban big box. Is there a single independent shop or restaurant in the entire development? The town center is delayed indefinitely.

If you want an urban life on the East side, look south of Airport - north of 38 and a half street in Wilshire Woods you will find beautiful 1950s mid century modern houses built out of Austin limestone - not the crappy stone cladding you find in Mueller, on quarter acre lots with hundred year old Post Oaks zoned to the same schools. South of 38 and and a half charming 1930s bungalows in walking distance to some of the best restaurants, bars and live theater in Austin on Manor Road.

If you want an urban experience on the east side, you can get better and cheaper housing south of Mueller, and if you want suburban living you can get better and cheaper housing north??

I agree, the [retail] giant waste of space btwn I35 and Dell Children's is an eyesore. Admit that having the Home Depot there is handy for me, but otherwise, I think to myself, what a waste everytime I cut through there.

WW and FP are gems in their own ways too. I'd think some people either embrace the older charm and potential renovations/upkeep, or simply say "no thanks" and opt for the new, energy efficient, turnkey of Mueller, and are willing to pay for it.

How's the HEB buildout looking?

[Danbo1957]

They're building Mueller too slowly. A house on Camacho street was just sold there for $995,000 (might as well live in Tarrytown) and there is never enough on the market to consider living there anyway.

[tildahat]

Don't have time to comment now (having very mixed feelings about Mueller) but this article is directly relevant to this thread.

Does Decades-Old Mueller Plan Still Measure Up in Changing City? | Boom Town | Austin Post

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by tildahat

Don't have time to comment now (having very mixed feelings about Mueller) but this article is directly relevant to this thread.

Does Decades-Old Mueller Plan Still Measure Up in Changing City? | Boom Town | Austin Post

While you'll never find me disgagreeing with the folks who say Mueller should be denser, these people often gloss over the fact that when built out Mueller will be the densest neighborhood in Austin with more residents and a greater variety of services than even West Campus.

But if Catellus and the city want to make it even denser, then fantastic! Most mueller residents would be well in favor of this. The issue isn't Mueller or Catellus, it's the surrounding neighborhoods that fear increased traffic impacting their neighborhood. That Austin continually listens and curries favor to such NIMBYism is the number one problem in this city. But the blame does not lie with Catellus or Mueller, the blame lies with the ANC and the politicians who cave to their every whim.

Also, Mueller is in year 6 of a 20 year build out. And the world hit a serious financial slide in 2008 that killed many ambitious real estate projects all over the US and lasted about 5 years. I'd say they're doing pretty good considering.