King William District/Southtown (Austin, Highland Park: houses, neighborhoods, to buy)

[rgb123]

It's not walkable. It's walkable within southtown itself. But having friends in town, they want to see the Riverwalk, what I'm saying is it's not an easy walk to the nightlife that is downtown, where my out of town guests would like to see, and the parking downtown is an issue. It's only about a mile away and there is just no easy way to do a Saturday night when I have guests in town. cabs or expensive parking are usually involved. Perhaps there is something I don't know, if not, please do tell.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by sapphire

I'm a happy suburbanite. No worries. And, I'm free to post as long as it's not against the TOS, so have a superfine day.

The diversity you speak of should not "push out the lower income people".

Wow, way to revive a very old comment.

In any case, it's not urbanism but gentrification that pushes lower income people out. There are pros and cons to gentrification: former inner city ghettos become desirable places to live; long time residents find it more expensive to live there. Many do find ways to stay, thanks to some tax programs allowing people who've owned their home for generations to not be subjected to the same tax increases AND programs to assist with restoration of historic homes. Doesn't work for all, but it does for some. And yes, in the past three years, there has been a large development of mixed-income housing which allows for both market rate and subsidized. Our neighborhood in particular is dedicated to keeping the area diverse economically. It's what most of us like about the area and why we came here.

When I wrote that, 3 years ago, I knew of a number of residents who'd recently died, and their kids decided to cash in by selling off their property at the height of pricing. Buyers typically were flippers. I also knew of a number of owners who hiked their rentals up substantially around that time. Since then, I've met many more who are what we'd consider lower income (but stable incomes, stable families) who've managed to work with the tax system to stay in their homes. There was a program that allowed grandfathering, I presume that's still in effect.

The great thing about many of these districts, is that it's not all high end. There's still a great deal of diversity both from long time residents and lower-middle income residents who bought run-down houses to restore who may not be able to afford fully restored houses. House prices in Lavaca are definitely higher now than they were when we bought in 2004 (and that was higher than just a few years before when the Courts were still up), but you can still find some fixer-uppers. To buy a fully-restored home in Southtown will cost you a fair bit, and indeed our house (and property) has at least tripled in value according to the tax people even though it's not fully restored yet. So yes, it's not cheap (we couldn't afford to buy our house now at it's current value, given the renovations still to be done), but that also doesn't mean it's all upper-income folks.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by rgb123

It's not walkable. It's walkable within southtown itself. But having friends in town, they want to see the Riverwalk, what I'm saying is it's not an easy walk to the nightlife that is downtown, where my out of town guests would like to see, and the parking downtown is an issue. It's only about a mile away and there is just no easy way to do a Saturday night when I have guests in town. cabs or expensive parking are usually involved. Perhaps there is something I don't know, if not, please do tell.

I guess it's all relative but I have a hard time believing that a mile is not a walkable distance for a healthy adult. We live in Lavaca and walk downtown ALL THE TIME. A mile = about 15-20 minutes walk, depending on the heat (and how fast or slow my 4 yr old is walking).

[dvlpr]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Wow, way to revive a very old comment.

In any case, it's not urbanism but gentrification that pushes lower income people out. There are pros and cons to gentrification: former inner city ghettos become desirable places to live; long time residents find it more expensive to live there. Many do find ways to stay, thanks to some tax programs allowing people who've owned their home for generations to not be subjected to the same tax increases AND programs to assist with restoration of historic homes. Doesn't work for all, but it does for some. And yes, in the past three years, there has been a large development of mixed-income housing which allows for both market rate and subsidized. Our neighborhood in particular is dedicated to keeping the area diverse economically. It's what most of us like about the area and why we came here.

When I wrote that, 3 years ago, I knew of a number of residents who'd recently died, and their kids decided to cash in by selling off their property at the height of pricing. Buyers typically were flippers. I also knew of a number of owners who hiked their rentals up substantially around that time. Since then, I've met many more who are what we'd consider lower income (but stable incomes, stable families) who've managed to work with the tax system to stay in their homes. There was a program that allowed grandfathering, I presume that's still in effect.

The great thing about many of these districts, is that it's not all high end. There's still a great deal of diversity both from long time residents and lower-middle income residents who bought run-down houses to restore who may not be able to afford fully restored houses. House prices in Lavaca are definitely higher now than they were when we bought in 2004 (and that was higher than just a few years before when the Courts were still up), but you can still find some fixer-uppers. To buy a fully-restored home in Southtown will cost you a fair bit, and indeed our house (and property) has at least tripled in value according to the tax people even though it's not fully restored yet. So yes, it's not cheap (we couldn't afford to buy our house now at it's current value, given the renovations still to be done), but that also doesn't mean it's all upper-income folks.

Excellent post; very well said (as always).

[dvlpr]

Originally Posted by rgb123

It's not walkable. It's walkable within southtown itself. But having friends in town, they want to see the Riverwalk, what I'm saying is it's not an easy walk to the nightlife that is downtown, where my out of town guests would like to see, and the parking downtown is an issue. It's only about a mile away and there is just no easy way to do a Saturday night when I have guests in town. cabs or expensive parking are usually involved. Perhaps there is something I don't know, if not, please do tell.

It's one-half mile from the corner of S. Alamo & S. St. Mary's to the Riverwalk. Is a half-mile really not a walkable distance?

And while the parking downtown isn't "free", it's hardly expensive (plenty of spaces less than $10). Even so, what we often do (when we don't take VIA) is park on the street in King William neighborhood or the River north area and walk to wherever it is we're going downtown. There's abundant parking in both those areas. And a 15-minute walk makes you feel better after margaritas and enchiladas.

[BenjaminNicholas]

Originally Posted by dvlpr

It's one-half mile from the corner of S. Alamo & S. St. Mary's to the Riverwalk. Is a half-mile really not a walkable distance?

And while the parking downtown isn't "free", it's hardly expensive (plenty of spaces less than $10). Even so, what we often do (when we don't take VIA) is park on the street in King William neighborhood or the River north area and walk to wherever it is we're going downtown. There's abundant parking in both those areas. And a 15-minute walk makes you feel better after margaritas and enchiladas.

Agreed. If you can't deal with $10 parking, try living in a larger city where an 'early bird' special will get you in before 7am and out before noon at the bargain price of $35. Or, how about valet for just $75/night (as per the Marriott Marquis, Times Square).

Moderator cut: off-topic/personal Walking around downtown, parking downtown and generally just enjoying this fine city isn't that expensive to do... It simply takes some initiative to get out of the suburbs. *gasp*




BN

[jwebtx]

Expensive parking in San Antonio? Wow. You can park valet @ most hotels here for under $20. That is freaking valet.

Moderator cut: off topic/personal

[rgb123]

thanks guys, very nice attitude. And I was referring to the comfort of my out of town guests, not myself, who are not wearing gym shoes, an ipod and sweats. I don't live on the corner of St. Mary's and Alamo.

It's fine for me for a walk around town, but not for hitting the nightlife downtown, especially not with my guests when they are wearing heels and dresses.

It's a nice place. It's not perfect.

[rgb123]

Originally Posted by Chaka

I guess it's all relative but I have a hard time believing that a mile is not a walkable distance for a healthy adult. We live in Lavaca and walk downtown ALL THE TIME. A mile = about 15-20 minutes walk, depending on the heat (and how fast or slow my 4 yr old is walking).

like I said, I walk it all the time. But it's not ideal for my guests from out of town on a Saturday night.

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by sapphire

When something is "subsidized" it means that the people can't pay their own way. It's a vicious trap people fall into, matty. Like it or not, believe it or not, makes no difference to me.

Where did I say I don't like low income people? Quit harping on that, I never said it nor implied it. I simply quoted an actual resident of Southtown who said they are "unfortunately" driving long-time, lower-income residents out, due to higher property taxes. She said it, not me. Be pissed at her, not me. And yes, it was a whopping 3 years ago, so it's probably even worse now.

It's not individual buyers of homes in gentrified areas that are pushing people out of their neighborhoods in San Antonio or any other city in Texas. Rather it is the overreliance on property taxes that is integral to our tax revenue scheme that is at fault. If we had a state income tax that shifted this burden away from property taxes it wouldn't be an issue like it is today.

And you might want to do a check on all things subsidized, like the cost of tuition at all of the state universities. If you don't like that in principal send you kid to a private university for $40k/year.

As far as King William was concerned I was pretty impressed after driving through it a couple of weeks ago. The only thing that I've seen in this area of the country that can compete with it architecturally and historically are select parts of old New Orleans. There isn't an equivalent area to this in Austin, not with that density of early period homes.