‘Smart Growth’ or Debacle?
- At June 20, 2012
- By SLNA Admin
- In City of Austin, Development
0
We are on the brink of incredible change in SLNA, and our once pastoral, quiet, little neighborhood is quickly being transformed. Transformed into what? We don’t yet know. On the one hand is the ideal of “Smart Growth”: compact, walkable urban areas of sustainable housing and open space where community is nurtured in concert with the existing neighborhood. On the other hand is development run roughshod, where every available square inch is paved over to maximize density and profit. In SLNA, the ball is rolling, but we don’t know in what direction. Whether we end up looking like an urban planner’s glossy flyer, or simply a bunch of condos and houses all crammed in together is yet to be seen. A few rain barrels does not “Smart Growth” make.
In SLNA we sit squarely in the “Desired Development Zone”: 
This yellow area on the map is the urban core that the city of Austin has designated for major growth. You have already seen the large number of development projects starting up on South Lamar. This development is not stopping at our neighborhood boundaries!
We have already seen one neighbor on Del Curto sustain substantial flood damage due to new development. The flood cleanup alone cost over $15,000 out-of-pocket, and the situation is not yet resolved. How this legal entanglement will unfold is not clear. The flood potential at the site still exists, leaving the homeowner in limbo.
On Del Curto alone, there are 7 large properties where development is either taking place or soon could be. How will this affect our neighborhood? What infrastructure improvements need to be made to sustain the cumulative impact of all of these developments? How will this affect flooding along Del Curto and Cinnamon Path? Will you be building a sandbag wall? How will this affect traffic and other issues of public safety?
If you’d like to hear more about the current developments being planned in our neighborhood, meet your neighbors and share your opinions, please join us for our neighborhood meeting tomorrow night, Thursday, June 21 at 7PM. The meeting is taking place at the Faith United Methodist Church at 2701 South Lamar Blvd. We will be in classroom Alpha-2.
We hope to see you there!
Summer is Here!
- At June 15, 2012
- By SLNA Admin
- In City of Austin, Crime
- 0
And unfortunately that means more break-ins in SLNA are likely to occur. We’ve already had reports from a few neighbors about cars and homes being broken into, and of suspicious ‘security alarm salesmen’ going door-to-door. This is a good time to remind everyone to be on the lookout for suspicious activity. If you see something in progress, please call 911. If you feel something is amiss but don’t feel it is of an emergency nature, then call 311 to report it. In either case, let your neighbors know.
This is a good time to get on the South Lamar Yahoo group email list to share and get updates on this type of information. Visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SouthLamarNA/ for more information.
Austin Police Department provides a Crime Viewer utility where you can see what crimes have occurred in your area. Find that site here: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/GIS/crimeviewer/CrimeViewer_disclaimer.html.
Another useful sight is Jack Darby’s Krimelabb. Many of you remember Jack from our April 2012 SLNA meeting where he talked to us about the valuable services that Krimelabb provides. Visit Krimelabb here: http://www.krimelabb.com, and get up-to-date Krimelabb tweets at: https://twitter.com/#!/krimelabb. Krimelabb just tweeted some interesting news and also posted a security alert about these ‘salesmen’.
Remember to lock your doors and windows, and keep valuables out of sight!
