Forget downtown - the east side is shaping up as the most enticing urban future in Austin. Who wants to live in a suburb-in-the-sky condo tower sitting on top of a parking garage with no street front retail? Might as well be in Round Rock. The various condo projects shaping up on the east side--mostly 3 to 5-story vertical-mixed-use structures with street front retail--create a much more pleasant urban neighborhood environment. Those close to the pending 5th and Comal rail stop may even let you live the dream--car free in Austin!

Now if only the heathens could be convinced to end the segregation, tear down I-35 and bring back the old East Avenue.

Picture from Hailey Johnson Architects