December 13, 2006
WalMart Will Wait
Councilmember Mike Martinez' office sent out a press release this afternoon saying that Austin city council and WalMart have come to an agreement that WalMart will suspend development at the Northcross location for 60 days. This news comes before the council meeting tomorrow where councilmembers were certain to hear about the Northcross debacle. There have been many mixed signals on this whole deal, and this suspension leaves time for the council and residents of the neighborhoods affected to discuss the proposed store.
Tomorrow the council will discuss a proposal which would make "big box" stores go through a more rigorous screening process before development starts. If our city truly wants to discourage "big box" development, this proposed process would help do just that.
Photo by K.E.B. on flickr
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Two WHOLE months?! jeepers. They really are pillars of the community and willing to work with us then. Wow. I take it all back. Wal Mart is teh bomb and not teh suck.
The horse is out! Quick, close the barn doors!
I never understood the concerns that the "Smart-Growth for Northcross" folks preached. As I see it:
1) It's not like Wal-Mart is building a store on undeveloped land.
2) The city is over-taxing property owners, and passing propositions which sales taxes could help pay for (i.e. A Huge New Wal-Mart).
3) I bet those North-Crossers don't mind going to Wal-Mart down south, where we have 6 of them, so why not reduce overall Austin traffic and put a Wal-Mart near y'all?
The fact of the matter is that neighborhoods should not have the final word if a business is moving in. That is the system we live under, and it seems to benefit most everybody. To be honest, I hate Wal-Mart. I been there a total of 4 times in my entire life (21 years). Let the people of Austin decide if Wal-Mart is right for them by either shopping there or not. If Wal-Mart is truly an undefeatable vice, well that just tells you the nature of humans these days. If people truly hate Wal-Mart, then they'll stop building them.
As shocked as I am, I agree with Stewie.
Walmart and Lincoln have an approved site plan.
They've complied with all City requirements.
Anderson Lane and Burnet Road and that road at the back of the mall are all at least 4 lane roads.
It isn't in a neighborhood. It was a mall that had movies and booze after midnight at one time.
A big retail development.
No, I won't be shopping there. I don't shop at WalMart. Or malls.
But if you don't like WalMart, don't shop there.
They'll go out of business like much of the mall did and someone else will move in.
The problem isn't WalMart, it's all the people who have moved and will move to Austin.
That's what's ruining Austin. All you newcomers in the last 20 years.
yeah! all you f'ing californians or something. I mean. I don't shop at walmart but I have a friend that does. yeah. A friend see. and that friend likes to hang with another chick and a dude and shop at walmart cuz that's what gets her motor running. and if that other friend would have just karate chopped that sign with his leg like I said then walmart would have never moved in. the end.
ps. f the cali bastards.
pps. walmart can suck it.
ppps. I love walmart.
pppps. walmart blows.
ppppps. thanks for the partay.
This whole Walmart ordeal cracks me up. The Anderson Lane/Northcross Mall area is one of the uglier strip center sections in town, and yet we have all this community hatred towards Walmart opening up there.
Where was the outrage when all of the rest of those ugly-ass stores opened up on Anderson? From what I read, Walmart actually wants to build a nice looking store there, so it may be an improvement to the current eyesore of a shopping plaza. Who knows?
Comments like Tarvin's remind me to stay humble, because even a beautiful democratic city like Austin can be full of stuck up pieces of shit.
I hate Wal-Mart too, and wish somebody else wanted to move in. They don't.
But I hate these neighborhoods even more. They:
1. Ruined the city's most important route for commuting bicyclists, costing the entire city a million bucks in the bargain). Their reward for screwing all of us? Brand new sidewalks at another couple hundred grand. Go to my crackplog and see the category "Shoal Creek Debacle".
2. The fuckers in Crestview voted against light rail in 2000 - screwing the whole city. Now the (much shittier) 2004 commuter rail line _still_ goes through their backyards, but the rest of the city gets nothing for it.
3. They're lying when they say they want nice high-density urban development in Northcross. All efforts to do the same in the past at this and other nearby locations have been opposed by these same neighborhood organizations. Anyways, there isn't sufficient residential density to support good urban retail here - so nobody's going to come in and do it even if you ask really nicely. This Wal-Mart plan is actually about as high-quality a project as you could possibly expect in the middle of such low-quality car-dependent low-density 1950s-style sprawl.
These neighborhoods have been pandered to enough already. Unfortunately, thanks to term-limiting, the irresponsible council-members who are signing us up for a lawsuit that, once again, the ENTIRE CITY WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR, won't even be in office when the northcross hits the fan.
M1EK, isn't Crestview full of old people? Like retirees and shit? They can't have much longer to go.
Just be patient, is all I'm saying.
Neighborhoods should have veto power over large businesses that will undeniably have an impact on their lives. Furthermore, a city council should have the right to reject or ask for amendments to any corporate charter that wants to do business within its purview. To argue otherwise because it's the current system, or because it 'seems' to work is pretty flawed, especially since that view is limited to the commenter's personal belief and perspective. The 'corporations are bad' mentality has become such a hackneyed attribute of our generation, that it’s now fodder for stereotype humor. But seriously, the nature of a corporation means that it is more powerful than a private citizen, yet has none of the responsibility. City council and neighborhood associations/citizen watchdog groups should be the checks and balances, with the mayor's office splitting deadlocks with informed decisions. But maybe that's impossible.
Benji,
So if the owner of this plot was a rancher (not a corporation) wanting to sell it to a one-guy company (not a corporation) who wanted to build a 600,000 square foot one-level standard suburban sprawl strip, it'd be OK, because there wouldn't be big corporations involved?
Of course not. The interest of the city is in the eocnomic activity (benefits) and the corresponding costs. In this case, a shopping center which covers an entire lot with asphalt isn't generating squat for the city (of course, neither is the surrounding low-density single-family 1950s sprawl, all things considered). How long should the rest of the city cover the payments so that the neighbors nearby get to enjoy the empty shell of a former mall?
Benji -
Sounds great. Which neighborhood association or watchdog group do I join to support the Walmart development? Because for all the reasons listed above and more, the Walmart plan makes complete sense to me.
If the people in Crestview didn't want Wal-Mart there, they should have done something years ago when the mall was put in place. They didn't seem to have a problem with an ugly, crappy shopping building then and letting it get zoned for exactly what Wal-Mart is. Having selective veto power is not the answer. I'm guessing if it were a Neiman Marcus or Saks they would have had no issue with it. My guess is that they don't really like the clients that frequent Wal-Mart and the fact that it will be open 24 hours more than they just don't want the store there. Like M1EK mentioned, they screwed everyone out of great commuter options. Karma can be a bitch.
M1EK, you're opinion is obviously biased by the fact that items you wanted passed in the past failed due to the folks in my neighborhood. So, it's pretty difficult to believe you have any kind of objectivity in your position on this issue. That said, I think I've already made this point clear in your blog, but you just keep running your mouth (err, fingers) assuming you know how everyone in my neighborhood thinks.
Not everyone here thinks a Walmart is a bad idea at the Northcross location. (some do, but they are living in a dream world if they think Walmart is just going to walk away) It's the size of the proposed Walmart that concerns us, or more specifically the traffic that will be generated by such a structure.
Items that the Northcross neighborhood voted on in the past that you didn't agree with are irrelevant. Walmart's issues as a company are irrelevant. Simply explain to me how Burnet and Anderson will support a structure bigger than Cabela's without becoming an absolute mess. Hell even Mopac and Anderson regularly backs up, it'll be insane after this monster goes in..
Crestview and Allandale do not care about for black people.
Marty,
They're pretty damn relevant - considering how much your neighborhoods COST the city (including me), and considering that you now expect your panderers at the City Council to sign up the whole city (including me) for a big legal bill to fight an unwinnable fight, considering Wal-Mart and Lincoln Properties have a slam-dunk case here.
Northcross is a bad location for this 200,000 square foot Walmart for the same reason it was a bad location for a mall: It's in the middle of a neighborhood and not on a highway, for all of the traffic it generates to hop on and off. Notice that nobody is complaining about the 1.7 million square foot Dominion development just a few miles north - because it's in the right place, fronting Mopac and Braker and in a largely commercial/warehouse region.
The City Council had their chance to rezone Northcross over the last x number of years. Sadly, they didn't, and now everyone in the area has very limited options on how northcross redevelopment will occur.
Again with the bogus "middle of a neighborhood" and "not on a highway" arguments.
1. It's not in the middle of a neighborhood. It's in the middle of a bunch of other low-density retail.
2. It's far better in the long-run for us to stop building major attractors (retail and office) on frontage roads - as I've pointed out before, you're guaranteeing that everybody has to drive there in their own car (it's nigh-impossible to deliver good transit service on freeway frontage roads). Other states wouldn't dream of putting a Wal-Mart on an interstate; it'd be on a major arterial. Like Anderson and Burnet.
M1EK, Walmart was the one that decided to wait 60 days based on the community outcry, NOT the city.
Now, not only am I looking for an explanation on the traffic issue I brought up (which you decided to ignore with more irrelevant filler about your bitter experiences from the past), but I am also looking for one on how exactly Walmart is going to sue the city for a 60 day moratorium that Walmart themselves put in place. I think your getting a bit ahead of yourself with that theory.
marty,
I don't care about the additional traffic; the city analysis shows it merely brings the major arterials in the area back up to where they were when Northcross was an actual lively mall; and where most center-city roads already are.
As for the lawsuit - that is assuming the city eventually rejects Lincoln's plan for the site, and Lincoln sues over it, which I very much hope they do. The panderers at the city council have absolutely no case here; and it disgusts me that they're willing to put all taxpayers on the hook like this in order to provide even more undeserved political payback to a set of neighborhoods which have done so much to keep necessary changes from happening in the past.
I think this is a worthless attempt for those folks that live by Northcross to act "south austin" and reject Wal-Mart. It's pretty lame how opposing Wal-Mart has become trendy.
Go back to your shanties North Austinites.
I wasn't sure how I felt about this, until I realized how big the Walmart was going to be.
It will be bigger than Cabelas in Buda. Cabelas is the 2nd biggest retail store in Central Texas, only slightly smaller than the new Ikea in Round Rock.
Two stories and a huge parking garage. I can't believe they would try to put something that huge in the middle of a city. The traffic?!
At least the other stores are off of a major highway. Not in residential areas. Plus it's Walmart. Do we really want another one?
Two things:
1. If you don't have anything contructive to say about Wal-Mart coming to Northcross, don't say anything at all. It's wonderful to see how everyone feels, stating the pros and cons, but it's also appalling when I see comments like Stew's.
2. I would like to see where you are getting your facts about traffic in the area, M1EK.
Are you people clones or what?
It's far better for the city if the workers (who don't make much money) can arrive via bus or even bike. That's fundamentally not possible on a highway frontage road - it's impossible to deliver good transit service, and the road crossings are so few and far between that it's even hard to bike on or across these things.
In other states, big stores are almost NEVER directly on freeways - they are almost ALWAYS on major arterial roadways JUST LIKE ANDERSON LANE AND BURNET ROAD
It wasn't clear to me that the city council planned to stop this particular development. My understanding was that they planned to discuss it and possibly impose stricter procedures on similar (100,000+ sqft) future developments. That seems like a good idea to me if we, as a city, want to make it less likely that such developments get built.
Regarding this development, I was never particularly opposed to a Wal-Mart being built at this location. It just bothered me that Wal-Mart was misrepresenting this store as "urban," while the plans clearly indicated that this would be a suburban (car-centric) development.
I would love to see Wal-Mart build something truly urban here. Put the building right up against the street with a wide sidewalk and pedestrian entrances. Add a floor of office space and a few floors of Wal-Mart branded condos on top.
Wal-Mart is the pinnacle of the suburban lifestyle. If they could successful transition into something truly urban, it would be a wonderful sight to see.
Chieu,
From the city's TIA; not one of the intersections surrounding the area gets worse than LOS D; most stay much better. Compare/contrast to the stuff most of us in central Austin have to deal with, and even WITH the Wal-Mart, your traffic still won't be that bad.
Yeah, Mopac/Anderson backs up during rush hour. So does every other road with an on-ramp south of 183. Big whoop.
Shawn,
This goes back to the move towards form-based zoning, in my view. Like you, I'd love to see a multi-story, arterial-fronted, building (and would then prefer a local store, then a Target, and only LAST a Wal-Mart); but tenants come and go; the important thing is the building.
However, even the half-assed building they're currently proposing is better than most big boxes, including many in more central parts of town, has good transit accessibility (thanks to the transfer center being on Northcross Blvd), and is approximately one trillion times better than the existing mall. Plus, it generates some actual revenue to pay the city back for all the previous, expensive, pandering they've done to these neighborhoods.
But the neighborhood probably knows (correctly) that Wal-Mart's the only one that wants in - so if they can stop this particular tenant, the building won't get built. Thing is, no matter what you or I want, the mixed-use high-density pedestrian-oriented retail isn't going to get built here; there aren't nearly enough people within walking distance, and there are enough superior options nearby for the automobile drivers to make this kind of thing obviously unprofitable.
I live in Brentwood, close enough to the Northcross situation to have a vested interest in the outcome. I consider myself to live in Central Austin being that I'm around 45th and Lamar --- no further from the city center than many who consider themselves south austinites. I fail to see how my neighborhood differs much from those in Travis Heights, Hyde Park, University Hills, etc. Same bungalow, same relative age, similar demographic population (at least in my neck of the woods...by the Omlettry). I also am not "old." I DO bike just about everywhere and find that the area is very biker friendly. Now that I have evidently qualified myself as worthy of posting...
Would your reactions to us supposed suburbanites be any different if there was a movement to plant a Wal-Mart on South Lamar, say where the Peter Pan is located...after all it is a major artery, right? Regardless of whatever these "old" folks have done to get you bent out of shape, it shouldn't matter who it is that is opposing a behemoth structure in their own backyard. To separate the "cool" south austinites from the north austin folk is counterproductive. Sure, the Crestview residents should've/could've taken up arms when the original Northcross was built, but they didn't. Why should that penalize them now? The current Wal-Mart opposition, in my opinion, is both a very real threat and symbolic of the community sentiment that enough is enough.
The fight is not about just this one Wal-Mart, but the incredible and unnecessary development that many in our city aren't comfortable with. I applaud any group who can gather enough support to get the city council's ear and, if nothing else, allow the citizens voice's to be heard.
Shilli,
The site plan is approved. It was reviewed by City staff and met all zoning and technical requirements. Unless something was overlooked, the site plan can't be contested.
Josh,
My point was badly made. Hell, it wasn't even made.
But my point is...Austin's decreasing quality of life,
whether it be traffic congestion, air pollution, loss of open and green space, skyrocketing taxes and cost of living due to real estate appreciation, etc. is all due to growth. Population growth.
More people, primarily due to inmigration.
If we don't want the stretch from Georgetown to San Antonio completely developed, we have to get a handle on population growth.
I hope I'm wrong, but I believe no amount of urban planning or design can counter the growth that is projected. It might lessen the impacts somewhat, but the impacts will still be felt.
Of course, there is also the issue at a global scale of population growth also in terms of resource depletion and degradation of the global environment.
Have a nice day y'all. Smile at someone you don't know today.
To my knowledge there isn't a multi-acre parking lot with a 100K+ sq. ft. building already on the Peter Pan location. I know where there is such a location though, and its already zoned for what Wal-Mart is building. Its called Northcross Mall in North Austin where the roads were desinged to support traffic flow for a highly active mall and surrounding retail areas - some refer to it as Anderson and Burnet.
M1EK, Walmarts in other states aren't on freeways because freeways in other states don't have frontage roads, just exits. I can't think of another walmart supercenter in Texas that isn't on a frontage road.
Whether or not you like frontage roads, they're here and will continue to be here. Bus lines can and do run on them, and also on the cross streets that intersect those highways.
Again, I urge you to think about the Dominion, currently being built at Braker and Mopac (1.7 million square feet of retail, much larger than the proposed Walmart), the transit options, and traffic impacts of that location.
btw, I've lived in 78704 and north central austin; the only difference in the two is that I can afford a house in Northloop.
And I quote....
'Who are you to determine what is right for Austin and who are you to tell other people that their opinions are incorrect?'
[29] Posted by: Grape Ape | December 5, 2006 12:21 PM in 'CondoMania Continues at Shady ...'
josh and others,
Northloop is car-dependent suburban sprawl; it's just from the 1950s instead of the 1970s, or 1990s, or [...]. The only real urban neighborhoods in this town developed before WWII.
As for frontage roads - they're a BUG, not a feature, and the bus lines that DO run on them are just awful. Consider how far you have to walk to cross the highway from the bus stop on one side to your destination on the other side. Now compare/contrast to buses running on Burnet Road.
(Unlike most people who shoot their mouth off here, I've ridden both - I've ridden the local 183 route, as well as the express routes hundreds of times; as well as the #3 a hundred times or so - there is a dramatic difference in how usable they are because of the fact that one must travel on frontage roads and the other one is on city streets).
1. If Northloop is suburban sprawl, then 78704 is somehow urban Manhattan? Sorry, I'm not buying it. Austin is all low density outside of downtown. Single family houses and 2 or 3 story apartment complexes abound. The population density of the "chosen" south austin neighborhoods is no different, but housing is 2-3 times more expensive because its trendier.
2. You've ridden buses? Wow, how awesome of you. So have I. Can you piss further than the rest of us, too? Buses can run on a frontage road as easily as a major arterial. Distance to walk across a busy major road like Lamar, including turn lanes - 10 lanes. Distance to walk under a three lane highway, including frontage lanes: 12 lanes. People that need or want to take the bus can and do handle the extra 20 feet of walking. Anyone not living in front of a bus stop walks further just to get there.
Josh,
Click on my name at the end of this posting for my awful art project showing the problem with transit service on frontage roads. You have no idea what you're talking about, son.
And Northloop is car-dependent suburban development, yes. When most streets don't have sidewalks and most houses present a garage face to the street rather than a nice big porch, you've got yourself suburban design, whether it was done in 1955 or 1985. 78704 isn't where I was going with "urban", BTW; try Old West Austin, Clarksville, Hyde Park, etc.
All of Austin's problems would be solved by tearing down the capital and in its place building a single 500 story condominium project where every Austin resident would live. Besides, nobody actually uses their yard and anyone that does is wasting *my* tax dollars. You bastards! For optimum density, the condo project should actually be 500,000 stories tall with one condo per floor, but we have to be realistic.
A porch is what makes a place urban? Paging San Francisco, New York, and Boston! You're no longer cities! You lack a porch! Clarksville, Hyde Park, etc are exceptionally low density neighborhoods of nothing but single family houses, with or without porches and garages, none of which cost less than $400,000. Meanwhile, most of the houses in Northloop, like mine, have a front porch but no garage, cost at or less than 200k, and with sidewalks running down Guadalupe, Ave. F, and Duval. Ever been to the area? I guess YOU have no idea what you're talking about, "son."
Josh,
Big porches vs. garages as the street face of a house is a good shorthand for urban vs. suburban design, as far as SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSES go. No, the little concrete pad a lot of 1940s/1950s houses have doesn't count.
And no, most houses up your way don't have big porches, and DO present at BEST a blank face to the street. I live just south of Hyde Park, smart guy. I used to ride my bike through your neighborhood every single day.
Oh, and "urban" requires sidewalks on MOST OR ALL streets, not just the big ones, son. Take a look at the neighborhoods I mentioned - most of the interior streets have sidewalks, not just Lamar or Enfield (or Speedway or Duval).
With no traffic on a side street, who cares if there's a sidewalk?
Go buy a house in Hyde Park then (good luck!) and be happy with it. Newsflash, Hyde Park is suburban in origin and layout too. Don't tell me how big my porch is or should be (wtf? seriously.) Don't tell me that my house or neighborhood doesn't meet your design specifications for "urbanity." Which, as is obvious, has nothing to do with the density and walkability standards of any major city in the world.
M1EK, what's unfortunate about your posts is your obvious dislike (hatred?) of the residents of the Northcross neighborhoods (or anything north of Hyde Park for that matter) over something that happend 6 years ago. Calling Cresview residents "fuckers"? You hope Walmart sues the city even though you (as an Austin resident) would have to help flip the bill!?
Your vengeful attitude (saying we deserve this structure because you endured such injustice in 2000) in your posts shadows the fact that you are correct on some of your points. How do you expect anyone to get behind you when you comment like a 15 year old would, "son"? (How incredibly condescending)
I think feeder roads are a terrible idea, I'm with you all the way on that. We didn't have them where I grew up (a much larger city than Austin) and somehow we got by. Again, I do NOT think a Walmart at Northcross is a bad idea.
I know this will be difficult for you to do (probably impossible), but completely ignoring your history with the neighborhoods around Northcross Mall, do you honestly believe this is a good location for a Walmart Supercenter of this size? Do you not think that perhaps a smaller, more thought out Walmart would be a better choice?
marty,
The same Allandale neighborhood folks that screwed up Shoal Creek, destroying the safety and utility of the primary commuting artery for cyclists, are behind the opposition to this Northcross project. I don't know for sure about the Crestview story, but I have a hard time believing the neighborhood leadership has turned over in a mere 6 years.
As for: Is this a good location for a Walmart supercenter of this size? It's a good location for a large retail building. I'd prefer an Urban Target; but I don't get the choice. The size is not a problem - this is not a large increase from the retail space that was in the mall when it was actually a going concern.
Would I support one closer in? Well, in the late 1990s when I lived in a condo in Clarksville, I was eagerly looking forward to the 6th/Lamar redevelopment plans which included a big theatre and a big urban Target - those two types of trips being the main ones I couldn't walk to at the time. (this was prior to Whole Foods, obviously). I'd also be more thrilled if Costco built a huge building at Northcross or closer in.
Wal-Mart is definitely more evil than those two competitors. That's why I choose not to shop there. But, unfortunately, it does not appear that anybody I like better is interested in the space, so again the choice is between "sucking chest wound" and "suboptimal, but still better than standard suburban design, Wal-Mart".
josh,
As for urbanism: I posted a series of links which shaped my, and essentially most modern planners' definitions of the term, but apparently if you even post a couple links these days, you get sent to moderation limbo. Try googling on "new urbanism" and the Stapleton project in Denver.
Don't use links on Austinist if you want your comments to appear anytime this century if ever.
Edward - if you put a link in your post like this (just copy and paste):
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/News/?oid=oid%3A429467
it should post okay (the site makes it live). I think it's just the html that's blocked for spam reasons.
e,
no, multiple links are a quick trip to moderation limbo. I didn't enter as real html; just put the actual urls.
I went to the meetings about the new transit center. I would estimate that 85% of the neighborhood favored that development which has pretty dense residential and commercial. Most Also most people live in a home for only 4-5 years on average. So most of the people that opposed the 2000 plan dont even live in Crestview anymore. So hating the current residents because of what previous residents did is kind of wierd. Personally I voted for the 2000 plan but didnt live in Crestview at the time. The same goes for most of my friends in the neighborhood against the current Walmart.
The 15% against the transit center are older and the people who are pro Walmart. These are also the residents who have lived in crestview for a long time and were against the original 2000 plan. So basically the people who helped kill the 2000 plan are thrilled with Walmart.
Also this will be a superwalmart its going to have to draw from the entire city to be profitable. So basically I would rather have multiple small stores throughout the city than one giant store on anderson. If we are worried about car use and accessibility one giant store instead of multiple smaller stores doesnt make alot of sense.
Stew:
More development doenst mean lower taxes. Look at Houston. They are much larger but dont have lower taxes. I dont know why people always think city with more development and larger populations will have lower taxes. Austin doubling in size wont decrease taxes. We will double the current number of city related costs. Also moving shoppers from one store to a new store doenst increase tax revenues that much. Lastly, a development like Walmart where there are alot of police calls around walmarts can end up increasing city related expenditures for police.
Yes, Crestview/Allandale are the same pissy grandmothers who bolloxed the Shoal Creek bike lane so they'd have a place to park their Buicks and bass boats. For that they have my eternal enmity.
But that doesn't change the fact that this will be a mega-Wal Mart on steroids in a residential neighborhood. It's not like this is on some freeway off-ramp in Pflugerville. You're talking about tens of thousands of cars daily on mostly two-lane streets.
kenneth,
it's NOT IN THE MIDDLE OF A RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD. That's a talking point of rg4n, for sure, but it's just NOT TRUE. And stores on freeway off-ramps are STUPID. I'd like the workers at Wal-Mart to be able to ride the bus to work, wouldn't you?
crestview:
One giant store vs. many smaller ones IS more accessible to those without cars. Multiple small stores means many parking lots instead of one parking garage, for one thing.
Thanks Kenneth, that's the kind of attitude I was hoping for!
PS - I (like many in my neighborhood these days) wasn't around to vote for or against the light rail in 2000, so please consider lifting your feeling of enmity you have for us before the end of eternity :-)
M1EK, it certainly is amazing how my definitions (and others, apparently) differ so greatly from yours..
M1EK, while you tend to have some useful knowledge on these topics, your venom for anyone not in your trusted inner circle of blogdom or who -- gasp -- disagrees with you is tedious and off-putting.
Perhaps you do have all the answers and the rest of us just haven't figured it out yet. Until then, some civility and respect would be much appreciated.
It's little wonder planning issues in this town get so screwed up when people on both sides of the issue (ie NAs, M1EK) ignore the idea of consensus and portray everything an a zero-sum, either/or, with-us-or-against-us situation.
marty,
If you mean the definition of "in the middle of a residential neighborhood", then bullshit. The definition (self-serving) being used by rg4n would exclude anywhere but possibly the Arboretum.
There are NO single-family lots even across the street from the actual plot being used for Wal-Mart; it's separated from single-family use by some other retail and some old hotel use to the south; a very wide swath of retail to the north, and an even wider swath of retail to the west and east.
If that's "in the middle of a neighborhood" then so is Whole Foods at 6th/Lamar; so is the Barton Creek Square Mall; so is Lakeline Mall; so is Highland Mall; so is Capital Plaza; so are the mega-strips along North I-35 [...]
Ron,
I have a lot of venom for:
1. People who act like they know a lot about a subject but really don't know much at all (josh)
2. People who got the City Council to pander to them in a way that destroyed bicycle commuting's most important route in this city (allandale, rosedale)
3. People who rallied against light rail in 2000, the most important transportation issue of our generation (crestview, wooten). No, commuter rail in 2004 doesn't make up for it; it's even worse than doing nothing, because it prevents light rail from ever getting built.
4. People who repost talking points from said neighborhood groups like "it's in the middle of a neighborhood!" (many)
You're just lucky enough to see the intersection of all four here.
I'm not trying to win your opinion; the people who are _posting_ here have essentially already made up their minds. I'm trying to call the bad people on their misrepresentations and lies so that the much larger audience of people who are reading don't get misinformed.
Your pal,
M1EK
I have absolutely no idea how it would be impossible for "a worker on a bus" to the walmart at, say, rundberg and I-35, but could get to one at Burnet and Anderson.
Also, I don't understand the claim that just one neighborhood killed rail in 2000 (proof?). Whether or not that happened, the new rail plan, approved by voters, does go through Crestview. So because one area allegedly was against a failed rail plan 7 years ago, a neighborhood doesn't have the right to voice its concerns about the arrival of a 200,000 square foot, 24 hour a day megaretailer?
Thank god this is America, not the United States of Some Internet Urban Planning "Expert."