Quote:
Originally Posted by audiomuse
The city isn't trying to discourage car-use downtown but it isn't encouraging it either and rightly so. Cars pollute the air downtown and make for an unpleasant atmosphere for pedestrians. Parking takes up a lot of precious space in a dense, urban environment that could have other uses.
There are a ton of residential developments in and around downtown within walking, biking, and bus distance so a "shopping district" without a substantial increase in car parking is completely possible. I live in the Hyde Park area and everyone I know either bikes to takes the 1L or 1M into downtown (soon to be the 801 MetroRapid bus).
Mass transit might not be feasible for you but there are hundreds of thousands of people living in Central Austin for which it is (that number is increasing). The MetroRapid bus will run every 10-12 minutes during peak hours (with much improved accuracy) so I foresee even more people using that option to go there.
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Downtown shopping (on Congress Ave or within a block or three from Congress) will not take off unless there are massive improvements in public transportation in Austin. A real light rail network with frequent service that fans out to all parts of the metro area and hopefully includes a subway tunnel through downtown (I am a true dreamer) would certainly enhance downtown's appeal as a shopping destination. It seems to me that the Lamar/6th St. area is proving to be more of a success at becoming a real shopping destination. Please note that there is a lot of parking available in that area to accommodate shoppers, and more is currently under construction. With regards to the "hundreds of thousands of people living in Central Austin", most of them still hop in their cars and head to Barton Creek Mall, The Domain (a truly plastic pseudo urban environment), the Arboretum, the big box meccas in Sunset Valley, at Slaughter/IH35 (another true nightmare) or along Research Blvd. and Mopac out in NW Austin. That is where the sales tax dollars are generated in the Austin area. It is nice to know that Hyde Park residents are eager to ride the bus or bike downtown, but I bet most of them go to the places I just listed to do their everyday shopping. People once upon a time went downtown to do their everyday shopping.