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  #981  
Old Posted Dec 19, 2014, 2:05 AM
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Our skyline, from that angle, looks world class and would challenge any large city anywhere, even without further construction. I don't mean super cities like NYC, Chicago, Tokyo, ect...From other angles....not so much. But that is, by far, the most beautiful and flattering picture of Austin to date imo.
Did you realize you are saying that about a photo where you can't even see the iconic Frost Bank tower?
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  #982  
Old Posted Dec 19, 2014, 3:41 AM
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Did you realize you are saying that about a photo where you can't even see the iconic Frost Bank tower?
You can see it, some of it, thanks to its iconic lighting.
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  #983  
Old Posted Dec 19, 2014, 1:23 PM
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That view is appealing because it shows the skyline culminating into a nice peak from both directions.
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  #984  
Old Posted Dec 22, 2014, 6:49 PM
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A 360 pano of Downtown from a drone:

http://panowings.com/folders/TourOfAustinDec2014/
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  #985  
Old Posted Dec 22, 2014, 8:53 PM
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That's pretty cool on the iPad. It uses the motion sensors in the ipad, so you pan by moving the pad around. Neat effect!
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  #986  
Old Posted Dec 23, 2014, 10:44 PM
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I like these buildings, but man, those parking garages.


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  #987  
Old Posted Dec 23, 2014, 11:20 PM
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A nine or ten story midrise covering the same footprint of those garages would have been preferable. At the least, they could have disguised them better. Last time I drove through there, they looked just as bad from street level. I would imagine they could still improve the exterior if they wanted to, but there would be no financial gain in that. I guess the COA has no restrictions on how ugly a structure downtown can be. Heck, even our loosely inforced neighborhood association won't allow metal storage sheds, in fact, the sheds have to pretty much match the house.
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  #988  
Old Posted Dec 23, 2014, 11:49 PM
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Originally Posted by the Genral View Post
A nine or ten story midrise covering the same footprint of those garages would have been preferable. At the least, they could have disguised them better. Last time I drove through there, they looked just as bad from street level. I would imagine they could still improve the exterior if they wanted to, but there would be no financial gain in that. I guess the COA has no restrictions on how ugly a structure downtown can be. Heck, even our loosely inforced neighborhood association won't allow metal storage sheds, in fact, the sheds have to pretty much match the house.
Kind of ruins the east facing views of lower floor condos in the Milago.
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  #989  
Old Posted Dec 24, 2014, 7:26 PM
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^Yeah, but I'd rather look at another building than a parking garage. I was riding up through one garage over on Mopac, and on the 2nd floor I noticed an adjacent apartment complex had balconies that looked directly into the garage. Having a wall of a building nearby is unpleasant, but at least you aren't subjected to car exhaust, unattended car alarms, car door noise, headlights, tire screeching, etc. Plus, if you're looking down or across a white concrete garage roof, it's probably going to glare the sun back at you in the summer.
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  #990  
Old Posted Dec 27, 2014, 5:51 AM
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Here's a late afternoon-early evening drive through downtown Austin on 12/13, captured from my dashcam.

Video Link
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  #991  
Old Posted Dec 27, 2014, 2:23 PM
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Nice. I've been thinking about getting a dash cam for no particular reason.
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  #992  
Old Posted Dec 27, 2014, 4:32 PM
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Nice. I've been thinking about getting a dash cam for no particular reason.
Thanks. I would highly recommend it. If for no other reason than insurance purposes. I've already caught some very interesting things driving around town and the state.
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  #993  
Old Posted Dec 27, 2014, 4:47 PM
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We caught a glimpse of the Austonian, 360 and Frost Bank tower from atop the 120' flyover at 183 and 45 in far NW Austin/Cedar Park.





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  #994  
Old Posted Dec 27, 2014, 5:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Mopacs View Post
We caught a glimpse of the Austonian, 360 and Frost Bank tower from atop the 120' flyover at 183 and 45 in far NW Austin/Cedar Park.
That's remarkable! And you can see the top of the 360 as well, if I'm not mistaken as to the name of that building. How did you manage to get such a stable image from a freeway ramp, did you come to a stop?
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  #995  
Old Posted Dec 27, 2014, 10:47 PM
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That's remarkable! And you can see the top of the 360 as well, if I'm not mistaken as to the name of that building. How did you manage to get such a stable image from a freeway ramp, did you come to a stop?
Yep, you are correct. I have been on that ramp before and never noticed any building other than the Austonian. If you look very closely, you can also see the very tip of the Frost Tower (about an inch to the left of the A).

We were moving. The camera has good optical stabilization so it came out quite clear. Plus, I was a passenger and not driving
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  #996  
Old Posted Dec 29, 2014, 10:20 PM
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Just in case anybody else was wondering, downtown Austin is mostly obscured due to local elevation changes rather than curvature of the earth.

Downtown is about 14 miles away from 183/45. Assuming the surrounding area was completely flat (and didn't have hills), this would result in a downward curvature of about 136 feet. This would hide the first 10-12 floors of downtown buildings.

Ok, but hold on, we are on top of a flyover, which I will approximate is about 100 feet tall. The true horizon from the flyover (again, assuming flat ground) is about 12 miles which would let us see most of the CBD. Therefore, curvature of the earth is not the culprit.

Now, looking at local elevation effects: CBD is at about 500 ft above sea level. The 45/183 interchange is at about 930 ft. If we make some gross geometric assumptions, this difference of 430 feet (131m) would obscure all buildings except for the Frost, Austonian, The W, 360, and Spring. (Source)

As it turns out, you can see those buildings along the horizon, in left to right horizon order, if you look carefully at the first and second images above. The W and Spring rooftops are not easily recognizable since they are shorter and don't have barely distinguishable roof features. When it is done, the Fairmont spire will be visible, but probably hard to make out. The Independence will presumably fill in the gulf between the 360 and Spring.

In conclusion: Austin needs taller buildings.

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  #997  
Old Posted Dec 29, 2014, 11:25 PM
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Originally Posted by _Matt View Post
Just in case anybody else was wondering, downtown Austin is mostly obscured due to local elevation changes rather than curvature of the earth.

Downtown is about 14 miles away from 183/45. Assuming the surrounding area was completely flat (and didn't have hills), this would result in a downward curvature of about 136 feet. This would hide the first 10-12 floors of downtown buildings.

Ok, but hold on, we are on top of a flyover, which I will approximate is about 100 feet tall. The true horizon from the flyover (again, assuming flat ground) is about 12 miles which would let us see most of the CBD. Therefore, curvature of the earth is not the culprit.

Now, looking at local elevation effects: CBD is at about 500 ft above sea level. The 45/183 interchange is at about 930 ft. If we make some gross geometric assumptions, this difference of 430 feet (131m) would obscure all buildings except for the Frost, Austonian, The W, 360, and Spring. (Source)

As it turns out, you can see those buildings along the horizon, in left to right horizon order, if you look carefully at the first and second images above. The W and Spring rooftops are not easily recognizable since they are shorter and don't have barely distinguishable roof features. When it is done, the Fairmont spire will be visible, but probably hard to make out. The Independence will presumably fill in the gulf between the 360 and Spring.

In conclusion: Austin needs taller buildings.

Very good eye...I didn't catch the W or Spring at first glance. This is one of the few vantage points along the 183 NW corridor where any hint of downtown is visible (basically from Spicewood Springs-northward into Cedar Park, Leander, etc.).

Here is another view of the Austonian that I caught near Lago Vista, from approx 20 miles away. This is from a rather high elevation in western Travis County.

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  #998  
Old Posted Dec 31, 2014, 10:17 AM
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I have a photo thread going on atm in the photography section of the forum you all can check out.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...10#post6860210
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  #999  
Old Posted Dec 31, 2014, 6:18 PM
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Neat "lights only" silhoutte of the skyline, from a friend's FB timeline:

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  #1000  
Old Posted Jan 2, 2015, 2:39 AM
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Neat "lights only" silhoutte of the skyline, from a friend's FB timeline:

This is one of the best photos I've seen showing the night time lighting.
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