Central Machine Works
What Happens Downtown ...
RECEIVED Wed., Aug. 16, 2017
Dear Editor,
Thank you for reporting on the mayor’s CodeNEXT comments at the Bouldin Creek Neighborhood meeting and for quoting his illuminating description of Bouldin as in the “Downtown Core Area” [News, Aug. 11].
For months, my neighbors and I have cringed when city staff and CodeNEXT consultants have referred in meetings to our South Austin neighborhoods as in “Downtown.”
Now we know this description comes from our mayor. Had he ever lived and raised his kids in South Austin (West Lake doesn’t count), he would know that neighbors in Bouldin, Zilker, South River, Dawson, Galindo, or South Lamar didn’t move to South Austin to live in an anonymous downtown urban environment.
Secondly, his admonition to the crowd that “we” should have started CodeNEXT 15 years ago as a vaccine against current high rents or land values shows ignorance of the work of thousands of civic-minded neighbors who 15 years ago participated in the City of Austin MANDATED Neighborhood Plan (NP) process. We didn’t ask to have a Neighborhood Plan; the city required we do so.
Had the mayor participated in an NP, he would realize that his comments insulted the thousands of residents who gave up tens of thousands of hours of family and professional time to shape the future of our neighborhoods. My neighborhood plan is only 12 years old and approved increasing density on our major transit corridors in exchange for protecting the character of our neighborhood. Not a single word in our plan described our neighborhood as a “Downtown Core Area.” Now those plans are being tossed aside in CodeNEXT.
Folks unfamiliar with South Austin, like the mayor, might not understand the South Austin motto: What happens Downtown, stays Downtown.
Thank you for reporting on the mayor’s CodeNEXT comments at the Bouldin Creek Neighborhood meeting and for quoting his illuminating description of Bouldin as in the “Downtown Core Area” [News, Aug. 11].
For months, my neighbors and I have cringed when city staff and CodeNEXT consultants have referred in meetings to our South Austin neighborhoods as in “Downtown.”
Now we know this description comes from our mayor. Had he ever lived and raised his kids in South Austin (West Lake doesn’t count), he would know that neighbors in Bouldin, Zilker, South River, Dawson, Galindo, or South Lamar didn’t move to South Austin to live in an anonymous downtown urban environment.
Secondly, his admonition to the crowd that “we” should have started CodeNEXT 15 years ago as a vaccine against current high rents or land values shows ignorance of the work of thousands of civic-minded neighbors who 15 years ago participated in the City of Austin MANDATED Neighborhood Plan (NP) process. We didn’t ask to have a Neighborhood Plan; the city required we do so.
Had the mayor participated in an NP, he would realize that his comments insulted the thousands of residents who gave up tens of thousands of hours of family and professional time to shape the future of our neighborhoods. My neighborhood plan is only 12 years old and approved increasing density on our major transit corridors in exchange for protecting the character of our neighborhood. Not a single word in our plan described our neighborhood as a “Downtown Core Area.” Now those plans are being tossed aside in CodeNEXT.
Folks unfamiliar with South Austin, like the mayor, might not understand the South Austin motto: What happens Downtown, stays Downtown.
Elloa Mathews,
South Austin since 1963 (except for mid-1980s SoCal years)
South Austin since 1963 (except for mid-1980s SoCal years)