Larry Speck On The Challenges Of Downtown Austin
Three specific factors allowed Downtown Austin to become what it is today, according to Page principal and UT architecture professor Larry Speck. But now developers and city planners need to focus on two more issues to bring Texas's weirdest city to the next level.
What made Austin such a hip, beloved city? For starters, city leadership starting with Kirk Watson's early political career as Austin mayor from 1997 to 2001. Kirk and many other pro-business leaders prioritized the urbanization of Downtown, Larry tells us.
Next came an influx of residents who were nothing like narrow-minded suburbanites and embraced living the "Austin way."
Downtown Austin's rare physical situation allowed for plenty of new development along Lady Bird Lake, a beautiful green space with stable water levels.
The political whale, new residents and development have paved the way for a vibrant Downtown, including many of Page's own projects at Dell Medical School, the Texas Mall project on Congress Avenue, and the restoration of the old post office on the block enclosed by West Seventh, Colorado, West Sixth and Lavaca streets.
Larry (pictured) doesn't just love the area because of his projects. He lives Downtown as well. He knows firsthand what kind of challenges the area faces, and says the city needs to focus on two things to thrive: sound and connectivity.
Sound from all those venues in the Live Music Capital of the World isn't exactly friendly to residents trying to sleep at 2am. If the city wants to attract and retain families (or anyone, really), sound disturbance must be mitigated.
Larry isn't sure city government has the will to solve the conflict between residents and noise. But he thinks a city ordinance dictating how venues must control their own sound would be worth exploring.
Austin also needs to work on connecting various hotspots, Larry says. Connectivity must be on the forefront of architects' minds, so buildings relate to everything else around them. The end goal: a Downtown that's connected to Second Street District, Rainey, the Austin Convention Center, North Lamar and surrounding neighborhoods.
Hear more from Larry, as well as execs from Cousins Properties, Brandywine and Greystar at our Future of Downtown Austin event on Dec. 7. Get tickets here.
