Austin's Development Mantra
Development
Posted on February 8,2010 06:18 PM by Tim
I think this should also be Austin's development mantra:
If we just changed our zoning so that anywhere you have a single family home you could build a double with a carriage house in back, you would triple the effective residential density of Indianapolis without any change to the visual scale of the city. Moderate densification is what we need.

from here.

M1EK says...
Commented on 2010-02-09 15:58:35 by M1EK
Forward-looking folks TRIED that in the neighborhood planning process (encouraging teams to opt in to allow secondary dwelling units on lots as small as 5750 sqft instead of the current 7000); but the usual interests - Karen McGraw and Mary Gay Maxwell - prevented that from happening most places after we went out on the limb and did it in OWANA.
Tim says...
Commented on 2010-02-09 16:13:52 by Tim
Yeah, I know. But I think it bears repeating, because I think this is essentially what most Austinites want. And when things like McMansion come up again (as it enevitably will, since anytime you keep rich people from doing something it's going to come back up) it will be good to have this idea in people's minds.


I think it's important to have a positive message of "this is what I think Austin should look like". It's something ANC doesn't have. It's something Save Town Lake doesn't have.


Is there currently a pro-urban Austin group in town? I'm thinking about starting one if not. I'd like to move on to discussing how to move forward with advocacy at city council. And also to discuss the issues behind properties like 801 Barton Springs with the assumption already made that a high rise is better than a parking lot.