The 2012 Downtown Living Tour was a success!  DANA would like to thank all of it's sponsors, and especially Post Properties | Four Seasons Residences, our title sponsor.  Additionally, we'd like to give a BIG thank you to all of the volunteers who came out and truly made the event possible.  We could not have done it without you!

NEXT URBAN CORE HAPPY HOUR

Thursday, June 14th, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Location: Roppollo's Pizzeria (Back Patio) (map) (transit)
Business Sponsor: Capital One Bank

RSVP HERE!

Enjoy the spacious back patio at one of Austin's oldest downtown pizzerias.  Attendees will also get the scoop on how to register to win at iPad 2 courtesy of Capital One.  Your chances of winning are pretty good, too (this contest is only open to attendees of the happy hour!). 

Venue Sponsor: Roppolo's Pizzeria

After 20 years of serving our famous Sicilian style pizza from the window of the historic St. Charles Building on east 6th Street (formerly PecanStreet), Roppolo's has become a downtown Austin icon. Our pies are made fresh daily with the finest ingredients and served by our friendly staff. The history and respect for old world traditions passed along to from family and friends shapes Roppolo's Pizzeria today.www.roppolos.com

Business Sponsor: Capital One Bank

Capital One is a diversified bank that offers a broad array of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses andcommercial clients.  A Fortune 500 company, Capital One has on of the most widely recognized brands in America.  As one of the nation's top 10 largest banks based on deposits, Capital One serves banking customers through various branch locations. www.capitalone.com

Urban Core Happy Hour Format - PLEASE READ!

DANA Urban Core Happy Hours are open to all that have an interest in Downtown Austin. Please note, however, that at Urban Core Happy Hours DANA Members get in free, and non-members will be asked to pay $5 cash or bring 3 canned good for donation to Caritas. Entry into event includes food and drink tickets (until we run out!). Due to the popularity of these events, we cannot make any exceptions on entry.

We encourage RSVP'ing to the event so that we may have as accurate of a headcount as possible, but please note that if you are a non-member who has RSVP'd - you will still have to pay the entry fee to the event. If you have a question regarding the status of your membership, please contact Amber Gugino (amber.gugino AT gmail DOT com).

If you're not a DANA Member and would like to be, you can sign up at the Urban Core Happy Hour, or you can click here to be directed to our Membership page to join now. Membership includes free entry to Urban Core Happy Hours for one year after your sign up date!

UPCOMING EVENTS

July Urban Core Happy Hour
Date: July, 6:30-8:30 PM
Venue: Manuel's

DANA has consistently advocated for improved sidewalks and streetscapes as a quality of life amenity in our urban area.  On this week's Council agenda, there is a project called a 'Street Patio' being considered that would help further those goals.

In 2010, DANA took part in a charrette specific to Congress Avenue where the lack of sidewalk cafes was repeatedly highlighted. The vision document that resulted from that community-driven effort made six recommendations, which included “a dynamic pedestrian experience” and “outdoor dining” as top priorities for revitalizing this critical street.

DANA believes that while the pilot program being considered by council is being funded by a private business, the benefit of activated public space for pedestrians constitutes a considerable non-monetary value to the public.  Numerous other cities nationwide have implemented similar programs for mini-patios and parklets.

We are pleased that our organization was invited into the conversation for the pilot and we look forward to giving further feedback during the evaluation period prior to a permanent program.  This site is particularly well suited to this proposal and the two parking spaces being used are being mitigated with two new ones along 7th Street.

We look forward to this exciting development for downtown and the contributions it will make towards the pedestrian environment we all hope to enjoy on Congress Avenue.

Late last year, the City of Austin established a Bond Election Advisory Task Force to review a sizable $1.5B list of projects pulled together from each individual city department as a part of their needs assessment process.  Now that those projects have been published, DANA also, is looking to provide feedback to our city leaders on what projects are a key priority to downtown.

The full list of projects is listed in this report and in this summary presentation of the non-transit considerations.

*O/M = Ongoing Operations & Maintenance, FTE = Full Time Equivalent Employees

The task force and a separate Transit Working Group will be making recommendations to the city council regarding investments in Transportation, Facilities & Infrastructure, Parks & Open Spaces and Affordable Housing.  These investments are aimed to improve Austin's mobility, affordability, sustainability and cost-effectiveness in operating.  City Council has asked the group to prioritize projects and recommend a package of $385M which does not require a tax increase as well as at levels that would require a 1 cent or more increase in taxes.

If you have suggestions on what downtown projects need prioritization, please contact DANA.  We intend to provide input to the task force and city council on this important issue.

For upcoming meetings of the task force, please check here.