Grab your furry friends and head over to Austin Urban Vet Center – downtown’s newest veterinary clinic featuring Upper Paw Pet Resort, Lofty Dog retail, Groovy Dog Bakery, and Dirty Dog Self Wash and Grooming.

Austin Urban Vet Center is your number one pet stop providing state of the art veterinary medical, diagnostic, and surgical services in our 4000 square foot veterinary hospital. AUVC will also provide post operative rehabilitation services, acupuncture, and other natural medicine options.

Spoil your pets with AUVC’s other services including grooming & spa services, luxury boarding, doggy daycare, gourmet food & treats, and so much more!

Join DANA to meet the folks behind this awesome new addition to downtown while sipping complimentary beverages from Kung Fu Saloon and satisfy your sweet tooth with Sugarstar Cupcakes. Yummy treats for your hounds provided by Groovy Dog Bakery.

Vaccinated, friendly, leashed pets are welcome to join you for a night of fun at Austin Urban Vet Center!!

March’s UCHH brought to you by:

If you are interested in sponsoring a DANA social networking event in 2010, please contact Lindsay Wiebrand at lindsay@txsunandshade.com.

The DANA Garden

For several years, DANA has adopted and maintained a small garden near the northern end of the Pfluger Pedestrian bridge on the Trail at Lady Bird Lake This year we could really use your help to keep it looking great.

We’ll be having a Spring Garden Volunteer Event on Saturday, March 27th from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. If you’re interested in helping out, you’ll find us at the water fountains on the north side of the Pfluger Pedestrian bridge. There will be plenty of snacks and beverages courtesy of DANA. See the map for bridge location.

For more information on this event or to get more involved with the DANA Garden contact Michael McGill at mpm167@gmail.com.

Come out and have fun with fellow downtowners as we do some spring gardening!

DANA Garden

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KNOWLEDGEABLE

ULT Hot Topic: A Bicycle Boulevard for Downtown Austin

by Kristina Monique Witt

The Urban Living Team (ULT) has been grappling with the many issues surrounding the City’s proposed bicycle boulevard for Nueces Street. A bicycle boulevard is a street that encourages bicycling by slowing motorized traffic and, in some cases, discouraging vehicular through traffic. The plan for Nueces proposes that all parallel parking and car access to properties remain, but traffic-calming mechanisms be installed to support a safe, low-speed environment appealing to bicyclists of all skill levels.

The City’s Public Works Department (PWD) Bicycle Program developed the Nueces Plan based on recommendations from the Draft Downtown Plan and the Bicycle Master Plan (adopted by City Council).

Proponents of the Nueces Plan (including the League of Bicycling Voters http://lobv.org/) cite the street’s established popularity with cyclists, level grade, and low traffic volume (relative to other downtown streets).

Opposition to the plan comes from local stakeholders (http://keepaustinmoving.org/) who argue that the Nueces Plan would harm property values, reduce the visibility of businesses, and cause further congestion of downtown streets.

The Original Austin Neighborhood Association (OANA), with the hard work of DANA Board Member Al Stowell, has developed an alternative plan to combine less controversial traffic-calming measures with needed street improvements on Rio Grande. This plan includes a proposal for a connecting bicycle/pedestrian bridge to the Shoal Creek Trail at 4th Street.

The ULT has been debating many of the core issues involved in creating a bicycle boulevard, as well as the relative merits of the different streets proposed for the boulevard in Austin. While we have been able to find common ground in acknowledging the desirability of more mobility options and a north-south bicycle route that encourages more cycling, the details of how to implement that vision are still under debate. We encourage our members to learn more about bicycle boulevards and the City’s efforts at http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/publicworks/bicycle-public-input.htm.

If you’re interested in becoming a DANA member and joining the ULT discussion please feel free to contact me at DANA.KristinaW@gmail.com.

Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge Extension

by Mitchell McGovern

The west side of downtown will soon have easier access to the hike and bike trail! The city is planning to start construction in the next 30-60 days on the much anticipated extension to the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge. Construction should last approximately 10-12 months. This bridge will provide elevated access over Caesar Chavez and Ladybird Lake directly to the hike and bike trail. The bridge will also be part of a new 5 acre park called Sand Beach which just recently received an "Art in Public Places" installation that you need to see for yourself!

For more information on the bridge project including a number of renderings visit the links below.

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/downtown/0509/downloads/35-36_pfluger.pdf

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/publicworks/pflugerbridge_design.htm

Downtown Living Tour Sponsors

It’s almost that time again, but before we turn our sites to the Downtown Living Tour 2010 we’d like to give another special thank you to our 2009 DLT Sponsors. Help us support them by giving them the opportunity to earn your business.

Thanks folks, we couldn’t do it without you!

2009 Title Sponsor

Gables Residential

2009 Platinum Sponsors

Spring Condominium
Austonian
UrbanSpace
Tribeza
W Residences
Fork in the Road

2009 Gold Sponsors

Independence Title
AvenueOne Properties
Dominion Golf Group
Armadillo Christmas Bazaar
Downtown Austin Alliance
Bombay Sapphire
Ashton

2009 Silver Sponsors

Texas Sun & Shade
Threshold
Whole Foods
BoConcept
Holt Residential
2ND Street District
InTown Properties
Heritage Title
Cantina Laredo
Blu Café
St. Arnold Brewing Co
Garrido’s
Paula’s Texas Spirits
Four Seasons Residences
Barton Place

2009 Non-Profit Sponsor

Caritas

INFLUENTIAL

It’s My Park Day

by Michael McGill

Join fellow downtown volunteers on Saturday morning, March 6th for the annual It’s My Park Day event put on by the Austin Parks Foundation. There are two downtown opportunities for DANA members and fans to partcipate:

Wooldridge Square – Mulching and Painting of the Gazebo on its centennial (led by our own Michael McGill)

Shoal Creek – Cleanup/Trash Pick up (led by our own Greg Anderson)

Click here to register and get a free t-shirt. Each site will have water and snacks provided. Wooldridge square will also have live music from 10-11am and a visit from two centenarians.

Parking Survey

by Larry Schooler

The City of Austin is convening a community conversation around parking issues in the downtown area. To start that conversation, the City has released a survey, and DANA members are encouraged to participate. You can complete the survey by clicking here.

For more information on the conversation process, contact Larry Schooler at Larry.schooler@ci.austin.tx.us.

Ladybird Lake Cleanup

by Michael McGill

LCRA will be lowering the water level of Lady Bird Lake by a foot between the dates of March 22nd and 26th to assist Public Works on an infrastructure project. Our friends at Keep Austin Beautiful would like to use this as a unique opportunity to do a shoreline clean-up.

If you’re interested in helping out, please contact Jessica@KeepAustinBeautiful.org.

Newsletter Sponsorships Available

Interested in sharing your services, next event, or promotion with the DANA Membership? Become a DANA Newsletter Sponsor.

Monthly newsletter sponsorships includes one appropriately sized graphic to appear in the copy portion of the newsletter (graphic to be provided by sponsor) and your company name listed in left article bar as one of that month’s newsletter sponsors. Fee: $250 per sponsorship.

Only two newsletter sponsorships opportunities will be available each month. We anticipate these going fast, so get your month lined up early!

For more information and to reserve your newsletter sponsorship contact Samantha Segar at ssegar@downtownaustin.org.

Thank you to this month’s contributors Lindsay Wiebrand, Larry Schooler, Michael McGill, Greg Anderson, Kristina Monique Witt, Mitchell McGovern, and David Weaver.

DANA’s mission is to improve the quality of life for those who work, live and play downtown. DANA influences decisions that affect downtown, educates and listens to residents and stakeholders about downtown issues that affect them, and fosters a downtown community through social events.

downtownaustin.org