When: Thursday, February 16th, 6pm
Where: St. Mary’s Cathedral, Bishop’s Hall, 203 E 10th St  Austin, Texas 78701
(Bike parking available or plan you trip using public transportation here)

DANA invites its membership to come out for a special presentation by the CEO of Foundation Communities and a discussion on development proposed for 11th & Trinity Street that would be the first affordable housing project proposed Downtown in over 45 years and which will include Permanent Supportive Housing.  DANA board members will be looking for feedback on the design and operational proposals.

For a more detailed look at what affordable housing is and what it isn’t, Foundation Communities is also opening up tours of their Skyline Terrace building on February 15th at 6:30pm.  Contact Elliot McFadden by the day before the tour at 512-610-4009 or Elliot.McFadden@foundcom.org

For more information on the project click here.  For news coverage of the project, click here or here.

For more on what DANA has done to review the project, check out this month’s newsletter.  Board members were first approached in November regarding the first affordable housing proposed for downtown in over 45 years.  In the process of doing due diligence on this proposal, Board Members reviewed city plans, attended seminars and consulted with experts to better understand general issues surrounding Affordable Housing and Permanent Supportive Housing in particular.  In addition, board members did multiple site visits, met with neighbors of existing projects, interviewed a property manager on operations and had focused design sessions with both architects and city officials.  The proposal improved significantly over the past few months and Foundation Communities has incorporated many suggestions from DANA including a focus on downtown workers and artists and musicians.

A first preview of the project took place at the DANA annual meeting on Sunday, January 29th.  The February 16th meeting is intended to be a focused session to answer any questions the community may have.

(more…)

It’s our Annual Meeting and Board Election! The event will feature a review of the past year in downtown and a preview of the year ahead. We will hold the election of our board of directors and hand out our annual ‘Urban Vision Awards’.

Complimentary food and beverages will be provided during the reception.

Map | Transit

RSVP HERE!

(more…)

Big thanks to all of you for coming out on a rainy November evening for DANA’s Spotlight on Safety at Ballet Austin. There was a lot to see and hear at this event.  (view all the photos taken by photographer Jerome Huaulme here)

From medals awarded by Chief Acevedo to two super star downtown bike patrol officers…

APD Medal Recipients:
Ofc. Michael Schultheis, Meritorious Service
Ofc. Duane Williams, Superior Service

…to a ticker tape celebration of community, police and prosecution heroes

5th St Community 2011 Sheepdog Award Recipients:
George and Suzanne Armstrong, 5th St Community Watch
Cpl Eric Cleveland, Austin Police Dept
Jason English, Assistant District Attorney for the Downtown Community
Bill Brice, Downtown Austin Alliance Security and Maintenance Director

…to a panel of city leaders listening and responding to downtown resident and business concerns

Panel Members:
Mike Levy, Public Safety Commissioner
Mike Martinez, City Council Member
Chief Acevedo, Austin Police Department
Rosemary Lehmberg, Travis District Attorney
Jamie Lagarde, Panel Moderator

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the support of our tremendous downtown sponsors who we can’t thank enough!

Sponsors:
Ballet Austin
Downtown Austin Alliance
Austin City Living
Luke’s Locker
Centurion Property Management
El Sol y La Luna
P.F. Changs
Thistle Cafe

Media Coverage of the event can be replayed at the following links:
Fox   Downtown Safety Discussed at Meeting
KXAN   Downtown Meeting Focused on Safety

(more…)

Thanks to several DANA voluteers who made the DANA Garden look so much better as it greats runners, walkers and bikers along the Hike and Bike Trail around Lady Bird Lake. Under the direction of Cheryl Beesley, a professional landscape architect, we planted some edible plants, cleaned out the plant beds and put down some fresh mulch.  

Left to Right: James Beesly, Cheryl Beesley, Mitchell McGovern show off their handy work.

DANA’s adopted garden on Lady Bird Lake is on the Cesar Chavez side of Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge. It’s a busy spot on the trail and will be enjoyed by all passersby. Next time you run or bike by at your personal-best pace, slow down and smell the rosemary.

Cherly volunteered a design plan that we can implement over the next few seasons. Lucky for us, she is a landscape designer at Verdi Land Planning with over 19 years of professional experience in organic gardening and sustainable design with native plant mate rials. Her book, Landscaping with Edible Plants in Central Texas, will soon be published by University Press.

(more…)

by Mitchell McGovern

You thought the only bat colony downtown is under Congress Bridge….. Think again –  Shoal Creek has 2 and much more, including its own app.

Sizable bat colonies live under the 9^th and 12^th Street bridges that cross over Shoal Creek. Who knew! You can get an upfront and personal view of the bat’s emerging at dusk while they are heading out for a night of foraging. Now that the fall weather is upon us go out and sit on the shores of Shoal Creek at Duncan Park and enjoy the spectacle.  It is a much more intimate and relaxing experience than Congress Ave Bridge and a lot less “touristy”.

A lot of attention has been paid recently to Waller Creek with the beginning of construction for the flood control tunnel but let’s not forget about our other hidden gem downtown – Shoal Creek. The creek was originally defined as the western edge of the City of Austin in 1839 by Edwin Waller and Waller Creek was the eastern edge.

I recently came upon a website dedicated to Shoal Creek that was created by Ted Eubanks who lives next to the creek. It is full of interesting information about the creeks history and natural environment. Did you know that the Historic 6^th Ave. bridge over Shoal Creek will be 125 years old next year? I didn’t. Ted created an app (of course there is an app for that!) called Shoal Creek Trail To Go and if you download it to your iPhone or Android it will give you all kinds of facts about Shoal Creek as you walk along the trail from Lady Bird Lake all the way up to 38^th St. How cool is that! Scroll to the bottom of the link to learn more and download the app if interested. There is also an extensive list of links for additional information related to all things Shoal Creek on the site.

I’m also happy to report that the City is at 90% completion of the design phase to connect the Shoal Creek trail from 5^th St. to West Ave. and construction is anticipated to start next year.  Yeah!

(more…)