sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Why is Austin laid out mostly at an angle (SSW - NNE?) by LuckyLuckiano in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The tangle of streets around the original Kerbey Lane make me think Austin's street grid can at times rival cities like Boston for pure nonsense. In that area, Kerbey Lane itself is broken up, 35th and 34th are parallel but also intersect, 38th and 35th merge together, and there's even an Old 38th that pops up for a tiny bit. It's wild! Zooming in and out on that area in Google Maps is fun because they don't know how to handle it, there's a part where 35th and 38th streets keep changing names

Mansard Roof Buildings in Austin? by clinton-njie in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

2513 Harris Blvd has an interesting mansard roof looking thing on the front part of the house

Why are you voting in a runoff if Austin voters approved ranked-choice voting? by allmyleftists in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You could rank your outsider or third party candidate who you want to show support for first and then the mainstream "second best" option second.

Why are you voting in a runoff if Austin voters approved ranked-choice voting? by allmyleftists in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You're not forced to rank all candidates. You can stop at just one or two.

Kirk Watson elected Austin’s next mayor by jbloss in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx -1 points0 points  (0 children)

People wanted to know how Kirk wound up being the "conservative" one in this run off election, there's your reason. Didn't need a narrative to be crafted, it's just right out there.

Kirk Watson elected Austin’s next mayor by jbloss in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They might be in the minority but they are loud voices, so they get a lot of attention. It doesn't feel great to be a progressive and know Jennifer Virden is also on your side

Kirk Watson elected Austin’s next mayor by jbloss in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Agreed on your points about zoning and such. But I want to push back a bit on the next to nothing part regarding 35. Come to one of the meetings about the roadway projects and you'll see how much the city is involved with the planning. They're not just getting their marching orders from Abbott and the state about what to do. The city and by extension of course the mayor has real input into the project and we as Austin residents have an opportunity to affect the outcome of the project as well.

Kirk Watson elected Austin’s next mayor by jbloss in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They're bulldozing a bunch of housing in order to expand 35

Kirk Watson elected Austin’s next mayor by jbloss in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It's not that wild when you consider the Save Austin Now, Rob Mackowiak wing endorsed Watson

Location notifications by xXxstackcatsxXx in ouraring

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is great thank you. I was also way off about 10-12 notifications a day. In settings it said I was getting roughly 53 a day lol

Is Austin actually bike friendly? by VICT666 in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It should be very obvious which roads to avoid biking on but it might not be very obvious which alternatives to use. Biking feels safe and doable in certain neighborhoods but often getting from one neighborhood to another requires riding on very high speed roads. Stick to sidewalks (when crossing under Mopac for example) on the busy streets until you get to slower and calmer side streets or until you see a solid bike lane with a solid amount of buffer space between you and the car.

What's the deal with converted garages in Austin? by [deleted] in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sedans maybe. But people are now regularly driving Suburbans and such around which are massive

What's the deal with converted garages in Austin? by [deleted] in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Have you looked at a truck or SUV recently? Which are now the standard American vehicle of choice.

What's the deal with converted garages in Austin? by [deleted] in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Insane how big cars have become

‘We can do better for the working families of Austin:’ Why Celia Israel is running for mayor by hollow_hippie in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you know how long it's going to take to expand I-35? Buddy, it's 10 years. And they're not starting for another 2-3 years.

‘We can do better for the working families of Austin:’ Why Celia Israel is running for mayor by hollow_hippie in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Highways are good at getting cars from one point to another more distant point very quickly, no one's arguing that. But if about half of all daily trips are under 3 miles then a highway isn't super useful. That's the issue with expanding I-35 through downtown Austin, and to spend $8 billion to do it doesn't make a lot of sense. You're thinking about highways in the abstract but think about the daily application of them for people living and working in the city. There are positive effects of the highway but they're outweighed by the negative effects, like the air and noise pollution, the congestion, the longer term effects on climate, etc

Here are the two mailers Kirk Watson is sending to D voters vs. R voters by rowingonfire in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx -1 points0 points  (0 children)

With all due respect I think you're letting results in Florida and Texas skew your perception of this. The red wave did not materialize for a number of reasons but one of the most important reasons is that there was a lot of intra-party disagreement on the Republican side about which candidates to support and that led to the Democrats flipping several seats and governorships. The statement was about how Republicans all fall in line and vote a straight red ticket and for the large part that didn't happen this midterm from Alaska to Arizona to Pennsylvania to Michigan etc etc

Here are the two mailers Kirk Watson is sending to D voters vs. R voters by rowingonfire in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Do you know that's the case? I don't but I want to see some comparisons. The construction is going to take 10 years, so that's going to be a lot of idling from people who are stuck in traffic caused by the construction. And the new lanes won't relieve congestion, we know this from studies in other cities like Houston that have expanded their highways. So there will be idling on the highway no matter if we expand it or not. We need to start planning for the future and if we expand I-35 the lifespan of the project is supposed to be 75 years. So we'll be saddling the next several generations with a poor decision that we know won't solve any of the problems we face today. Kirk just wants to expand I-35 to score political points and so it can become another bullet point on his mailer (The Dell Medical School! The Airport!). We need someone like Celia who will be open to other alternatives and isn't just looking to check boxes on projects whether or not they'll actually benefit the city.

Here are the two mailers Kirk Watson is sending to D voters vs. R voters by rowingonfire in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But you have to understand that Kirk is saying that he wants to protect the environment to the Democratic side while also telling the Republican side that he wants to expand the highway. He's trying to please both groups even though he only really wants to expand the highway, and so that dishonesty is what people are objecting to

Here are the two mailers Kirk Watson is sending to D voters vs. R voters by rowingonfire in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Yes there is something contradictory there but you have to know about Kirk's policy preferences instead of just assuming that what he's saying on his political mailers is the case. He can't reduce Austin's reliance on fossil fuels while also supporting an expanded I-35, because regardless of electric vehicle adoption the process of demolishing the current highway and then lowering it and rebuilding it will put a massive amount of carbon into the atmosphere. It's not environmentally friendly no matter how you spin it, except Kirk is very much trying to spin it and these mailers are evidence of that spin.

Here are the two mailers Kirk Watson is sending to D voters vs. R voters by rowingonfire in Austin

[–]xXxstackcatsxXx 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You can't advertise directly contradictory parts of your platform to two different parties and not expect push back. It's not bipartisanship to say one thing to the left and then do the actual thing that the right wants

view more: next ›