I looked up Burnet Road in the massive database of books and periodicals in the Perry-Castaneda Library of The University of Texas at Austin and found a 1984 master's thesis entitled "burnet road" by then architecture student Alfred Godfrey. The thesis, composed in the early days of Austin's population boom, is prophetic about Austin's future and makes a plea for greater density and a less car-dependent development. Godfrey spoke of neighborhoods with 5 minute travel zones where the majority of residents could take care of shopping needs with just 5-15 minutes of walking or driving. That notion has evolved into reality for many residents of the Burnet area.
Godfrey argued for "a sense of public place in the American city" and "quality development (environmentally and sensorally) of the in-town commercial strip." He focuses his attention on the Burnet Road (the LoBu area) and says it was developed "between 1950 and 1965."
Godfrey's insightful remarks, made in his 1984 Master's thesis, follow in quotes:
1) "The area of study is bisected by the commercial strip, Burnet Road. Burnet Road, whose honky tonk vitality thrived during the 50s and 60s has fallen into economic disrepair."
2) "Given their relatively recent development, they (the neighborhoods) have no "historical" significance beyond the roles they have played in the lives of the people who have lived there."
3) "As one of the shining stars of the Sunbelt, Austin has grown accustomed to the problems and benefits for some time. Most informed observers estimate population growth will figure in Austin's future until at least the year 2005 and probably well beyond. How this growth is accomodated will afect the fiscal, social, and economic legacy left to later generation of Austinites. This thesis is offered as one option to consider."
Alfred Godfrey really nailed the prospects for Austin's growth-- back in 1984. I love the phrase "honky tonk vitality" and the early energy has been re-born with the renaissance of the LoBu area. The houses in this part of town are pretty pedestrian, the older houses are small and reflect the working class population of the mid-Fifties. The new houses reflect a hodge-podge of styles. They are being built with bigger dimensions and make an attempt to achieve some sort of architectural style. That trend continues and unfortunately too often maintains the LoBu tradition of "architecture or no historical significance." Alfred Godfrey described the modest Fifties houses in the Burnet area with some fondness and he had an amazingly prescient vision for the commercial strip that is still evolving on Burnet Road.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Watching the LoBu river go by
The lobu blog went live last night with a few clicks of the mouse-- thanks to the guiding hand of son-in-law Nathan. Thanks Nate!
Now I get to tell you about an Austin neighborhood called LoBu. LoBu stands for Lower Burnet and refers to the in-town portion of a thoroughfare called Burnet Road. . Burnet Road used to be the outskirts of town, home to Threadgill's gas station where Kenneth Threadgill mentored a young Janis Joplin on the art of yodeling to the crowd. Burnet Road used to be the place to take your date to a drive-in movie under a starry Texas night. Now, the LoBu district is close to the action of downtown Austin and a mere 5-10 minutes drive or bus ride to the University of Texas.
Watch the urban river called Burnet Road evolve and you see a microcosm for Mainstreet America and how it's changing. Burnet Road carries two lanes of traffic in each direction and it is a surface road in the city, no longer a highway away from the city.
LoBu has always been a practical place to live and still has affordable housing (i.e. apartments, rental houses, and smaller single family homes). It has working class roots and has lately been a 20-something area and a 30-something area because Austin is such a young city. There are immigrant populations close to LoBu, mainly Hispanics. There are yuppie neighborhoods also, Rosedale and Allandale, and a more solid middle class section called Crestview.
LoBu is beginning a decade of serious change. The river's current of change will pick-up mightily as the suburbs become less practical.
LoBu represents the revitalization of America's inner cities as flight to the suburbs becomes less reasonable in terms of commute time wasted and gas money spent. The development of LoBu has been somewhat chaotic. A bizarre variety of duplexes, a veritable mishmash of architectural styles, is being sandwiched between the older shacks and tiny houses. The over-sized lots in the Woodrow area of LoBu are being developed seemingly in the middle of the night. You see nouveau coffee shops popping up in the neighborhood-- including two hips cafes called Epoch and Thunderbird. They fuel the citizens with caffeine and conversation while Starbucks has sat on the sidelines.
LoBu is an urban river and the traffic flows pretty continuosly past a changing array of stores and shops. Though Starbucks does not make much of a showing in LoBu there is talk of a Wal-Mart opening up on the corner of Burnet Rd. and Anderson Lane, a major traffic crossroads of LoBu. There has been some protest about putting a 24/7 shopping schedule of the proposed Wal-Mart at the Northcross Mall. Northcross, a pretty lackluster mall, has been distinguished only by its ice-skating rink. The ice-skating rink , a symbol of exercise and pure fun, was a place you had to love. The ice skating rink even returned after being closed down for a while. Let's hope the ice skating rink survives the transition.
If Wal-Mart beats Starbucks to the LoBu neighborhood.... that would not be a surprise. The original Burnet Road was practical-minded, never a place to spend $4.00 and just have a cup of coffee to show for it. For that kind of money you at least wanted an outdoor movie and some quality time with your date -or several long necks and some dancing at one of the honky tonks. But LoBu is changing. The drive-in movies are long gone. Some of the old bars remain and you can still hear live music and even do the two-step at the Dallas nightclub. But LoBu is changing. We'll have to see where it's headed.
Now I get to tell you about an Austin neighborhood called LoBu. LoBu stands for Lower Burnet and refers to the in-town portion of a thoroughfare called Burnet Road. . Burnet Road used to be the outskirts of town, home to Threadgill's gas station where Kenneth Threadgill mentored a young Janis Joplin on the art of yodeling to the crowd. Burnet Road used to be the place to take your date to a drive-in movie under a starry Texas night. Now, the LoBu district is close to the action of downtown Austin and a mere 5-10 minutes drive or bus ride to the University of Texas.
Watch the urban river called Burnet Road evolve and you see a microcosm for Mainstreet America and how it's changing. Burnet Road carries two lanes of traffic in each direction and it is a surface road in the city, no longer a highway away from the city.
LoBu has always been a practical place to live and still has affordable housing (i.e. apartments, rental houses, and smaller single family homes). It has working class roots and has lately been a 20-something area and a 30-something area because Austin is such a young city. There are immigrant populations close to LoBu, mainly Hispanics. There are yuppie neighborhoods also, Rosedale and Allandale, and a more solid middle class section called Crestview.
LoBu is beginning a decade of serious change. The river's current of change will pick-up mightily as the suburbs become less practical.
LoBu represents the revitalization of America's inner cities as flight to the suburbs becomes less reasonable in terms of commute time wasted and gas money spent. The development of LoBu has been somewhat chaotic. A bizarre variety of duplexes, a veritable mishmash of architectural styles, is being sandwiched between the older shacks and tiny houses. The over-sized lots in the Woodrow area of LoBu are being developed seemingly in the middle of the night. You see nouveau coffee shops popping up in the neighborhood-- including two hips cafes called Epoch and Thunderbird. They fuel the citizens with caffeine and conversation while Starbucks has sat on the sidelines.
LoBu is an urban river and the traffic flows pretty continuosly past a changing array of stores and shops. Though Starbucks does not make much of a showing in LoBu there is talk of a Wal-Mart opening up on the corner of Burnet Rd. and Anderson Lane, a major traffic crossroads of LoBu. There has been some protest about putting a 24/7 shopping schedule of the proposed Wal-Mart at the Northcross Mall. Northcross, a pretty lackluster mall, has been distinguished only by its ice-skating rink. The ice-skating rink , a symbol of exercise and pure fun, was a place you had to love. The ice skating rink even returned after being closed down for a while. Let's hope the ice skating rink survives the transition.
If Wal-Mart beats Starbucks to the LoBu neighborhood.... that would not be a surprise. The original Burnet Road was practical-minded, never a place to spend $4.00 and just have a cup of coffee to show for it. For that kind of money you at least wanted an outdoor movie and some quality time with your date -or several long necks and some dancing at one of the honky tonks. But LoBu is changing. The drive-in movies are long gone. Some of the old bars remain and you can still hear live music and even do the two-step at the Dallas nightclub. But LoBu is changing. We'll have to see where it's headed.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Initial Offering from Heart of Austin
This is the first message to issue forth from the world of Lobu.
Lobu—Lower Burnet
Lobu refers to a geographical area (Lower Burnet). Burnet Road is a north-south thoroughfare. Lower Burnet Rd. extends from 45th Street (southern border) up to Highway 183 (northern border).
The Lobu district is comprised of people living on both sides of Burnet Road in Central Austin.
Lobu does not yet exist in the Austin vocabulary. The only section of Austin that has a nicknamed designation like that is SoCo (South Congress area) which is a “cool” part of town. Lobu is a humorous reference to Lower Burnet as an area not quite having the glamour factor of South Congress. Burnet Road was a drab, humdrum part of town but is picking up and is becoming a more attractive Central Austin neighborhood.
Lobu—Lower Burnet
Lobu refers to a geographical area (Lower Burnet). Burnet Road is a north-south thoroughfare. Lower Burnet Rd. extends from 45th Street (southern border) up to Highway 183 (northern border).
The Lobu district is comprised of people living on both sides of Burnet Road in Central Austin.
Lobu does not yet exist in the Austin vocabulary. The only section of Austin that has a nicknamed designation like that is SoCo (South Congress area) which is a “cool” part of town. Lobu is a humorous reference to Lower Burnet as an area not quite having the glamour factor of South Congress. Burnet Road was a drab, humdrum part of town but is picking up and is becoming a more attractive Central Austin neighborhood.
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