The LoBu neighborhood in north central Austin presently has an antagonist, a friendly little corporation called Wal-Mart. I gathered with 500 of the LoBu brethren at the Saint Louis Catholic Church on Burnet Road last Wednesday evening to follow the community protest. The room truly pulsed, electric with intensity. Who would win? Wal-Mart has a lease and with the help of Lincoln Property plans to build a super-sized store at Northcross Mall. The neighbors don't like the idea at all. The store will increase traffic flow and add not much else for the benefit to the neighborhood. The neighborhood representatives and their architects proposed a more mixed-use development, and espoused the goal of a creating a real City Square.
The neighborhood group calls itself RG4N-- an acronym for Responsible Growth for Northcross. RG4N sounds like the chirpy robot guy C3PO from Star Wars . The enemies poised here are as daunting as Darth Vader (Lincoln Property) and the Evil Empire (Wal-Mart). You can tell I never understood the plot of Star Wars and I promise never to refer to it again. The meeting was reminiscent of the grassroots purity of Vietnam-era protests. There was a corporate target this time, make that a corporate Wal-Mart, rather than the U.S. government, but local government is involved at Northcross. The City of Austin has sought a low profile but evaded the neighborhood's request for a moratorium on further building and stated it was "already a done deal." One government official was on hand in the person of Jennifer Kim, an Austin City Councilwoman. She got a cool introduction from the emcee, "just two minutes please," but Jennifer Kim got a warm applause when she lauded "vibrant urban redevelopment" as opposed to big box development.
The most pleasureable moment for me occurred at another applause moment. I never thought the phrase "pedestrian-friendly" would rattle the rafters of an American meeting hall with hearty, thunderous applause. I even heard cheers of approval! No exaggeration, literal cheers-- for the right to walk.
Like a kid learning to read my first word, I was caught off-guard, sensing something bigger was off in the future. I was witness to a breathtaking change in consciousness in the land of many roads. America, where people have aways wanted hard rubber circles propelling them anywhere beyond fifty feet, may have a new movement afoot...heh, heh. It starts as a plea, a prayer, a passion... if not yet a plan... for increased use of the lower extremities for locomotion. If so, then sign me up.
Of course, we all got to the meeting in our cars but you've got to start someplace.
