Growth the Austin Way

Posted by Carol Coletta on December 08, 2008

Austin is one of the nation's most successful cities.  The nation's 14th largest city with 800,000 population, Austin is bigger than Washington, San Francisco and Boston.  It is also the nation's youngest big city.

Mayor Will Wynn is contending with the addition of 85 new cars on Austin roads every day by pushing -- hard -- for downtown, mixed-used development.  "My constituents gripe about me and about density," Mayor Wynn says.  "High rises don't represent the Austin they remember.

"I'm as nostalgic as the next person, but nostalgia doesn't help deal with growth.  The fact is attractive cities attract people.  Which side of the sword do you want to be on?  If you are not growing, young people are leaving.

"The question is not if we grow, but how we grow.  We have to get people living closer to where they work. That's the answer.  The only other answer is to put 85 new cars on the road every day.

"It is irresponsible not to plan for growth and get a helluva lot more people living close to work."

Mayor Wynn and his family (yes, he has children) live downtown where 14,000 new residential units are under construction (all with retail on the first floor), along with a new W Hotel.

All new downtown buildings will be cooled by water chilled by power from wind farms, only one of the many ways Mayor Wynn is using the publicly-owned utility to innovate in the energy industry.  He plans to use the utility as a beta tester of new energy sources and technologies.

"The most fun city will be the most successful city because successful cities are disproportionately young and educated," Mayor Wynn says.  That maybe why Austin has designated itself "The Human Capital."