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Differences Over Mixed-Use Emerge In East Austin

Posted by: Christian Peralta Madera

18 May 2007 - 8:00am

After initially supporting the city's new mixed-use ordinance, some residents of East Austin asking the city to apply the brakes on adoption of the measure due to concerns about gentrification.

"In a letter to the mayor and the City Council, [11 neighborhood groups] say the ordinance -- which promotes projects with stores and restaurants on the ground floor and offices or apartments above -- will accelerate gentrification and the loss of affordable housing and locally owned businesses and hurt the "community culture" of East Austin.

"Many of our neighborhood planning teams adopted mixed-use zoning with the vision of small businesses with owners and operators living above, in neighborhood-friendly and neighborhood-scaled structures," the letter states. "We did not foresee the advent of expensive, multi-family housing above chain businesses."

Full Story: Some East Austin groups change minds on mixed-use
Source: Austin American-Statesman, May 17, 2007
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Ultimately, all of the efforts are designed to highlight the need to integrate accessible and functional parks and green spaces into urban environments and lifestyles –- and hopefully prompt passersby to seek opportunities to roll up their sleeves and roll out the green themselves.
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