For the past year or so, Austin has been hearing from its citizen groups about the future vision of our Downtown. If you haven’t been to one of these “Town Hall” meetings, or would like to find out what the future holds for us “Downtown Lions,” then now is your chance to participate and find out.
If you want to find out more before the meeting, the Downtown Austin Plan Website is at
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/downtown/downtownaustinplan.htm. You can view the entire final draft there, including the approximately 20-page executive summary.
Our speaker will be Jim Robertson, the Manager of the Urban Design Division in the City of Austin’s Planning and Development Review Department. In that role, he oversees the management of both large and small scale urban design projects.
The larger scale projects include Transit-Oriented District (TOD) planning, special district planning, and corridor plans. The smaller scale efforts include streetscape, public space, and pedestrian improvement projects. In addition, he oversees the Division’s work in implementing the urban design goals of the City, the development of policies and rules regarding urban design, and advising City staff and policy-makers regarding urban design issues.
Jim’s project-specific roles include serving as co-project manager of the Downtown Austin Plan. Jim is a licensed architect, and for the ten years prior to joining the City of Austin’s staff, worked in the private practice of architecture. In that practice, he worked on a variety of different project types, including park master planning, design of commercial and retail buildings, hospitality buildings, outdoor and environmental education facilities, affordable housing, and custom residences. Jim is also an attorney, and during his ten years of practicing law, specialized in environmental policy and litigation.
