In recent years, OANA's work has been carried out by a fairly small number
of individuals, principally Ted Siff and Chris Riley. We hope others
will become more involved soon, and will help define the organization's
goals as we go forward. In the meantime, we offer the
following to share some of our current goals.
1. Preserving the neighborhood's historic character.
Even with all the changes that have taken place over the years, this
neighborhood still retains much of the character that has always made it so
appealing. We hope to make sure that character survives for future
generations. We support the efforts of the nearby
Judges' Hill Neighborhood Association
to create a
Local
Historic District, and any other efforts to keep the neighborhood's
character intact.
2. Bringing residents back.
Seventy years ago, this neighborhood was almost entirely residential, with
families raising their children and greeting one another on the sidewalks.
Today we have far fewer residents. Five entire blocks that were
completely residential in 1935 have no residents today, a sixth is
devoted to the Criminal Justice Center, and many others have only a few
residents. We'd like to see a residential
population return.
3. Preserving the tree canopy.
For many years, trees have been a defining feature of this neighborhood's
character. If you look at a
1964 aerial view of downtown,
you'll notice a heavy concentration of trees in the area north of West 7th
Street and west of Guadalupe. The same can be seen in a
1980 aerial view of downtown.
We want to make sure the canopy remains here.
4. Preserving green space.
As the neighborhood has evolved from residential to commercial uses, many of
its yards, and some entire lots, have been paved to meet parking
requirements for the office uses. The loss of green space erodes an
important part of the neighborhood's character, and undermines the
preservation of the tree canopy. We hope to see some greenspace
restored, and to preserve the greenspace we have left, including
Wooldridge
Park,
Duncan
Park, and the
Shoal Creek Greenway.
5. Improving our sidewalks.
There are still some gaps in our sidewalk network, and many of the sidewalks
we have are too narrow, or lack curb cuts, or are otherwise in need of
repair.
6. Improving conditions for bicycles.
The neighborhood currently has several segments of
bicycle routes,
mainly along Nueces and 12th Streets, but none are considered easy to use;
in fact the 12th Street route is marked in red from Nueces to West Avenue,
indicating it "[m]ay function as a barrier to cyclists." We'd like our
streets to be more bike-friendly. One possibility could be some form
of
bicycle
boulevard along Nueces.
7. Involving more members.
We're hoping to make contact with others in the neighborhood who are
interested in helping out. If you'd like to be involved with OANA,
please
let us know.
8. Participating in the Downtown Plan.
The
Downtown Austin
Plan is currently underway. Early versions of the plan have
proposed a "Northwest District" covering much of our neighborhood.
We'd like to see careful attention given to this area, and we hope the
plan will provide an opportunity to advance all the goals listed above.
