Browsing by Subject "Neighborhood planning"
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Item Mapping Mueller : a post occupancy evaluation of transportation choices in a new urbanist community in Austin, Texas(2014-05) Tepper, Rachel Cathryn; Wilson, Barbara B. (Barbara Brown)The 711-acre Mueller development is located just three miles northeast of downtown on the former site of the Robert Mueller Municipal Airport. Planned as one of Austin’s major transit-oriented New Urbanist developments, Mueller contains a pattern of pedestrian and bike friendly streets to encourage a range of transportation options for residents and visitors. Mueller is 30% complete and provides housing and jobs to over 3000 residents and 3000 employees. This professional report seeks to understand how current residents, employees, and visitors use the bike lanes, sidewalks, and roads in the Mueller community. To evaluate the transportation infrastructure, the author designed and coded a custom Google Maps survey that asked residents to draw common routes, points of interest, and points of concern related to their transportation choices. Field observations were conducted to verify and triangulate the information reported in the online survey. This study investigates whether the transportation principles for the development are or are not achieved by comparing the expressed principles of the development with the actual behavior reported and exhibited by frequent users.Item Neighborhood plans as tools for public health improvement : steps to a healthier Austin and neighborhood planning in Austin, Texas(2006-05) McGehee, Megan Lynn; McMillan, Tracy E.This study explores local plans as primary source documents outlining resident-requested, City-approved projects that may help reduce neighborhood-level barriers to physically active transportation and recreation. Emerging evidence suggests a link between the built environment and physical activity, but any causal relationship remains uncertain. This report begins with a literature review to discover neighborhood traits currently under investigation for correlation with higher activity levels. This is followed by an analysis of Austin Neighborhood Plans to identify community-prioritized Action Items pertinent to physical activity. Next, crime data are reviewed to assess objective and perceived safety levels in the study neighborhoods, Chestnut and East César Chávez. Finally, planners and residents are interviewed to explore how health and safety were addressed in the planning process, discover methods by which plan items have been implemented, and identify common barriers to project completion that the public health community may help bridge. Findings indicate that residents’ concerns regarding personal safety and crime may outweigh other neighborhood barriers to physical activity. Planning and health departments would be advised to address crime and safety levels as part of larger built environment efforts to encourage active transportation and recreation.Item The zoning change process in Austin, Texas(2008-05) Blunt, John Wallace; Butler, Kent S.The purpose of this report is to analyze the zoning change process in Austin, Texas. The report examines Austin's type of city government followed by an overview of zoning in the United States and Austin. The report chronicles the evolution of the Austin Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan and the Neighborhood Planning Area during the time period 1979-1997. Since 1997, zoning change protocol has become intertwined with neighborhood planning such that both must be discussed in detail. The extreme real estate cycles from 1982 to the present are also discussed. Economic conditions played a key role in the slow enactment of neighborhood planning in Austin. The report examines the jurisdictional boundaries of Austin and the governmental bodies charged with hearing zoning cases. After discussing the motivations of the market participants seeking zoning changes, the report analyzes four case studies to illustrate the basic types of zoning cases today. Finally, the report draws conclusions and offers suggestions for improving the efficiency and fairness of the zoning change process in Austin, Texas.