WATER AND WASTE WATER RULE CHANGES BACKGROUND: Earlier this year architects and others involved in planning and/or building home additions or detached dwellings learned that a policy change late last year was making projects cost a great deal more than had previously been the case. Up until the policy changes, the city had been performing upgrades in service lines falling in the street, had not been requiring up-sizing of lines to most projects, had not been requiring new tap

As Austinites, we are always in search of ways to make our city one of the best in the nation. This month the NACTO Designing Cities 2015 conference is hosting a series of talks and seminars with a variety of featured speakers from across the country. Organized by the Austin Transportaion Department, Better Streets Week is a part of the national transportation conference- hosted by the City of Austin, Oct. 28-31 - and is focused on "creating better city streets and mobility n

Current City-wide code allows covered or uncovered porches, open on three sides, to extend 5 feet into the front set-back line in residential lots. BACKGROUND About 15 years ago, Cherrywood adopted a Vision for our neighborhood, the number one goal being safe, walkable streets. This goal caused me, about 10 years ago, to propose an amendment to the Land Development Code that would enable neighborhoods to OPT IN to a tool that would allow porches to extend even closer into t

A special thank you to the professionals over at Over Austin for this gorgeous aerial view of the Pfluger Bridge at night. This is one of our crowning achievements, thus far, here in Austin and it thrills us to no end when we see photos such as this one. The joy this project has brought our city is one of the reason why we do what we do. You can read more about the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge and it's construction on bridgestunnels.com (click here). If you have photos of this b

An attempt to amend the provisions of the City of Austin Land Development Code with respect to Accessory Dwelling Units has been in progress for most of this year. As of this writing, the City Council has passed, on second reading, an ordinance which: 1) Reduces building separation from 15 feet to 10 feet. 2) Allows an entrance within 10 feet of a property line. 3) Removes driveway placement requirement. 4) Reduces parking requirement from 2 to 1 off street space for all

Time for Throwback Thursday ‪#‎TBT‬! Did you know that Girard Kinney, owner of Kinney & Associates, was the architect behind one of Austin's most notable outdoor performance venues, Symphony Square? Symphony Square is a 350-seat amphitheater at the corner of Red River and 11th St. near the Capitol in Austin. It is thought to be the only restoration project in the United States to house the offices of a symphony orchestra. Here are a few images of the amphitheater. For more in