Study Area

The study area for the Downtown Austin Plan is bordered by Town Lake, MLK Boulevard, Interstate 35, and Lamar Boulevard. The plan will consider issues affecting not only this immediate area but also Downtown's relationships with the surrounding neighborhoods and destinations, such as the University of Texas campus, the chain of parks along Town Lake, and revitalization areas in East Austin.

DAP study area map

Facts About Downtown

Downtown Austin is:

• The city's central business district, with more than 8 million square feet of office space (25% of the citywide total)
• The city's entertainment hub, home to East Sixth Street, the Warehouse District, the Uptown arts district, and the city's highest concentration of top-ranked restaurants
• The primary tourist destination in the region, with more than 4,800 hotel rooms, attracting more than 7 million visitors annually to the Texas State Capitol, Texas State History Museum, events at the Austin Convention Center, galleries and performance venues
• The historic core of Austin, site of the city's founding in 1839, with four National Register districts and dozens of state and local historic landmarks
• A growing retail destination, with the West End/Market District anchored by the flagship Whole Foods Market, the emerging Second Street retail district, and street-level stores and restaurants on Congress Avenue
• The seat of government: home to the State Capitol Complex, Austin City Hall, the Travis County Courthouse, and the federal buildings and courthouse.
• Home to more than 5,000 people, with the population expected to grow to 14,000 by 2010

Changes and Challenges

Downtown Austin is in a period of transition. While the market for Downtown housing is rocketing upward, the area continues to struggle to compete with outlying areas to maintain its share of the commercial (office and retail) market. As suburban growth in Central Texas continues to draw investment away from Downtown, the classic role and vision of the area as a diverse, mixed-use hub of Austin life becomes harder to sustain. A Downtown too dominated by office space was hard hit by prior downturns in the local economic cycle; a new Downtown, dominated by upscale housing, would likewise suffer in a future bust.

Downtown Austin has been the subject of numerous plans and studies for decades, each of which has contributed excellent ideas and has resulted in some changes. The R/UDAT Austin 1991 report, its 1992 "A Call to Action" implementation plan, and its follow-ups in 1997 and 2000 are widely credited with helping create the current vibrancy in Downtown. But no one plan has been created that reflects a broad base of community support, establishes mechanisms for changes that are still needed, and points the way for how Downtown should develop in the years to come. The Downtown Austin Plan effort is a response to this need.

More about R/UDAT Austin