Up the Creek
Members of the Shoal Creek Conservancy board of directors, along with an assortment of friends, toured the upper reaches of Shoal Creek in February. We devoted most of our time to gauging the condition of the creek at various crossings and access points in this northern segment.
Read MoreA City of Few Fountains
Great cities have great public spaces. Great public spaces often have great fountains. Where are Austin’s?
Read MoreNo Quack, No Waddle, No Duck
If a bird waddles like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck, right? Not every bird paddling around Lady Bird Lake or Shoal Creek quacks or waddles, though. If a waterbird isn’t a duck, what is it?
Read MoreAustin’s Heritage and Transformation
Austin began with Shoal Creek sitting on the sidelines. Edwin Waller adopted Shoal Creek as the western edge of the new city, and his to-be namesake as the eastern boundary. Congress Avenue became the centerline. No longer. The city sprawls past these edges into the white-rocked and cedar-treed hinterlands. Like most cities, it has both heritage and been transformed.
Read MoreGreat Cities, Great Spaces
Austin’s lakeshore consciousness is still evolving. We are only now raising the public’s awareness of Shoal Creek as a public space. Waller Creek and Lady Bird Lake are two additional examples of public spaces that are only now attracting a level of interest and support that is necessary for them, too, to become great public spaces.
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