Streetscape

It's the first of the month so it's Theme Day at City Daily Photo. Our assignments this year are to show elements of our city. This month it's a streetscape. Something typical or unusual or just something we like along a street. We chose this one. The owl is one of a pair in front of the new Proper Hotel and Condominiums. The view is looking west from the bridge over Shoal Creek on Second Street. The photographer shown is FFP. One can see the Austonian and the Ashton in the distance. The construction on the right will be an office people housing more Google employees. Across the street from that is the Northshore. I bet some pictures of the Butterfly Bridge show up here eventually from FFP's viewpoint! To see what other participating cities posted for Streetscape, click here.

A Different View...Soon to be Lost

I shot this from Brazos street with the construction for the Marriott Hotel in the foreground. When it rises this particular perspective with be obliterated. From left to right: 100 Congress, the Ashton, the Austonian, the W Hotel and Residences and looking small because it's furthest away (it's really taller than any but the Austonian) is the 360 Condominiums (our home).

Rally View

City Hall Plaza is the place where lots of rallies and concerts occur. This view, looking east across the plaza during the rally against hate on Saturday, shows buildings we are familiar with from other pictures. The Austonian and Ashton are nearer and dominate the view. The Frost Bank tower barely seems to poke up its head, but it looks tall from other angles as we know.The limestone blocks people are sitting on are both decoration and barriers for security.

Contrast Old and New

That's the top of a fire training tower built in 1931. It was reconditioned in the '70's with a carillon added. It chimes the hours and plays songs during the Christmas holidays. It is dwarfed by the luxury apartment building the Ashton. The top of the Austonian peeks above that. This was taken from the trail around Lady Bird Lake. (Details about the old tower are on the Austin Fire Department history page.)

It's the first of the month and theme day in City Daily Photo Land. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants of the group in theme day.

Skyline Changes, Stevie Ray Endures

We showed you Stevie with our house in the background recently but thought we should show you his statue with the finished Ashton and almost finished Austonian in the background.

Invisible Apartments

I shot this from the Headliners Club in the Chase building on the 4th. The building on the left is the Austonian which we can see most of (from about the tenth or twelfth floor up) from our window right now. The building on the right, the Ashton apartments, is completely hidden by the AMLI on Second. We were talking recently with someone about how all the units in these buildings will be filled. I always think "but it's only about a 1000 or less places among all the buildings recently finished or close to finished" (Austonian, Spring, Ashton, Legacy, some lower rise Gables and such, etc.). Surely not much more than 2000. For a metro area of over a million and a half with 65,000 people coming downtown to work each day, maybe it's not such a staggering amount of housing stock. This is a closer view (with prettier sunset light) than this one shown May 9th. And the Austonian is eight stories higher.