Update from Austin

So I ended up going to Austin City Limits. Good. Interesting. Antiseptic.

I won't bore you with the details of the rock'n'schmooze shenanigans here, or the specifics of the semi-sincere half-promises being made right and left. I keep on wanting to say, "What a wacky business!" but is this business really wackier than any other? Nah. There's just a more interesting dress code.

And now for something completely different! In my walking about the fine capitol city of Austin, Texas -- I've noticed that despite the pedestrian-friendliness, there's still lots of room for improvement. Most of this can be categorized as the failure to completely follow The Three Rules of true urban design.

David Sucher's Three Rules are brilliant, simple, and completely followed quite rarely. They are:
1. Build to the street
2. Put parking in back, not in front, and;
3. Make the surface permeable -- with windows, street-level businesses, or the like

It is Rule #3 where Austin often falls short. While the gridded blocks of downtown, with their relatively wide sidewalks and wall of street frontage, are highly walkable by American standards, often the architects and site planners have completely failed in engaging the street. I have been walking by an amazing number of blank walls. While you can do what you want in a suburban, low-density setting, building an ugly blank wall on the streets where people frequently walk is inexcusable.

It is no accident that entertainment districts like East Sixth Street (where I'm currently typing) are among the most dynamic anywhere. Here, more than anywhere else in the city, the Three Rules are consistently followed.

That doesn't mean that the Three Rules automatically ensure a lively (and noisy) bar district -- not at all! But if you want dynamism of any kind, this is the place to start.