Observing the Urban Landscape: Highland Mall

Geography 4338: Planning Practicum

Blanton, Kelly M February 19, 2014

Introduction In observing the urban landscape, I chose to focus on an area that I had been to many times yet had little redeeming qualities. I chose the Highland/Highland Mall are for my study location. I set the boundaries of my study location as being North Lamar Boulevard to the east, East Koenig Lane to South, I-35 (Interregional Highway) to the West and Huntland drive to North. I

chose this area because it has so many

Photo by Google Maps 2014

transit connections, it serves as a de facto transportation center for Austin. Almost any bus you need you can catch from highland mall straight or with a transfer. It is home to Highland metro rail station, greyhound station is beside it , before the cancellation of the Bobcat Tram Interurban Service it made two stops at Highland Mall, (Google, 2014) one in the Front Capital Metro Stop Shelters and one on the south side near the back of the Greyhound Station which is at middle Fiskville road and Clayton lane. The BTI signs are still up waiting for the return of much needed service. I visited highland mall from UT area on the 7 Duval/Dove Springs which is a popular corridor but not overcrowded like the 1L/1M that travels Lamar Blvd. The 7 also hits downtown, Hyde Park and other important areas. Another important route 350 Airport Blvd travels through East Austin to the Austin Bergstrom International Airport.

To get there from Texas State University San Marcos by car, take the I-35 North to Austin and get off at exit 238A. To get there using public transit, take Route 10 University to San Marcos Station then take CARTS Interurban Yellow route or Amtrak Texas eagle and take the 7/Duval Dove Springs or 338 then 7 or take Metrorail from either Downtown or Plaza Saltillo Station Northbound and get off at Highland Station. Bicycling up Duval then Lamar or Guadalupe will also get you there. Vitality Vitality in the Highland neighborhood is only for cars. Vitality is very poor for both the Highland/Highland Mall
Photo by Google-Google Maps 2014

area. This is due to its auto-centric location flanked by three major thoroughfares, Airport Blvd, Interregional Hwy (I-35) and East Koenig Lane. This setting impacts all elements of life in the area as all planning is done with cars in mind. Sidewalks are available in some areas but it is a mixture of sidewalks and parking lot walking. Some streets are better than others because they have continuous sidewalk or low traffic. Bicycle accommodations are not present. A tiny piece on bike path is available along airport Blvd. called the Crestview/Highland Urban Trail. This travels along the right of way for the Metrorail red line from Highland Station to Crestview station. According to the City of Austin bicycle map (Austin, 2013) which used the Bicycle Compatibility index (BCI) the surrounding streets in the Highland Mall are medium comfort

roads. Airport is included but it is much more comfortable and therefore you are able to go much faster on the Crestview/Highland Urban Trail, Denison is also a safe low traffic street that will take you up to Lamar from which you can catch the 1L/1M or continue bicycling. The only public green space available in the area is the DPS track/park area and it is sad. Due to its proximity to major freeways the residents of Highland enjoy a trifecta of bad community form. A food desert is one due to no grocery stores or even restaurants only fast food places, second, high pollution and traffic levels due to personal automobile and freight truck emissions as well as higher speeds and many lanes with no crosswalks to aid any desperate pedestrian. Third is no green spaces, no park or any space at all has been left unpaved, an elementary school near the DPS is the only green area with playground equipment. Sense A sense of place is distinct for highland mall as it can be recognized and distinguished from google earth mainly due to its vast size and uniform configuration. It can also has a sense of being frozen in time as nothing around it has really changed. I can imagine back when Highland Mall was in its heyday and the most popular place around because it has the location desired most in the 1960and 70s right along major freeways away from anything with big vast parking lots and modern geometric designs. Unfortunately, that doesnt allow for much else to happen there and so the fit is strict. No elements of good design are present, no windows or landscaping. Some doors are hard to spot due to the design. No special places are available for residents to go and enjoy. The bus connections are the only reason it is prominent.
Fit

The fit of the Highland Mall area is very poor. The

Photo by Kelly Blanton

surrounding neighborhood area is single family residential yet no public spaces have been provided except for this one. Austin Community college has teamed up with Redleaf development to create a new vision for highland mall. This vision will not only help provide needed public spaces such as a community center, retail, restaurants and housing in mixed use smart code development style. A vision for Highland fact sheet produced by ACC/Redleaf is attached for further reference. (College, 2014)This redevelopment will help Austin as well as the neighborhood achieve a good fit. Highland Mall is a good example of its time period due to it being what Dolores Haydens A field Guide To Sprawl calls Mall Glut this is due to policies at the time which allowed almost full tax deductions on new properties. This was called accelerated depreciation and its effects on businesses and neighborhood form were scarring. (Hayden, 2003) Vast surface parking lots abound at Highland Mall. Parking spaces may number over 10,000 which was common at the time of construction. (Hayden, 2003) No misfits or grass trails are seen probably because there is both no grass and vast empty parking lots which serve as giant sidewalk plats. Highland mall is undergoing construction right now and has been
Photo by Kelly Blanton

for a while now to renovate it into a new campus for ACC (Austin Community College) which is part of A New Vision For Highland. Yet all the other structures except the Panda Express and the

Office park have stayed the same and deterioration is clearly visible on even the Wells Fargo building. Access Access to well-paying jobs is missing as well as social and recreational activities and public spaces are missing. Transportation infrastructure and connections are above average and improving. If you are a personal vehicle you have three major freeways to access all parts of Austin and beyond. Airport Blvd. is undergoing a redesign and development process and so more bicycle and pedestrian facilities are coming soon. Taking transit is convenient as it is a 15 min walk or less by bicycle ride to Lamar where you can catch multiple buses including MetroRapid. Highland Mall has many buses serving the area such as 320 St Johns, 350 Airport Blvd., 7 Duval/Dove Springs and 10 South 1st. The Metrorail Red line also stops at Highland Station. Access could be improved through adding more office space for jobs, mixed use development that provides diverse businesses such as bakery, juice bar, salon, dry cleaners, bookstore and Post office. A New Vision for Highland hope to fulfill all the elements of good city form and turn Highland into an area like Mueller.

Control Public and Private spaces are distinctly separated. Neighborhoods are flanked on all sides by either freeway or fast food which must make for a lovely sight. Public space dominates mostly the private space but the residential areas are still distinct enough that you feel a sense of neighborhood even if only for a short period of time. Single Family houses with typical

setbacks, lawns and garages. Backyards have fences and you mainly see people in private space, such as their yard but it probably depends on the time of day. For Highland mall, I have been at all times of day, morning, afternoon and evening all areas are low, empty except for the occasional shopper and person needing to rest or use the restroom. I would say control is mainly by the planners and city council but I think residents and transit users have a stake in what happens to the space. With the new vision for Highland the public will take a more active role in controlling what activities and development goes there and I hope it is for the better. Good Planning Some good planning in the neighborhood is the construction on the ACC campus. The outside is looking so much better already and good design can impact a lot. The Metrorail station is an example of good planning. Capital Metro had the future insight to see that Highland mall is a prime location for re development, it just needs the right developer and so putting a stop at Highland Mall really solidified its bright future. The Crestview/Highland Urban

Photo by Walkscore.com

Trail is another example of good planning. I saw the future in

the potential highland urban rail line as part of project connect .

Bad Planning

Unfortunately, I saw many examples of poor planning. In planning for cars, they forgot to plan for anyone else. Limited sidewalks as well as uncomfortable walking conditions and long distances between places due to large surface parking lots cause the neighborhood to be un

walkable or even un bicyclable due to high road speed in many areas with no bike lanes or amenities. No public spaces for people to hang out or coffee shops and restaurants to enjoy like downtown Austin. Adding tree lined boulevards as well as transforming the parking lot space into mixed used developments could not only provide living space with a front door transit stop and other opportunities to recreate such as picnicking and enjoying a book in the park or coffee shop. A night downtown is as easy as a walk across Airport Blvd. at Highland mall Blvd. to the Highland mall metro rail station, save money, dont worry about being drunk or traffic just enjoy the time.

Place

Land uses are very segregated in the area. From the Mall, you have the highways and hidden behind a row of fast food is the neighborhood. Highland mall area is not a good place as it does not meet all of Kevin Lynchs elements for Good City Form it also is not all positive place to be. Not a lot of activities are happening there mainly
Photo by Kelly Blanton

just transfer location for buses. It has so much empty space that it has great potential for future development into something great. Conclusion

In Conclusion, Highland area is a landscape with past bad planning that can be reclaimed for good uses easily and the process of transformation has already started for part of the area. Highland mall is a prime area for mixed use developments due to its proximity and vast amount of space. Highland mall will be a prominent area in Austin after a dose of private and public development.

Works Cited
College, A. C. (2014). A New Vision for Highland. Google. (2014). Google Maps. Hayden, D. (2003). Building Suburbia. New York: Vintage Books.