On Sunday November 23, we had a great visit with Jo Kathryn Quinn of Caritas. Jo Kathryn is Director of Self Sufficiency Services for Caritas. Caritas performs important services targeted at Austin and Travis County residents. In addition to providing direct support such as 450 lunches daily, they provide homeless prevention support that helps keep residents from becoming homeless, refugee support and much much more.
Caritas is an important downtown neighbor. Our discussion included specific questions about who is eligible for support, and also what it really takes to live in Austin. Their guidelines indicate that $11.50 per hour is the wage it takes for a single adult to maintain a 1 BR apartment in Austin.
An important project coming up is an annual count of homeless residents scheduled for January. Look for some ideas on how to help soon.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Downtown Austin Plan
On Sunday November 16, CPC's own John Nyfler presented an overview of the Downtown Austin Plan and we discussed how some of the pending plans may affect CPC and the issues we are concerned about. This was a great presentation and look for a reprise -with additions if there is an appropriate Wednesday night available. In addition, we have a binder of information that John collected that will be available for others that organizes information by topic.
The formal Downtown Austin Master Plan is scheduled to be put to the City Council late 2008 or early 2009. The top 5 priorities of the plan are:
The formal Downtown Austin Master Plan is scheduled to be put to the City Council late 2008 or early 2009. The top 5 priorities of the plan are:
- Maintain Downtown's competitive position in the region -
- Make Downtown a stronger place. Be more purposeful about how density is achieved
- Keep Downtown authentic and diverse
- Re-invest in the Public Realm
- Dedicate leadership, capacity and funding to implement the Downtown Austin Plan
for more details go to the City Website http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/downtown/downloads/DAP_Five_Top_Priorities_1-2-08.pdf
Projections are that residential population of downtown could grow from 8500 to 25,000
The Waller Creek Tunnel project; The Cap Metro Mater Plan; Lance Armstrong Bikeway; The Library and other projects were reviewed.
In addition there will be a direct impact of the plan on Brazos street that will impact the Church facility and parking.
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