Swanky Conservative

She garnered many of the Republican votes for the Place 3 Austin City Council seat, but Jennifer Kim now seems to be abandoning a one-time core Republican position: that of a free market economy. In her July 11 letter to the editor in the Austin American-Statesman, Kim writes about her opposition to the plan by Walmart to put in a superstore in the asphalt plain known as Northcross Mall. She is allying herself with the group, Responsible Growth 4 Northcross, made up of some area residents who don’t want Walmart moving in. (Hey, I remember when the area was known for being in the flightpath for Robert Mueller Airport, count your freakin’ blessings, sheesh.)

Kim seems to feel the numerous “pedestrian-friendly businesses” and “family-friendly neighborhoods” in the area will suffer from Walmart moving in.

The area is full of pedestrian-oriented businesses and family-friendly neighborhoods. It’s clear that a Wal-Mart would generate an unreasonable amount of traffic, so I sought evidence that the city could use to reject the site plan. I asked city staff to rerun the traffic impact analysis submitted by Lincoln Properties using the higher traffic numbers listed in a 2006 ITE Journal article on “big-box” stores, but I was told the staff lacked the software. The city asked Lincoln Properties to run the numbers, but it did not respond.

1) The area is a massive swath of asphalt with sidewalks butted right up against Burnet and Anderson lanes. Ever tried crossing that area in August? It ain’t pedestrian-friendly.

2) Family-friendly neighborhoods? Walmart’s not talking about moving in amidst the single-family homes; it’s wanting to move into the near-dead shopping mall that is already there. How is that not family-friendly? You could ride your bike to buy goods and groceries, if you let it move in. As is, you either a) drive to the Target on the other side of US 183, or b) drive down Burnet to the HEB at the Koenig intersection, or c) drive to the Far West HEB on the other side and down MoPac. That’s more family (not to mention eco)-friendly than a Walmart in the existing shopping mall parking lot? Here’s the Google Maps hybrid view of Northcross. Why look at all the trees…

I’ll say it. People living in that area of Austin have been happy as clams that their homes have grown in value since the airport moved to the sticks. (In a comment below, M1EK says this neighborhood wasn’t in the Mueller flightpath.) They are scared that a Walmart in the neighborhood means a drop in property value and have abandoned reason. They are framing their fight as one of grass-roots neighborhood associations fighting “the Man” and are padding their arguments with smart-growth and pedestrian-friendly eco buzz word arguments. What they ignore are the facts that a Walmart in the proposed location would be one that people could walk to, could ride their bike to, and that’s better urban planning than the current NIMBY attitude of “put it on the access roads of the Interstate.” That argument actually increases traffic as it mandates someone driving a car to go to the store.

Kim, let the rule of law prevail on this one instead of pushing the council to do another Las Manitas favoritism measure.