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AMTRAK and Talgo, Inc. have put together a demonstration tour at the end of August to show off commuter rail operations in Seattle and the Seattle-Vancouver run operated by Talgo. TxDOT officials and some Austin-San Antonio Commuter Rail District members are attending. For information contact council@thecorridor.org.
The San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Free Trade Alliance are organizing their 3rd Biennial SA-to-DF Trade Mission to Mexico City, Sept. 5-7. There's one track of meetings for business leaders, another for civic leaders. For information call 210 229-9036.
Infrastructure
That Minneapolis IH-35W bridge collapse has everyone talking about one of our favorite topics, the nationwide funding gap on infrastructure of all types. In 1980 we were spending about 3% of Gross National Product on infrastructure; this year we will spend less than 1% of GNP on infrastructure, much of that in maintenance alone. Result: 60% of the Interstate system in urban areas is rated 'mediocre to poor,' we have 2000 dams in danger of failure, and then there are the bridges. Of 596,842 bridges nationwide, 12 percent, or 73,764 are deficient, federal records show. Of 49,518 bridges in Texas, 4 percent, or 2,219, are deficient, including around 50 in the Austin-San Antonio corridor. Pat Driscoll provides an excellent summary here. Ben Wear's Williamson, Hays, and Travis County report is here.
Wondering if there's a conspiracy to link Mexico, the US, and Canada with a NAFTA super highway? Stephen Colbert has the 'facts' in three short segments from Comedy Central. Click on the first one ("Road to Ruin") and once that completes, the next two follow it automatically ("NAFTA Secret Highway" and "John R. MacArthur"). It's all here.
CPS Energy earned the second-highest score in the South and ninth nationally in the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Electric Utility Customer Satisfaction Study. The results are based on customer responses from 29,042 telephone interview conducted from March to June 2007. CPS Energy tied with Duke Energy in the Southern Region.
Buda Mayor John Trube has resigned, effective 7/28, saying he will now turn his focus to personal business interests. Trube, mayor since 2002, has overseen commercial and residential growth in the once-small town, now with national retailers from Wal-Mart to Cabela's building there.
Economic Development
Austin ranked 13th among major US office markets in terms of transaction values, ahead of cities like Denver, Chicago and Dallas, according to the Real Estate Alert report. The top five markets on the list are New York, Northern Virginia, Seattle, San Francisco and Washington. Real estate companies spent $2.44 billion on Austin office buildings in the first half of 2007, up 434 % from the first half of 2006
Hispanic Magazine has named Austin the best city in America for Hispanics to live and work. This is the third time Austin has taken the No. 1 spot and the sixth time it's appeared on the list. The magazine ranks cities according to cost of living, population, housing, wages, safety, schools and unemployment. Three other Texas cities made the list: Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.
More than a year ago, the San Marcos city council hired an engineering consulting firm to examine how the cost of complying with city development codes compares to neighboring cities on the I-35 corridor. Single-family housing construction in San Marcos lags behind booms seen in Buda, Kyle and New Braunfels. San Marcos had issued 62 construction permits for homes through mid-July, New Braunfels has averaged more than that each month. City leaders hope a new one-stop permitting center will reduce wait times for developers frustrated with what they call a drawn-out process to clear new construction. Details here.
Southpark Meadows is getting a Bealls department store at the South Austin regional retail power center. Southpark Meadows is a three-phase project anchored by Wal-Mart Supercenter, JC Penney, Borders, Circuit City and a soon-to-open Super Target.
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