Monday Morning Report
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The Executive Committee of the Austin-San Antonio Corridor will meet at 2:00 pm Wednesday, May 21 at the Corridor Council offices in San Marcos. Please RSVP to council@thecorridor.org or call 512-558-7360 for more information.
Welcome to the Corridor Council's newest member, CDM - a consulting, engineering, construction and operations firm with public and private clients worldwide.
Infrastructure
The New York Times front page Saturday (5/10) reports that, due to high fuel prices, mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to come by. Parking lots at many bus and light rail stations are suddenly overflowing, with commuters in some towns risking a ticket or tow by parking on nearby grassy areas and in vacant lots. Full story here.
Change We Can Stomach: And an Op-Ed piece in yesterday's Times makes the point that rising fuel prices will make it uneconomical to continue shipping food over long distances to markets and that a network of regional small farms will develop as an alternative. The good news? Locally-grown food from small farms (as opposed to large industrial farms) is fresher, better-tasting, and healthier, according to the author. Details.
As reported here a few months ago, by 2050 the Texas Triangle formed by San Antonio, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and Houston will become a 'mega-region' containing 70% of the state's population, roughly 24.5 million people out of 35 million state residents. The Houston Chronicle now reports that national planning experts believe the Texas Triangle might be the best place in the nation to begin developing high speed rail. Story.
Seguin Mayor Betty Ann Matthies was sent back to City Hall for another four-year term by nearly 68% margins on Saturday.
By overwhelming margins, Bexar County voters on Saturday committed $415 million in tax revenue to river improvements, sports fields, the arts and a long-term investment in the AT&T Center. Congratulations to Judge Nelson Wolff, who led the effort.
Economic Development
San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp. is the No. 1 Best Big Company to Work for in America, according to Fortune Magazine. Valero is the largest oil refiner in North America.
A proposed convention center in Bastrop will give the city more event and conference space. The Bastrop Convention and Civic Center will span about 30,000 sq ft and seat 1,000 visitors. The city hopes to start construction on the project, which will also include a new city hall, in November.
A newly-released study, The Cyberstates Report, by the nations’ largest technology trade association, shows Texas ranked second overall in the number of high-tech jobs, on the heels of California and ahead of New York. Texas has almost 23,500 high-tech companies compared to California’s nearly 43,500.
John Lindner has joined Bury+Partners as managing principal of its expanding public works division. Lindner was most recently the managing principal of Jacobs Carter Burgess’ Austin office.
The Texas Historical Commission recently recognized David Hollingsworth of Williamson County with the George Christian Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award for his service to historic preservation efforts in Texas. The award is named after Austin political consultant and former THC Chair George Christian who served as White House press secretary to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966-69.
“Time is the wisest counsellor of all.”
- Pericles