Great Streets Program
Downtown Austin Rangers
From April, 1997 to December, 1997, the Rangers received training in the following areas: 1) Customer Service, from ACVB, 2) First Aid training, from EMS, 3) CPR training, also from EMS, 4) gang awareness training from APD, 5) Bicycle Training and Safety, from the University of Texas at Austin, 6) Cultural Diversity, from the City of Austin, 7) Sexual Harassment Awareness, from the City of Austin, 8) Self Defense, from Bob Foster of Equix Advisory Corporation (an Alliance Board Member and martial arts expert), and 9) Communicable Disease, from Austin EMS.
The Rangers serve as eyes and ears for APD and as goodwill ambassadors for the downtown Austin area. The Austin Downtown Rangers dress in easily distinguishable uniforms and carry two-way communication equipment to be in constant contact with Austin Police dispatch. The Rangers were trained by APD in police patrol techniques. The Rangers are not peace officers, do not carry weapons, and do not make arrests. They report situations requiring Police Officer attention to the Austin Police dispatch office.
The Rangers are also trained by ACVB in their ambassadorship responsibilities. The Downtown Rangers serve as guides for the public; they are trained to answer questions about points of interest in downtown Austin. They carry maps and other materials to guide guests of our city to their destinations.
The Austin Downtown Rangers program assists both the Downtown Austin Alliance in implementing its Security Service Plan element, and satisfy a current APD goal to increase the number of women and minorities in its ranks. All of the Austin Downtown Rangers are City of Austin employees, funded by a grant from the Downtown Austin Alliance.
The principal purpose of the Austin Downtown Ranger program is security. Therefore, the Rangers are directly responsible to the Supervisor of the Walking/Bicycle Beat in Downtown Austin. That Supervisor works closely with the Executive Director of the Downtown Austin Alliance and the ACVB Director to develop the deployment schedules and areas of security coverage throughout the year. This coordination will be on a continuing basis to satisfy the security needs of downtown Austin.
The Rangers integration into the Downtown Security network has proven to be a slow and tedious process. The immediate role of assuming the "goodwill ambassadors" duties was aided greatly by the training and expertise provided by the Austin Convention and Visitor's Bureau (ACVB) staff. The proposed hourly salary increase was approved by the Executive Committee of the Downtown Austin Alliance and became effective in November 1996. This pay increase was designed to attract more experienced, mature and stable Rangers to the program. The '98 budget call for a return to twelve (12) Full Time Equivalent (FTE) positions. With the addition of more experienced and mature Rangers the two-person patrols have been reduced to one-person patrols, and thereby increasing the coverage of the daily patrols.
Dane Sullivan is Acting Supervisor until June 1998.
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Grafitti Removal
Since the City of Austin has assumed responsibility for graffiti removal in the public right-of-way, the Downtown Austin Alliance has re-allocated its resources to private property graffiti removal. The Downtown Austin Alliance has contracted with American Graffiti and Off-The-Wall Graffiti for graffiti removal on private property within the Public Improvement District. The Alliance will clean any part of a building which faces the street. All downtown parcels for which the Alliance has a signed release of liability are included in this program. The Alliance will clean any part of a building which faces the street. Only member parcels for which the Alliance has a signed release of liability are included in this program.
All graffiti should be reported to the City Graffiti Hotline: 473-4125. For graffiti that occurs on the fronts of buildings in the Public Improvement District, please call Sam Allison at the Alliance: 469-1766.
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Litter Removal
The Downtown Austin Alliance has contracted with the City of Austin Youth Corps to perform litter removal from sidewalks, curb, and gutters in the Downtown Austin Public Improvement District. Litter is picked up between 7 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., seven days a week. This service is in addition to the city's regular maintenance program. Since December, 1995, the Youth Corps have averaged over 500 bags of trash a month in downtown.
The areas being cleaned falls within the boundaries of the Downtown Austin Public Improvement District. Within that area, the sidewalks will be cleaned from the private property line to the street curb. Alcoves will also be cleaned (alley cleaning is not a part of this contract). Congress Avenue receives additional coverage. The Alliance recently amended the pick-up routes to include a weekly litter pickup in Waller Creek.
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Destination Downtown Arts and Entertainment Map
The Downtown Austin Alliance has produced the Destination Downtown Map for Austin Arts & Entertainment . The map shows off the many avenues of artistic, cultural and recreational interest Downtown offers, while promoting Downtown's vital arts industry. The map is available from the Downtown Austin Alliance. This map has been in demand by realty and title companies, Downtown commercial leasing agents and managers, large Austin corporations (for inclusion in their employment relocation packets), tourists, convention planners, and by many Austin arts organizations.
During the summer of 1997 the Alliance updated a second edition of the map. 45,000 copies were printed in October 1997. The Alliance is co-marketing this project with the Austin American-Statesman's XLent and Experience Austin. For one year, Experience Austin, the official publication of the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau, will carry a 1/3 page ad for the map and Downtown. Annually, around 700,000 copies are distributed to Austin hotel lobbies and hotel rooms, car rental agencies, and travel agencies and tourists all over the United States.
The first edition was produced in 1995. The second edition of the map shows around 90 restaurants, 61 performing arts venues, 42 visual arts venues, as well as museums, libraries, parks, hotels and lodging, annual arts events, and University of Texas at Austin facilities. The map also shows Downtown public transportation routes and off-street parking available to the public, including State of Texas parking facilities. Attention has been given to the emerging cultural districts within the Public Improvement District.
Downtown Parking Signs and Map
The Downtown Austin Alliance has produced the Downtown Parking Map. The map shows lots and garages that contain parking available to the publicly. The parking facilities have posted signs provided by the Alliance. Uniform signage will be very helpful to anyone looking for parking, especially visitors and customers. Close to 100 signs were in use by the end of January 1998. Nearly all private sector facilities that offer public parking are indicated on the map.
The map is available from the Downtown Austin Alliance. An initial printing of 8,000 copies continues to be distributed to hotels, restaurants, rental cars agencies, Downtown offices and arts venues. The Alliance has been following up with managers of parking garages to determine effectiveness.
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Noontime Concerts
The Downtown Austin Alliance and the Austin Federation of Musicians have co-sponsored three years of free Tuesday noontime concerts. They are held in Spring (April-June) and Fall (September-October).
The concerts have been held every Tuesday each Spring and Fall since 1994. Types of music performed in the past include: 60's and Motown, Cajun / Mexican, Urban Folk, Eclectic Bluegrass, Big Band Sound, Tejano / Conjunto, Irish Harp, New Orleans Dixieland jazz, original Austin progressive country, jazz, original soul and Top 40 cover tunes, South American vocals and multi-instrumental, rock-a-billy and zydeco.
The Spring 1998 concerts begin on Tuesday, April 7 and run through June 30, 1998.
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Great Streets Program
The Downtown Austin Alliance, Inc. has established a Great Streets Program. This program's mission is the improvement of the physical design of Downtown streetscapes.
- Congress Avenue's 200 block is planned for streetscaping to match the rest of the "Main Street of Texas." Construction is planned to start summer 1998.
- The Driskill corner construction should begin April 1998.
- The Barton Springs - Congress Avenue "Triangle" will have xeriscaping and a bat sculpture/stabile by Dale Whistler. The large metal bat will move in the wind, as it heralds the entry to Downtown. Donors include the Austin American-Statesman, Embassy Suites Hotel, Hyatt Regency Austin, Parsons Brinkerhoff, Quade, Douglas and the Downtown Trust.
At this time the focus of the program is on the completion of existing projects.
Funding for projects selected as part of the Great Streets program will come from a variety of sources. If parking meter revenues in Downtown increase, the increase will be allocated to the Great Streets program. Other sources of funding, both public and private, are being sought. Possible sources include Capital Metro's Build Greater Austin program, the Historic Landmark Commission's Bricks and Mortar fund, ISTEA, contributions from adjacent property owners.
Basic Data
- Project Contact: Dave Kreider, Assistant Director, Planning, Environmental and Conservation Services Department, 499-6381
- Project Manager: Charles Betts, Executive Director, Downtown Austin Alliance, 469-1766, fax 477-7456, Southwest Tower, 211 E. Seventh Street, Suite 100-L, Austin, TX 78701
Revised January 29, 1997
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