Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2009 > November > 02
Monday, November 2, 2009
Riverside: Highland and Lowland
I’ll take the high road and, what the heck, I’ll take the low road, too.
While the Colorado River floodplains and flanking hills define the terrain North-South, socially, Riverside is divided along a jagged, line between large apartment complexes to the East and small single-family zones to the West. The latter is crisscrossed by Parker Lane and Woodland Avenue, leading to narrow strips of cliff-side developments.
Among the steep, highland mounds — nobody driving Riverside or Interstate 35 can imagine how steep — the autumn flowers had dulled, but groundwater had risen to replenish the trees. Few birds lingered late in the morning, but two hawks flashed overhead. One encounters not so many dog-walkers as in nearby, gentler Travis Heights, but plenty of yard-dabblers, and a few water-toting trekkers like ourselves.
Only scattered evidence of pre-World War II activity here, mostly down along Old Riverside and up on Taylor-Gaines Street. (Were these names of settlers of that hilltop? Non-snarky readers please reply).
Otherwise, the highland homes fall into two categories: Mid-century moderns, built after work began on the interstate, some of them fastidiously placed on hillsides; and less thoughtful 1970s versions of Colorado chalets and Arizona desert ranchers, with skirts of milky limestone for local flavor. No longer hidden, this neighborhood remains a gem.
The sweet find this trip was a hilltop homestead plot on Parker. Ancient oaks guard the hill’s crest and a meadow drops down to a pond, probably feeding the almost completely erased Harpers Branch. The lot is for sale. That probably excites developers, but it would also make a superb, vest-pocket park in an area lacking them, especially if playgrounds were added to the vast lawns of two churches across the street.
These upper neighborhoods remain pretty much intact. No so the giant apartment complexes in the lowlands, almost all demolished (easily, given their temporary nature). A walk along Lakeside Drive and its LCRA-planted oak alleys explains why the area was targeted for new mix-use development. In any city, this would be a coveted location, so near downtown, the lake and Lakeside Park.
University of Texas students once dominated this area, as well as the apartments on the hillsides across Riverside Drive. No longer. Immigrants gather on the landings and cook in the courtyards. Some have fleshed out balconies with plants and decoration, which seems a little sad, since many of the remaining buildings will go, too.
Immigrants infuse Pleasant Valley Road, East Riverside and East Oltorf with enormous, international energy. Taquerias, carnerias, panderias, along with Vietnamese, Chinese, Indonesian and Mediterranean cafes, battle against American fast-food chain (guess which nutritionists and foodies would probably back).
No wonder H-E-B is expanding its keystone store at Pleasant Valley and Riverside. Would be a good time to partner with the city to finish the sidewalks along that side of Pleasant Valley, since a steady stream of families trod the mud between the grocery store and the authentic Gran Mercado complex down the street.
Developers, neighborhood activists and city planners are taking the next steps carefully. Overwhelming logic supports the boardwalk extension of the hike-and-bike trail. Also the balance between new amenities and affordable housing in the lowlands. Well-maintained landscaping and pedestrian crossings would help Oltorf and Riverside.
Eventually, one assumes, the soul-chilling acres of concrete parking lots will disappear as the area population diversifies. I predict an internationally-flavored organic grocery store will eventually replace American Bingo, one of the area’s most painful eyesores. I’d bet on it.
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