Awesome Joolie

A muggy, sullen day. I went into the office today and wandered around in the rain a bit, checking out the soon-to-be-opened Texas Mall.* It used to be a crummy, underused stub of North Congress Avenue that stretched from the Capitol to UT campus and wasn't used for much besides parking, but the state built a bunch of office buildings and sunk the parking underground--smart move; the parking garage canyon on San Jacinto Blvd. is so depressing and such a waste of space--and soon it will be a pedestrian mall. The landscaping wasn't as inspiring as I would have liked, but I hope it becomes a nice, welcoming space. I wish they could link it via land bridges over 15th Street to the north side of the Capitol grounds and over MLK Boulevard to connect the Bullock Museum with the Blanton, but that's probably a dream. Still, it'll be a nice amenity. Between that and the refurbished Waterloo Park and the newish medical school and hospital, that corner of downtown is getting pretty damn interesting. 

*Didn't realize until I read the site at this link that cars will still be able to cross at the numbered streets, albeit in a controlled fashion. Today I learned about speed tables!