An international crew of new urbanist bikers (sounds intimidating, doesn’t it?) assembled at 9AM this morning to cycle around Austin. People from around the U.S., Canada and Great Britain were led by knowledgable locals around downtown, the east side, Lady Bird Lake and Barton Springs. It was all quite wonderful and informative in 70 degree sunny skies.

The first stop was at Saltillo Plaza on the city’s historic east side, but more on that later. We next biked along Lady Bird Lake, quite a busy place on a gorgeous Saturday. We crossed the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge and stopped to discuss the bridge extension and master plan for the area on the north side of the bridge. Also under development is the Lance Armstrong Bikeway Project, which will establish a six-mile cross-town bike trail. These and other projects will help make Austin a more bicycle-friendly city.

We finished our tour at the Barton Springs Pool, a natural spring-fed pool that is 68 degrees year round. The pool and park surrounding it is a major recreation destination for citzens of Austin, and this day was no exception. Biking is a great way to discover a city, especially when guided by knowledgeable new urbanists.

Friday night followed day two of the new urbanism conference here in Austin. After a good day of conference sessions and mobile workshops followed by a speech by Robert Caro, author of The Power Broker, members were still energized and fired up. I attended two events that showed some insights as to future directions the new urbanism may take.

The Charter of the New Urbanism is an elegant piece of literature. It decries disinvetment in central cities, opposes sprawl, and encourages better cities from the region on down to the home itself. It is a compelling movement, and the charter is certainly a motivating factor for countless people to be involved. Yet there are some who feel there needs to be additional focus on better urbanism.

The first event was held by a group of slightly younger members; the non-founders of CNU but those in their 30s who are big believers and leaders in their own right. Called XNU, apparently a reference to Gen X, they are asking if we walk the walk, not just talk the talk, and have created a test to challenge new urbanists to consider their commitment. Over ribs and beer (the Texas version of bread and wine), there were a couple speeches and an open discussion about the direction in which the young blood of CNU wants to head. Not quite a revolution, but one could smell evolution in the air.

I got back on my bike and headed for a late night “salon,” one of many informal gatherings to test new ideas and debate. More local microbrews added to the spirit of the debate. Lest you think it was a drunken shouting match, it was a very focused discussion on how to better connect new urbanism and transit to truly reduce vehicle miles traveled and carbon emissions. There was great discussion over ideal routings of transit and how to better integrate a mix of uses near them so people can meet most needs on foot or transit. Although I left at 11PM, the discussion was showing no signs of ending.

And so it appears that the frontiers of the new urbanism are being pushed and stretched to meet the realities of today’s world. I believe this is healthy, especially if it refocuses on the continued serious problems with the way we develop cities. I for one welcome the discussion.

LEED-ND was the topic of the morning session. A panel of core committee members including Jennifer Henry, Victor Dover, Doug Farr, Tom Richman and Susan Mudd discussed lessons learned so far with the certification process, and allowed CNU members to vent a bit about criteria and priorities.

As one might expect, there was much hand-wringing about the transect and how each zone gets ranked in LEED-ND. The idea behind LEED-ND, of course, is location efficiency of projects, and the thing that gets new urbanists up in arms is their beautiful greenfield projects don’t get certified in LEED-ND because they aren’t near transit. That is the whole point! Studies show that well planned suburban development doesn’t necessarily reduce vehicle miles traveled. Thus, inner city development near transit should get rewarded.

LEED-ND is in the pilot phase, and no doubt things will change before it is officially rolled out, but its core principles will remain a balance between resource efficiency, good design, and location, location, location.

The evening program featured Henry Cisneros, the former director of HUD in the (Bill) Clinton years. He gave an invigorating presentation about the successes of the HOPE VI in transforming areas of cities that were once off limits in to livable areas ready for investment. His speech even referenced the resurgent, often overlooked American hero, the “Quiet Beatle” among our founding fathers, John Adams, and challenged us to channel him and build good cities so as to leave a legacy that far outlasts us.

Here in Austin for the 16th Congress for the New Urbanism conference, I am doing things a little differently. Usually when attending a conference, I choose a hotel preferably within walking distance of the convention center. With my recent good luck with the vacation rentals website (see my recent post on Santa Cruz and San Francisco), instead of a hotel I looked for a studio or one bedroom rental of some kind.

Well, I lucked out! I found a little studio, just off 6th Street and about two miles west of downtown. It is actually the finished attic level of a home, complete with a kitchenette, bathroom, bedroom with a mini desk, and a wonderful deck under some lovely shade trees. My place is in the Old West Austin Neighborhood, which is a collection of lovely old bungalows on narrow streets, hills, ravines, and a strip of commercial and industrial uses experiencing redevelopment.

I took the express bus from the airport (the Flyer, essentially a nonstop to downtown in 15 minutes for 50 cents) and the Silver Dillo (one of the several free buses serving areas within a mile of downtown) out to the apartment. May I just say the Austin bus service is, well, above average and easy to navigate. Many of the bus stops have not only times but maps showing the route - very helpful to an out of towner.

I got settled and took a walk around the ‘hood, the core of which is on 12th Street and West Lynn. There is a quaint commercial node with a still-functioning pharmacy and soda fountain, called Nau’s. I had a bite to eat at Zocalo, a delicious Mexican restaurant. Also at this little commerical node is a nursery, a dry cleaner and a coffee shop called Caffe Medici. This area is also the original settlement of the city’s first black community, established not long after the Civil War. I encourage you to explore the Old West Austin Neighborhood if you have the chance.

After dinner I wandered down to 6th and Lamar to the famous Waterloo Records to buy the new REM CD and the Whole Foods flagship store (a mixed-use, LEED certified project) for a few groceries. I found myself wandering the 80,000 square foot store among vast displays of exotic foods, quite lost in organic amazement. They even have an in-store wine bar. The outdoor patio is perhaps my favorite part of the development, a pleasant public space full of people hanging out at 9PM on a weeknight.

Today I rented a bicycle thinking it would make the trek back and forth from the conference easier. I was right, although the route is a bit convoluted. From my little flat, I must cross a busy street, pass under a building, up a wheelchair ramp, over another busy street on a pedestrian bridge, down a worn cowpath to a sidewalk that leads under a railroad bridge, over a rickety pedestrian bridge crossing a creek, under a maze of freeway overpasses, then down to a pleasant gravel path along Lady Bird Lake in to downtown. I love it - a wonderful way to get around. It is quite freeing to exlore a new city on a bike.

Tonight I headed back to my little apartment to sit on my deck and enjoy the night air. It dawned on me that I was living the new urbanism. All these practitioners are meeting here this week to try and create good cities, and here I was in the middle of it. I am in a relatively dense neighborhood with tons of character. I took transit, a bike, and walked, all through a mixed use neighborhood with restaurants, a grocery store and open space. Sounds like new urbanism to me!