All Blog Entries by Brittanie Flegle

City of Austin Revokes Permit

Monday, February 7th, 2011 at 10:28am. 1464 Views, 0 Comments.

This past month, The Austin City Council revoked a live music permit for a bar on Rainey Street. Once known as the "last neighborhood" with single-family houses in Downtown Austin, Rainey Street is now legally re-zoned as a Central Business District. Since its re-zoning a few years ago, Rainey Street has introduced 4 new restaurant/bars to Austin's nightlife scene, including Clive, Lustre Pearl, Icenhaüer's and Bar 96. In August 2010, the City granted Lustre Pearl an outdoor music permit to be able to play music no louder than 70 decibels, but quickly revoked it four months later after several concerns were voiced from Rainey Street neighbors.

Why the concerns?

Change is inevitable in a fast-growing city, especially in a city that hopes to triple its…

Read Full Post »

City Expects More Growth in Downtown Austin

Friday, January 14th, 2011 at 5:55pm. 1284 Views, 0 Comments.

This week's Free Lunch Fridays trivia question references the City's latest plan to improve Downtown Austin. The Downtown Austin Plan (DAP) is a 10 year resolution to invest in the city's most vibrant and sought-after destintion. Currently, there are 9,500 people living in Downtown Austin, more than double of what it was in 2000. By 2020, the City of Austin expects to increase its Downtown tenants to 25,000, a 150% increase. In order to prepare for long-term growth, the resolution proposes 7 transformative steps and elements to help the City turn Downtown Austin into a sustainable center for business, entertainment, and residence.

Read more about the City's Downtown Austin Plan here. 

Free Lunch Fridays is a neighborhood trivia contest in which the…

Read Full Post »

Realty Austin presents Free Lunch Fridays

Friday, January 7th, 2011 at 5:17pm. 984 Views, 0 Comments.

Free Lunch Fridays is a neighborhood trivia contest in which the winner gets a free lunch for two at a local restaurant nearby our locations off West 5th and Lamar. "Like" us on Realty Austin's Facebook Fan Page to join the fun and win free lunch for two!
  Last week's trivia question for Free Lunch Fridays is just about the closest it gets to Austin culture. While Austin cherishes its "Keep Austin Weird" slogan, it also exercises its quirkiness to give mayors nicknames.   Starting way back when Austin was still called Waterloo -- this is waaaay back, I'm talkin' the 1840s here -- Austin had a mayor with a peg for a leg. Thomas William Ward was the 2nd mayor of Austin. He served in the army and helped fight for land in Texas. In 1835 he fought…

Read Full Post »

Huge Savings at IKEA and Macy's

Thursday, January 6th, 2011 at 4:00pm. 1211 Views, 1 Comments.

The New Year is officially here when stores start promoting red line sales and clearance items. Huge sales help stores clean out last year's old inventory to make room for the new styles of 2011. Right now Ikea and Macy's are kicking off their New Year with furniture sales making this weekend a great time to go furniture shopping with the whole family. 
The annual IKEA Sale starts the day after Christmas and runs through the 2nd weekend of the New Year. IKEA is located in Round Rock, just 20 minutes north of downtown Austin, right off I-35 and hard to miss. Currently, a giant "60% off" sign covers half of the building, so big you can't help but ask yourself, "what do I need?" Everything is on sale from floor lamps to couches. Expect to save up to 60%…

Read Full Post »

How to Recycle in Austin: What Is Recyclable and What Is Not

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 5:35pm. 5779 Views, 12 Comments.

Do your part to help our Earth and learn how to properly recycle.

Since the BP oil spill in April 2010, America's environmental impact on the world has been on the chopping block. While you can't directly extract oil from the Gulf of Mexico, you can do your part to limit your carbon footprint by recycling. And if you're going to help, wouldn't you rather do it right and not counter-act your efforts?

Most Americans aren't recycling correctly and it's costing them time and more taxes to not learn how.

A few years ago, the City of Austin established a one-bin recycle system which keeps all recycable material together versus sorting it into separate glass-only or plastic-only bins. The new system has made it easier for Austinites,…

Read Full Post »

Innovative Startups Prosper in Austin

Friday, June 4th, 2010 at 3:39pm. 1376 Views, 2 Comments.

Austin's been all over 2010 "best U.S. cities" lists ranking top 10 on lists for fittest U.S. city, best quaiity of life and, now, first place for the best city to watch in the next decade adding to the long list of reasons to live in Austin. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance ranked the largest U.S. metros based on economic vitality and unique livability appeal.

Austin, with its highly creative atmosphere and low-key cool scene, easily attracts like-minded professionals who bring talent and innovation to the local job pool. This is why Austin ranked number one for best city to watch in the next decade; its ability to generate jobs with new and innovative thinking nutures its local business scene and upholds its cool factor.

Best Cities…

Read Full Post »

Quality of Life Better in Austin

Monday, May 24th, 2010 at 4:54pm. 977 Views, 0 Comments.

According to a new study by www.portfolio.com/bizjournals, life is much better lived in Austin compared to other U.S. metros. The study ranked 67 cities with populations of 750,000 or more based on 20 statistical categories including population growth, unemployment rate, number of available housing, percentage of 25 to 44-year-olds, mortgage and rent affordability, percentage of workers who walk to work, average communte time, median household income, and education level. Austin ranked well mostly due to its expanding population growth, having grown by 32% since 2000, and for its large youth population, ranking first among the 67 metros with the highest percentage of adults between the ages of 25 and 44. With 7.1% of its workers walking to…

Read Full Post »

Renegade Craft Hosts First Annual Renegade Craft Fair in Austin

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 at 11:12am. 599 Views, 0 Comments.

2003 took Chicago by surprise when Renegade coordinators, Sue Daly and Danny Orendorff, hosted their first annual event, The Renegade Craft Fair. By 2009, Renegade was a multi-city national event expanding to Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. And on May 15th, 2010, Renegade Craft Fair will host its first ever Austin-based event at the Palmer Events Center! The fair will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on both dates, May 15th and May 16th, 2010, and will feature hand-picked, juried artists screened to provide the best of what our nation's handmade talent has to offer.

More information about The Renegade Craft Fair can be found on their Austin website, http://www.renegadecraft.com/austin.

The Palmer Events Center is located at 900…

Read Full Post »

South Austin Spanish Immersion Summer Camps for Children

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 at 10:46am. 2138 Views, 1 Comments.

This summer, South Austin will host summer camps for children totally directed in Spanish. Live the Language has offered Spanish Immersion Summer camps for children since 2005. Director Diedre and her well-trained staff offer a full schedule of classes ranging from grammar and oral lessons to yoga exercises to cooking classes all in Spanish. Help your child succeed in learning a second language by enrolling them in a summer camp totally immmersed in it!

The Austin-area Live the Language Summer Immersion Spanish Camp is located in Cherry Creek near South Central Market at "La escuelita mexicana." Camps are for kids between ages 5-15. Four 2-week camps are offered this summer. Camp begins as early as 8 a.m. and ends as late as 3 p.m.

For more…

Read Full Post »

El Arbol Restaurant Review

Friday, April 23rd, 2010 at 11:38am. 917 Views, 0 Comments.

El Arbol is one of those restaurants you want to take your parents to and sit for hours and hours drinking glasses of Malbec, bottle after bottle, until you're in debt. It's expensive and never within budget, but oh-so-worth-it if you're parents are paying! Usually, I would never indulge myself in a new restaurant's big-budget menu, but luck in the form of a friend from Austin Fit Magazine was on my side.

Last month right before spring break, El Arbol had their restaurant preview which, like all grand openings, is the same as a free-for-all dining experience. A three-course meal was provided free of charge, but alcohol was full price. Three of us, one representing Realty Austin (me) and two friends from Austin Fit Magazine, cashed in on our VIP…

Read Full Post »