The Waco Business Newsletter: April 29, 2019

in

A bi-monthly newsletter investigating the people, places, and policies shaping Waco’s economy.

I'm Austin Meek, Vox of Waco Business News. Listen to "Downtown Depot," my radio show and podcast tracking the ins and outs of Waco business, live on Fridays at 11:30AM on 103.3 KWBU-FM. You can also stream previous episodes anytime via Apple Podcasts, NPR, and Waco Business News.

The Waco Business Newsletter: April 29, 2019

LOCAL LINKS

  1. This well-reported Buzzfeed piece touched on a lot about Waco's power structure. I don't agree with all of it - the assertion that one must be a part of "old money Waco" or Antioch's community to succeed in town is particularly laughable - but it does provide many different, important perspectives of a rapidly-evolving Waco. (Buzzfeed) 

  2. You can now order goods from your favorite farmers market vendors online! Pickups happen Tuesdays from The Food Hub just off Elm Avenue. Access to fresh and affordable food is a necessary ingredient for healthy communities.  (Waco Downtown Farmers Market)

  3. I really liked Austin Hooper's analysis of the "slowing but growing" Waco housing market in The Residential Recap. (Waco Business News)

  4. Gregg Glime suggests that the former Crossfit building at 8th and Webster, which will soon house a coffee shop concept from Magnolia, could also have space for a furniture showroom from the home goods giant. (Waco Business News)

  5. Mission Waco has inked the first tenant for its retail development, Colcord Center! Helados de Azteca is a Mexican sweet shop that will be well received by neighborhood residents, about one third of whom are Hispanic. Love this incremental development approach. (The Waco Tribune-Herald)

  6. Two local BBQ joints, Guess Family Barbecue on 6th Street and Helberg Barbecue on Austin Avenue, were named two of the top 25 new spots in the state by Texas Monthly's "BBQ Snob," Daniel Vaughn. (Texas Monthly Magazine)

  7. The Silo District Marathon hosted by Magnolia Market brought in about 6,000 runners, 400 volunteers, and 15,000 viewers. I was late in sending out this week's newsletter hoping that I'd have economic impact data to share, but it's been slow in coming. Next edition! (The Waco Tribune-Herald)

OTHER LINKS

  1. The State of California faces a massive housing crisis. This opinion piece, which I agree with for the most part, posits that concentrating dense development along transit lines would provide more Californians with better jobs and services, shorter commutes, and healthier environmental conditions while fighting economic inequality. (The New York Times)

  2. A new study in Nature asserts that lack of access to natural light, which can be difficult to find in major metropolitan areas, can put human health, well-being and sustainability at risk. While it's inconvertibly true that urban livers create a smaller environmental footprint than people living in rural areas, research like this into the negative effects of urban living are necessary for anyone seeking intellectual honesty. (Nature)

  3. The huge appetite for mixed-use communities continues to grow, according to a new study. Seventy-eight percent of adults say they would reside in 'live, work, shop, play' communities that continue to diversity, often adding entertainment and medical services to the traditional retail developments. (ICSC)

  4. A group called Reconnect Austin is devising a plan to protect against displacement and bring human-scale development to the I-35 corridor in our state's capital. (Congress for New Urbanism)