Austin, TX

What to expect from the San Antonio-Austin mega-metro

Published

1 year ago

July 23, 2023

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What to expect from the San Antonio-Austin mega-metro

The mega-metro will lean heavily on I-35.

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In 1971, the area of North Texas that encompasses Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, and the like, didn’t have a unified identity, at least not an official one. The grouping of cities up at the top of Texas were organized under the banner of the North Texas Commission as the DFW Airport was being built, and the syndicate wanted a way to put forth that this new conglomerate of cities was ready to play with the big boys.

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Sure, Fort Worth residents get their purple khakis in a bunch at the idea that they’re anything like people from Dallas, but if you live anywhere else in Texas, the DFW Metroplex is a monolith. It’s the Dallas Cowboys. It’s the State Fair of Texas. It’s the Red River and almost Oklahoma and everything way up there. And the economies of each city have benefited from their associations with each other.

As it appears now, San Antonio and Austin, two cities that could not be more different from each other, are preparing for their own inevitable metroplex. Once a tossed-off eventual inevitability, leaders in each city and the towns in-between — mayors, economic development folks, chambers of commerce — are having high-level conversations about the new region. In fact, they’ve been preparing for this since at least 1984, when the Greater Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council formed, composed of city leaders and business-owners in both cities.

Even the jewel of San Antonio, the Spurs, played a couple “home” Austin games in 2023 — to the chagrin of everyone in San Antonio — and Gregg Popovich spilled the beans that the series will continue. Not to get all Brian Windhorst here, but why is that?

It’s because the San Antonio-Austin metroplex is coming soon, whether we like it or not.

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Developing the San Antonio-Austin mega-metro

It’s such a real idea that those who make these decisions are not even calling it a metroplex this time. Just as it was in 1971, for branding purposes, this region is already being touted as the San Antonio-Austin mega-metro, hyphenated and (for now) lowercase.

In early July, San Antonio’s PBS station KLRN debuted a documentary on a subject that has been on our minds for a while at MySA. Titled San Antonio – Austin: The Emerging Mega-Metro — the synergy! — it is hosted by Henry Cisneros. The former San Antonio mayor interviews Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, President of the aforementioned corridor committee Ross Millow, and a slew of other leaders in the combining large cities space.

From the outset of the documentary, it’s apparent that the mega-metro is, well, kind of already here. Everyone’s just figuring out how to make it work before we run out of water or expire while waiting to merge on the I-35 superhighway. There are some brain-melting figures, too, each of which represents the lowest numbers they’ll probably ever be, like the 495 people that move to the 13-country region that encompasses the mega-metro or the upward of 150,000 vehicles that traverse the main highway between the two cities every day.

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One of the producers of the KLRN documentary, Shari St. Clair, told me that she was amazed with how quickly the mega-metro is developing.

“We’re looking at millions of more people moving in here in the next 20 years,” she said. “It’s just astounding what’s happening. And we thought, this is just a story we’ve got to talk about. Lives will change because of this.”

My life changed because of the metroplex — err, mega-metro — too.

Examining the San Antonio-Austin mega-metro

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Not to get too existential, but this very idea of connecting the two metropolises is why they pay me to wake up every day and write stories about Austin for a website that literally has San Antonio in the name. The notion that San Antonio and Austin are already, kinda, sorta, a mega-metro means that my bosses guessed correctly. And it means that I have some more work to do in bridging the gap between readers in each community. It has to be all one, like Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps.

For that reason, I have spent the last few weeks — and will continue to — reporting on just what the heck is going on when we talk about the Austin-San Antonio (or is it San Antonio-Austin) mega-metro.

Over the next few months, we’ll examine the Austin-San Antonio mega-metro from many angles. Through reporting with experts and city officials, we’ll break down what the Austin-San Antonio mega-metro means for transportation, jobs, culture, and more. How do we protect the Edwards Aquifer? Will there be high rises in downtown Kyle? Can Buc-ee’s stock enough beef jerky to handle the population explosion?

At the outset of our reporting, this was to be one article, but the smashing together of two of the 10 largest cities in America is a tall order. We’ll delineate what the mega-metro could look like from every conceivable angle for a more digestible look at the weighty topic.

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Leading off is transportation. How could a mega-metro transform how we move around in the region? Is the infrastructure there yet? We’ll examine the I-35 of it all — and more — our next installment.

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Austin, TX

Klubnik not enough to carry Clemson over Texas in homecoming playoff loss

Published

2 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Klubnik not enough to carry Clemson over Texas in homecoming playoff loss

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Cade Klubnik carved up Texas’ defense Saturday night like nobody else this season, just not enough to complete a spectacular homecoming.

What You Need To Know

Klubnik, Clemson’s junior quarterback from Austin, passed for 336 yards — the most by a Texas opponent this season — and three touchdowns

But the Tigers fell short, losing the College Football Playoff game 38-24

Texas safety Michael Taaffe and Klubnik were teammates at Westlake High School when they won the 2020 Texas state high school championship together. The quarterback they beat that day? Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers

Another Westlake teammate, Texas defensive end Ethan Burke, sacked Klubnik in the first half Saturday

Klubnik, Clemson’s junior quarterback from Austin, passed for 336 yards — the most by a Texas opponent this season — and three touchdowns. He directed a second-half comeback that gave No. 12 seeded Clemson a chance to overtake No. 5 Texas after falling behind by 18 at halftime.

But the Tigers fell short, losing the College Football Playoff game 38-24.

“I’m hurting a lot,” Klubnik said. “It was fun to come home, but it was not a vacation. It was time to come win a football game, and we didn’t do that.”

Klubnik led the Tigers (10-4) on a four-play, 55-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter, the final 25 on a pass to running back Jarvis Green that left Clemson trailing 31-17.

He directed a 64-yard touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter. His 7-yard pass to T.J. Moore, on fourth-and-6 left Texas ahead by just a touchdown, 31-24.

“We put ourselves in a position to win,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “That young man (Klubnik) has grown into an amazing leader. You’re never out of a game with him.”

Texas (12-2) made Klubnik’s job a lot tougher when Jaydon Blue raced 77 yards for a touchdown on the Longhorns’ first possession after Moore scored.

Nevertheless, Klubnik led Clemson 74 yards to the Texas 1, connecting with Moore three times, including completions covering 29 and 30 yards.

But Klubnik was stopped by Texas safety Michael Taaffe on third down and Keith Adams was stuffed on fourth by Bill Norton and Barryn Sorrell.

Clemson’s comeback attempt was over when Klubnik’s pass on fourth down was broken up by Taaffe at the Longhorns’ 25 with 1:16 left.

Taaffe and Klubnik were teammates at Westlake High School when they won the 2020 Texas state high school championship together. The quarterback they beat that day? Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers.

That history and rivalry added some extra spice to Klubnik’s trip home.

Another Westlake teammate, Texas defensive end Ethan Burke, sacked Klubnik in the first half Saturday.

Earlier in the week, Taaffe said Klubnik was his “best friend” on the Westlake team when they won that state championship.

“We were definitely sharing words back and forth, that was fun,” Taaffe said. “He’s a great guy. He had a great game.”

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Austin, TX

Body found in same Austin lake where 6 other deceased individuals were found in 2024

Published

10 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Body found in same Austin lake where 6 other deceased individuals were found in 2024

Another body was found in the popular Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas, where other deceased individuals were found recently.

The latest body found joins the growing mystery after at least 6 additional bodies were found throughout the year in the lake in 2024. On Friday, police were called to investigate reports of a dead person in the water near 1st Street Bridge and the 300 block of Cesar Chavez.

The Austin Police Department (APD) said that they do not suspect foul play as the body showed no signs of trauma, but are investigating the incident.

Despite APD attempting to quell community fears, questions and speculation have run rampant. Police have attributed most of the deaths to accidental drowning due to the lake’s proximity to nightclubs and bars.

BODY FOUND IN SAME AUSTIN LAKE WHERE OTHER DECEASED INDIVIDUALS DISCOVERED IN RECENT MONTHS

Mounted police patrolling down Rainey Street after several bodies appeared in a nearby lake. (Matteo Cina/Fox News Digital)

The most recent body was found on December 1. The victim was recently identified as 73-year-old Thi Lang Nguyen. Austin police said that there is nothing connected to the other deaths this year.

TEXAS PARENTS OF ONLYFANS MODEL IN DEADLY MIAMI STABBING ARRESTED

In September, a man was behaving erratically near East Cesar Chavez and Nueces Streets. He then went into the water and did not resurface. He was later pulled out and pronounced dead.

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Back in February, a woman’s body was found in the water about 20 feet from the north shore and in April, a fisherman spotted another person floating in the water.

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In July, a man was suffering from blunt force trauma on the trail near Rainey Street. The man was pronounced dead a short time later.

In September, a body was found along a trail near the lake off Pleasant Valley Road.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the APD for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to sarah.rumpf@fox.com and on X: @s_rumpfwhitten.

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Austin, TX

Born and Braised Food Trailer Lands in East Austin – Texas is Life

Published

17 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

Born and Braised Food Trailer Lands in East Austin – Texas is Life

Born and Braised, a food trailer specializing in native wild game meats and seasonal food, recently opened at the Sign Bar in Austin at 9909 FM 969, Building 3. Chef and owner William Woodland, a.k.a. Woody, is looking forward to his new venture and serving wild game meats and other special menu items to Austinites.

Menu items customers will enjoy includes birria tacos, birria ramen, venison frito pie, pulled pork Cubano tortas, venison bratwurst, venison smash burger, and sides like braised greens, beans, and street corn.

Born and Braised started at Lustre Pearl in 2022. The food trailer moved to Sage Brush for over a year. The trailer worked at Bastrop, but now it operates in East Austin at the Sign Bar.

Born and Braised hours include Tuesdays through Fridays from 4 pm to 2 am, and Saturdays from 11 am to 2 am, at Sign Bar Austin (9909 FM 969, Bldg. 3).

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