Kidos not Condos

University of Texas plans to sell or move the Family Housing development that brings nearly 1/3 of its students to Mathews Elementary. The diversity represented in this population of children makes Mathews a rare and beautiful place on earth. The community is trying to fight this proposal but it doesn't look good.

Sadly two other schools are being pushed out of thriving, urban areas in Central Austin.
Escuelita del Alma named best of Austin 2007, faces an ongoing battle between Las Manitas Avenue Cafe and the Marriott Corp. over the restaurant's and preschools site on Congress Ave. Its existence as the only Downtown preschool, multi-ethnic at that, has always been precarious, but it continues its nurturing commitment under the threat of the developer's wrecking ball. Habibi's Hutch Preschool and Natural Childlife Preserve will be relocating (further out of town) to make way for a project including 45 townhomes, 360 apartments, 20 live-and-work units, and 18,000 square feet of retail. The change would allow Cypress Realty to take advantage of VMU development incentives, which include relaxed requirements on setbacks, building coverage limits, and maximum density. I'm all for Urban Density but not at the expense of the children and hard working families. Huufff... huff....

Photo's below were taken at Mathews International Festival, where we enjoyed a delicious potluck, flag ceremony and dance performances. Ella Rae and her Kindergarten pals performed the Hawaiian Hookie Lau... that song is still stuck in my head.