City Lights: Walking Waller Creek on a Thursday Night

Although the city of Austin has many creeks that run across the city, as well as many bridges, they are rarely used at night. The potential of these areas for public space use, socialization, and cultural interventions is great. Prove of that is the transformation of the downtown section of the Waller Creek into a walkable and illuminated public space. Presented as one night show by a conservationist society, the event was quite a success. Last thursday night pedestrians were able to walk across a pathway that crosses several bridges following the course of Waller Creek, while the water, walls, and tunnels presented light interventions by a couple of architecture and design firms. The number of visitors revealed the potential of Austin for making its urban space more walkable and social, and overall more interactive and creative. Although sometimes during festivals public space is leveraged in that way, it will be nice to encourage that use for longer periods of time and embrace it as part of the city.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *