Welcome to the Seaholm EcoDistrict.
The Seaholm EcoDistrict is near Downtown Austin. It is situated on the opposite side of Lady Bird Lake as Zilker Botanical Gardens, Bouldin Creek, and the Auditorium Shores at Town Lake Metropolitan Park.
You can enjoy this tour on your way to Downtown Austin, the West End, Old West Austin, or Market District. This tour is a great companion for any exploration of the Texas Capitol!
This tour covers a meandering route through the 90-acre testing ground for innovative sustainable development, the Seaholm EcoDistrict. At the heart of the EcoDistrict is the former steam power plant for the City that, once decommissionsed, laid derelict for many years.
The EcoDistrict has been brought back to life with green, people-friendly additions that reflect Austin’s spirit of originality and soul. Take a walk with this audio tour, and it will point out many special features — from green buildings and art to habitat preservation projects.
You will learn about the history of the Pfluger Bridge that spans Lady Bird Lake. Hear about the unique role this lake—well, actually, this reservoir—plays in the Central Texas water systems.
The tour features stories of innovated sustainable urban planning, such as descriptions of the rainwater runoff from rooftops being collected and stored in the old power plant cooling infrastructure.
Sustainable urban planning is not only about a city’s infrastructure; as this tour points, it is mainly about its people. The tour shows how the Seaholm EcoDistrict makes Austin a more accessible and more enjoyable place for people to live.
The Lance Armstrong Bikeway creates a safe east-west route through the City. The Shoal Creek Trail provides bikers and hikers a natural reprieve from the urban sidewalks. The Butterfly Bridge completes the city’s street grid to increase the walkability of the area—a priority of the City’s Comprehensive Plan, Imagine Austin.
Austin’s goal to be a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions community makes it an international leader in the fight against climate change. The Seaholm EcoDistrict helps achieve this goal by offering resources for zero-emission vehicles, building LEED-certified buildings, solar-powered charging stations, native trees and landscaping, and much more.
In addition, the Seaholm EcoDistrict creates people-friendly spaces, with public art and walking and biking trails.
Tour Sponsors The Office of Sustainability for the City of Austin presents this tour. Lucia Athens, the City’s first Chief Sustainability Officer, narrates it. Austin musicians, Deep Time and Yellow Fever, provided the music, and
Hardly Art, produced the recording.
Find More Tours Near You If you are interested in more audio tours in the region, check out the
Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center. To find more tours throughout Texas or wherever your travels may take you, visit
TravelStorys.com. Every place has a story.
Location: Texas
Travel Type: Walking
Trip Time: 1 hour
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