Idea for Austin

While doing my usual news surfing this morning I came across this article. How I got there, who knows? I\’m not particularly looking to travel to Burlington Vermont, but how bad could it be if the residents will invite random visitors to a local fundraiser/party? But I digress, what caught my eye was this section of the story: The parcel of land we stood on, a 354-acre swath in the heart of the city along the Winooski River, was prone to flooding. No one dared to build homes there, despite its prime location. Instead, it became Intervale Center, a place for start-up farmers to work the land, provided they do it in an environmentally sustainable way — and can endure occasional high water. Over the past few decades Austin has been moving homes and businesses away from the Cedar River. The Cedar River has a bad habit of flooding the area just southeast of downtown once every 10 years. After the latest flooding in 2004 the city decided to offer money for the remaining businesses in the area (most houses were moved in the 80s I believe) to move. However, this leaves behind a large amount of land is in a fairly central part of town that

more than likely will end up being part of the existing large park (Dreisner Park) located there. If the town won\’t put up the proper infrastructured to control the waters (a much smaller version of what was done in Rochester would be needed), why not use this land for farming? Maybe not in the same way that Burlington has, but couldn\’t this land be used as a large public garden for the residents of Austin? Those who are looking to grow flowers, and those looking to augment their food with home grown food. I hope the town finds a good use for this land in lieu of controlling the river and having the land bring in tax revenue; but I can\’t think of a better use for it in the meantime.