Original developer reclaims Spanish Oaks out of foreclosure

What great news for the Lake Travis Area! Here is a quote from the article, and click below for more info!

"David Armbrust, Porter's attorney, said Thursday that the re-emergence of a significant project like Spanish Oaks is "a great signal our economy is turning around."

Original developer reclaims Spanish Oaks out of foreclosure

Austin named one of America's fittest cities.

A new report looks at 30 different measures to determine which cities' residents are healthiest.

When it comes to healthy living, Washington, D.C., is seldom mentioned in the same breath as cities like San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and Seattle, all of which are known for their active, health-conscious residents.

But according to a new report, the city of pomp and politics is the healthiest in the nation. In the second annual American Fitness Index (AFI), a publication released by the American College of Sports Medicine, Washington, D.C., edged out Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., Denver, Boston and San Francisco.

Walter Thompson, a professor in the department of kinesiology and health at Georgia State University and chair of the AFI's advisory board, says the annual project is designed to give communities a data-driven picture of local health--and nudge residents in the right direction.

"I believe significant success in improving the fitness of the community can occur when the residents truly value healthy behaviors," says Thompson.

Behind the Numbers
The AFI is sponsored by the WellPoint Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the health benefits company WellPoint. The index ranks 45 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs)--a geographical measurement defined by the U.S. Census Bureau used by federal agencies in collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics--that include the city and surrounding suburban area. It measures each city's performance on 30 indicators, including acres of parkland, death rate from cardiovascular disease, the number of primary care physicians per capita and the percent of residents who bicycle or walk to work. The metrics were gathered from government and non-profit organizations. (For the complete methodology, visit www.americanfitnessindex.org.)

Read the entire article here or visit my website for more information about living in or moving to Austin, Texas.

Austin, Texas -- One of the best cities for the outdoors

Best Cities For The Outdoors

From Forbes.com

San Franciscans are known to brag about their exceptional quality of life--especially when it comes to the outdoors. As it turns out, they're not exaggerating.

The bayside city enjoys sunshine for two-thirds of the year, and the balmy summers turn to mild winters. But it's not just pleasant weather that makes San Francisco so ideal for its active residents. The city has set aside 18% of its land for parks and spent $268 per resident on parks-related projects in the fiscal year 2007.

Those reasons combined are why San Francisco ranks as the best city for the outdoors for the second consecutive year. In general, Californians are a lucky bunch: San Diego, San Jose and Sacramento all ranked in the top 10, while Los Angeles tied for 11th with Austin, Texas.

Cities that topped the list offer residents a mix of outdoor activities, including community gardening, access to urban forests and miles of hiking trails. Though few of the measures change drastically from year to year, the recession may have a long-term impact on these rankings since many cities have been forced to cut back their parks budgets significantly. Both Phoenix, which fell from fifth place last year to eighth place this year, and Philadelphia (which remained 29th), have eliminated positions or services. Even San Francisco has made similar tough choices.

Behind the Numbers
To determine which of the 40 largest cities are best for the outdoors, Forbes used research from the nonprofit organization Trust for Public Land, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Trust for Public Land provided data on spending and park land, which it collected from city municipalities.

Data on the weather were collected from historic averages maintained by NOAA. Forbes looked at air quality in each city's county seat between 2000 and 2007 and averaged the number of unhealthy days during that time. Some cities have different averages than last year since the threshold for ozone pollution was lowered in 2008. Click here for the complete methodology.

The aforementioned top cities--which are joined by Virginia Beach, Va., Jacksonville, Fla., and Seattle Wash.--performed well in the categories measured: parks spending, percentage of park land, recreation facilities, air quality, sunshine, snowfall, precipitation and temperature extremes.

While San Francisco took the top spot for the second straight year, Detroit, Mich., fell to the bottom of the list once again. Among the 40 cities ranked, Columbus, Ohio, (No. 39), Milwaukee (No. 37) and Indianapolis (No. 38) also performed as poorly as last year.

Park Perks
San Francisco may be well known for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area--its 75,500-acre crown jewel--but the city doesn't rely solely on that flagship park to meet the needs of its outdoorsy residents. It maintains more than 230 parks, in addition to hundreds of athletic facilities, including tennis courts, baseball diamonds, golf courses and swimming pools. Residents also have access to more than 40 community gardens.

The Tampa, Fla., parks department refers to the city's 7.8 million trees as an urban forest. Just northeast of the city, residents can escape to the 16,000-acre Wilderness Park and explore 60 miles of trails through wetlands. The city, which ranked fifth this year, also operates standard recreation facilities and provides river access for canoing and other water sports.

In Phoenix, the scorching heat doesn't stop residents from enjoying the outdoors. There are six public golf courses, four skateboard parks and even a "horse lover's" park for equestrians. Several hiking, biking and riding trails pass through desert preserves. New voter-approved funding for expansion of these parks is one of the only bright spots in a bleak forecast for Phoenix's budget.

David Urbinato, a spokesman for the parks department, says the city has slashed $24.5 million from the 2009-2010 parks budget in response to dramatically reduced construction and sales taxes. That reduction is in addition to a 12.2% cut during the prior fiscal year. Urbinato says such cuts will translate into less routine maintenance; while a broken sprinkler, for example, might have taken less than 24 hours to fix, it will now take two days.

Money Matters
San Francisco, despite topping the list, isn't immune to tough times either. The city's parks department had to cut $8.8 million from its budget to adjust for declining tax revenue. Among its cost-cutting measures are plans to eliminate several management and administrative positions.

Catherine Nagel, executive director of the City Parks Alliance, a nonprofit organization that counts parks administrators among its members, says that the stimulus package did not include funding for urban parks. Nagel called the omission "short-sighted", referring to research--some of it conducted by the Trust for Public Land--demonstrating that urban parks can contribute significant economic value in the form of jobs, tourism and increased property values.

In Philadelphia, officials expect to maintain the parks department's core services despite slashing at least $7 million from the fiscal year 2010 budget. Residents are likely to notice a difference, however.

Susan Slawson, the city's recreation commissioner, says the city will reduce seasonal staff and eliminate vacant positions. The biggest loss, she says, is the closing of 27 of the city's 73 pools.

"Our goal is to do the best we can," she says, "even though we're facing some very difficult times."

In the meantime, city dwellers might want to take advantage of the outdoors while local governments can still afford to foot the bill.

For more information about moving to Austin, Texas, visit my website.

Foreclosure listings fall to 5-month low in Central Texas

Postings remain higher than in '08, but drop is welcome, analysts say.

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, July 17, 2009

Residential foreclosures for the Aug. 4 auction are at a five-month low in Central Texas, reflecting a trend in other parts of Texas, according to data from Foreclosure Listing Service Inc.

On Thursday, experts cautioned against reading too much into a single month's data, but they said the drop was a welcome break after a steady upward march this year.

"The tide may have changed," said George Roddy Sr., president of Foreclosure Listing Service, who said the figures offer hope that foreclosures postings may have reached a peak.

In Travis, Williamson, Hays and Bastrop counties, 1,072 properties were posted for the August auction, down 27 percent from 1,464 in July.

Postings still were 45 percent higher than they were a year ago. But that is the second-smallest year-over-year percentage increase this year, after a 24 percent jump in February.

In the Dallas area, foreclosures fell below 5,000 for the first time since March, according to Foreclosure Listing Service.

In Bexar County, postings also were at their lowest level since March, according to Real Estate Foreclosures Inc. in San Antonio.

"This looks like a breather or a relative lull in foreclosures that could go on several months," said Greg Stanley, president of Real Estate Foreclosures. "These posting totals are still at a very high level, and talk of being out of the woods is silly, but this is still a nice respite."

View the original article here.

For more information about the Austin, Texas real estate market visit my website.

100% financing for home purchases available through USDA Rural Development - Moberly, MO - Moberly Monitor-Index

100% financing for home purchases available through USDA Rural Development - Moberly, MO - Moberly Monitor-Index


For more information about which Austin areas qualify, contact Cyndi.