Food Desert Oasis

Lower-price Whole Foods Market to open first store in East Austin

Whole Foods bringing first store to East Austin.

Courtesy rendering

The East Austin food desert will become a little less dry next year when Whole Foods Market opens one of its lower-price 365 grocery stores in the Plaza Saltillo development.

The Austin-based grocer announced on February 13 that its first Whole Foods 365 store within the city of Austin will be at the corner of I-35 and East Fifth Street as part of the Plaza Saltillo mixed-use project. The store is expected to open sometime in 2019. The 365 concept is designed to be a lower-cost alternative to regular Whole Foods stores.

The 10-acre development will also feature apartments, offices, stores, and restaurants. Other notable tenants will include Ginger Man, Tarka Indian Kitchen, and Epoch Coffee. Work got underway last summer and is set to wrap up in 2019.

“We can’t wait to open this new Whole Foods Market 365 store on the east side,” says Jeff Turnas, president of Whole Foods Market 365, in a release. “At 365, customers will find familiar Whole Foods Market quality in an affordable, convenient and easy-to-shop new format, with plenty of fun surprises mixed in.”

Increasingly gentrified East Austin long has lacked grocery options, making it a food desert. The only major grocery store in the area is the H-E-B at East Seventh Street and Pleasant Valley Road. Royal Blue Grocery and La Michoacana Meat Market operate single locations in East Austin, but they’re far smaller than traditional grocery stores.

The Austin area’s first and only Whole Foods 365 debuted in April 2017 in Cedar Park. In all, Whole Foods operates seven 365 stores across the country.

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share the road

Texas races to the bottom in new list of best states for cyclists

Photo by Justin Wallace on Unsplash

If you've ridden your bicycle in Austin, you already know how true this is.

In what will come as no surprise to cyclists around Austin, the state of Texas is not a good place for bicycle riding. According to a new report of the "Most Cycling-Friendly States in the U.S.," Texas comes in at No. 47 — meaning that only three other states are worse.

The report, from Philadelphia personal injury law firm KaplunMarx, examines all 50 states based on six metrics: Air quality index, the number of cyclist deaths per one million residents, bike routes per square mile, local government actions supporting cycling, federal funding for cycling projects, and bicycle laws.

Texas musters a mere 31 points out of 100 for its "cycling friendly score."

The most cycling-friendly state in the U.S.: Minnesota, which earned 84 points to claim the title.

According to the report's findings, there have been 15 local government actions per capita in Texas that integrate pedestrians and cyclists in transportation projects. Texas' has a 41 air quality index value, and there are approximately 1.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles in the state.

On cyclist deaths, Texas does a little better, with three cyclist deaths per one million residents in Texas — about nine percent lower than the national average.

According to KaplunMarx founding partner Ted Kaplun, there is an average of 857 cyclist fatalities in the U.S. every year. He adds that every measure or community effort to improve cyclist-friendliness is beneficial for all Americans.

"It's crucial for all states to continually assess and enhance their cycling provisions, learning from both high-ranking peers and their own experiences," he says.

Top-ranking Minnesota has only one cyclist death per one million state residents. It also has about 27.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles.

After Minnesota, the remaining top five best states for cyclists are Massachusetts (No. 2), Rhode Island (No. 3), Washington (No. 4), and Iowa (No. 5).

At the bottom of the list are Nevada (No. 48), Arizona (No. 49), and Utah (No. 50) — all of which performed far worse than Texas to be declared the three least cycling-friendly states.

The entire country still has areas for improvement when it comes to creating a safer environment for cyclists, regardless of where each state landed on the list, according to Kaplun.

"With over 53 million Americans riding bicycles regularly, the importance of cycling-friendly infrastructure and safety measures cannot be overstated," said Kaplun in the report. "This isn't just about rankings – it's about enhancing the quality of life, promoting sustainable transportation, and most crucially, saving lives."

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