Before it became one of Austin’s most walkable, park-filled neighborhoods, Mueller was home to the city’s airport. Built in 1930 and expanded in 1961 with its now-iconic blue and white control tower, the Robert Mueller Municipal Airport served Austin for nearly seven decades before operations moved to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in 1999. On its final night, local dignitaries boarded a jet for a ceremonial flight to the new airport, marking the end of one era and the beginning of another.
What followed were decades of planning, debate and grassroots involvement. Today, Mueller is a 700-acre urban village shaped by community vision, where families can walk to run errands and spend weekends biking trails or browsing the farmers market.
A community-driven vision
Even before the airport closed, nearby residents had already started reimagining the site’s possibilities. The 1984 Citizens for Airport Relocation (CARE) plan laid the groundwork, and by the late ’90s, the Mueller Neighborhood Coalition formed to ensure community voices were part of the planning process.
By 2002, Catellus Development Corporation was named master developer. The first homes were built less than a decade later. Since then, Mueller’s growth has followed a long-term vision rooted in walkability, sustainability and public space…