Not technically part of Mueller but planned jointly is the adjacent Rathgeber Village, a campus for several nonprofit social service agencies. According to a May 2007 Statesman report, the village will include several buildings for the Austin Children's Shelter, a Scottish Rite Learning Center for children with learning disabilities and new facilities for Family Eldercare and the People's Community Clinic.
Personally I think Rathgeber Village will be a wonderful feature of Mueller and provide much-needed services to Northeast Austin and the region as a whole. At the same time, I wonder how much synergy there will be between Rathgeber and the other features of Mueller. It's at the furthest point from the other major social service agency at Mueller, the Dell Children's Hospital. It's also quite far from the planned neighborhood retail and from Mueller's hypothetical transit line (currently envisioned as a streetcar). Presumably Rathgeber clients will either drive or arrive by bus; hopefully Cap Metro will divert some routes that way.
Rathgeber's nearest Mueller neighbors will be single-family housing and a bunch of playing fields. Having done some time as a soccer dad, I can tell you that playing fields on a Saturday morning can generate more spillover parking than anything short of Eeyore's Birthday Party, and designated parking for the Mueller playing fields will be conspicuous in its absence. I know I'd be worried if I were buying a house in the westernmost blocks of Mueller. Will Rathgeber Village have excess parking capacity that it can share with soccer families on the weekends? Or will Saturday actually be a busy day for Rathgeber's working clients? I suppose time will tell.
