Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A base station may select, and a user equipment (UE) may identify, an initial symbol of a transmission time interval (TTI) based on a particular characteristic of a communication link between the base station and UE. A two-symbol TTI for one UE may thus be scheduled to align with or complement a longer TTI for another UE. For instance, the initial symbol of a two-symbol TTI may be restricted to certain symbol periods of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) subframe to limit interference with other transmissions scheduled during the subframe (e.g., reference signals, control channels, guard periods, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, a UE may identify and blindly decode control channel transmissions for low latency communications by assuming a presence of reference signals within the symbols that include a low latency control channel.