"Austin Weird" (Howe: mortgage, equity, property taxes)

[love roses]

laughs....I'll leave it to your imagination.

[malarkey]

Originally Posted by AustinGuy

Please don't bring up Peet's. I'm still majorily sad that they closed their only outpost in Austin after some severe stupidity in location picking.

Someone should add "lack of Peet's coffee" as a reason not to move to Austin in that other thread.

I don't understand the fascination with Peet's. I've tried their beans, and the drinks from their coffeehouses multiple times.

They don't even appear on my radar for "good coffee." (Neither does Starbucks for that matter.) They've gotten too big and lost control of the quality. Maybe the original in SF was good, but the ones in Seattle stink. (Course, we got Vivace, Zeitgeist...etc etc basically the motherlode of good coffee)

[2lizards]

Originally Posted by twange

As for San Francisco, here's a photo that I took in the fall of 2005. The irony is staggering:

Dude...now you're bumming ME out! I love San Francisco, and that picture is so very, very wrong.

[twange]

Originally Posted by 2lizards

Dude...now you're bumming ME out! I love San Francisco, and that picture is so very, very wrong.

LOL! Yes, it is pretty lame(I'm wearng a third world t-shirt from the GAP right now and I'm feeling like a hypocrite). But stay strong, SF is still awesome. Just like NYC, the bohemian areas have just moved somewhere else but they're still there. I know they are in Austin as well.

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by twange

...SF is still awesome. Just like NYC, the bohemian areas have just moved somewhere else but they're still there. I know they are in Austin as well.

So true. San Francisco has thriving boho scenes in the Mission and other districts on the SE side of the City. SOMA is a bit too trendy, it started out very groovy but kinda went the way of Tribeca in NYC. From artist lofts in old warehouses to a hyper-expensive uber-hip neighborhood that's mostly unaffordable to artists. But the artists and other bohos will never be driven out of SF or NY.

I'm not convinced that Austin's underground cultural scene is unique or strong enough to survive. It could very well get stronger and bigger, but I could just as easily envision it being drowned in a sea of immigrants seeking a nice city and a mainstream lifestyle. I suspect that there will always be a strong music scene and a progressive attitude at the core of Austin, but as far as being cutting edge or a bastion of creativity on the fringes, I'm not so sure...

[malarkey]

Originally Posted by TheHarvester

...From artist lofts in old warehouses to a hyper-expensive uber-hip neighborhood that's mostly unaffordable to artists. But the artists and other bohos will never be driven out of SF or NY.

Let's hope not. I hate it when that happens. Bohemians & Artists revive some neglected area, the $$ class decides its a "hip" area now, and start moving in. then the prices go up.

I'm not convinced that Austin's underground cultural scene is unique or strong enough to survive. It could very well get stronger and bigger, but I could just as easily envision it being drowned in a sea of immigrants seeking a nice city and a mainstream lifestyle.

Ohh hold out hope Harvester!! I'll be one of those bohemians if/when I move there. And I'll be buying in one of those neglected areas...

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by malarkey

...I'll be one of those bohemians if/when I move there. And I'll be buying in one of those neglected areas...

Driving up prices so that people like you can't afford to live there?

It's a never-ending problem like so many others in life. Our existence is a result of contradictions and polarities. Light and dark are inseparable. Birth causes death. There is no "up" without "down." And there's no wonderful place for starving artists that doesn't get destroyed by the very people who love to be around starving artists. It's just a process and it's neither good nor bad. It's life, and life leads to death. So if death is bad, then surely life must also be.

[twange]

Originally Posted by malarkey

Ohh hold out hope Harvester!! I'll be one of those bohemians if/when I move there. And I'll be buying in one of those neglected areas...

Our plan as well. The only problem is that Austin seems to be changing so fast, there might not be any neglected areas left by the time we're ready to buy

We'll have to move back to the Rust Belt...which will remain "affordable" for the forseeable future

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by twange

...Austin seems to be changing so fast, there might not be any neglected areas left by the time we're ready to buy

Depends how adventurous you are. You could be a pioneer in one of the more run-down areas of the city. Someone in another thread posted top markets for housing price increases, and Brooklyn was among the top ten. Remember in the 1980s when Brooklyn was used as the backdrop of many a movie about crime, ghettos, gangs and violence?

For the brave, there is always a place in larger cities to pioneer. Just be prepared to be accused of gentrification. People love to cling to their ghettos and hate when newcomers fix up an old crack house. All over east Austin I see the spray-painted words "Yuppies out of East Austin", usually on stop signs.

[twange]

Originally Posted by TheHarvester

Just be prepared to be accused of gentrification. People love to cling to their ghettos and hate when newcomers fix up an old crack house. All over east Austin I see the spray-painted words "Yuppies out of East Austin", usually on stop signs.

Yes, that's a real concern.

As soon as I started investigating Austin, it was the East that caught my eye(even though relatives in Austin have been heavily discouraging that idea). As I started researching, I found a lot of articles about the backlash going on there. Sounds like the old "equal but separate" dialogue of the early 60s. The neighborhoods like your money but they don't want you to live there. People living there for generations suddenly can't afford the taxes, have to leave and next thing you know whatever character was there is gone. It's a very complex thing and I certainly don't have the answers. Check out this link:

http://www.goodlifemag.com/archives/...11-04_east.htm