Where would you move if you were to leave Austin? (Houston: crime, neighborhood)
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One change I have noticed in the past few years is the proliferation of plastic surgery and botox clinics. Also so many new fitness places. I mean how can people work on perfecting their bodies for hours a day. But maybe excessive vanity goes on everywhere now.
One change I have noticed in the past few years is the proliferation of plastic surgery and botox clinics. Also so many new fitness places. I mean how can people work on perfecting their bodies for hours a day. But maybe excessive vanity goes on everywhere now.
Botox and plastic surgery clinics I wouldn't vouch for. But gyms? What's wrong with gyms? They are good for you.
Btw, Austin has been voted before in the top 10-20 healthiest cities, so it goes without saying.
I do not see Austin becoming a self-obsessed and vain city. Sure, I've seen people here and there who've had major plastic surgery or had obvious signs of botox done to their lips, but it wasn't to the exaggerated extent that people on here are making it out to be. Or at least not to the extent that I see it more prevalent here in San Francisco.
What I mostly have seen are year after year is a bigger influx of hipsters. And what I hear mostly is Austin gaining more and more popularity as a major city. If people living in Austin cannot appreciate that, I find you people quite peculiar.
Sure, it will not have the same vibe that Austin had back in the 70s, 80s or even 90s, but you guys somehow do not see positives? Do you prefer South Congress in the 80s, 90s or today? Do you prefer Austin the sleepy charming town a la Boise, ID or do you prefer a hip and vibrant city a la Portland, OR?
Sure, it will not have the same vibe that Austin had back in the 70s, 80s or even 90s, but you guys somehow do not see positives? Do you prefer South Congress in the 80s, 90s or today? Do you prefer Austin the sleepy charming town a la Boise, ID or do you prefer a hip and vibrant city a la Portland, OR?
"Sleepy" as in boring? Anyhow, there is nothing wrong with what you prefer, but Austin is a city.... not a sleepy town. It's kinda strange way of seeing things really but if Austin was just a sleepy town in the 70s or 80s then I'm glad it's gone! I've come to fall in love with what Austin has become today and I miss it dearly despite its considerable lacking that other cities like San Francisco has to offer. Austin is on its way to becoming a more major city, perhaps not to the extent of other cities like New Orleans, Seattle, etc but it's telling that Austin's vibrancy is gaining momentum every single year. That's just the way it is and I so very much prefer that over a city a la Victoria, TX.
But to answer the original question. Where would I move if I left Austin? San Francisco and that is where I am as of now.
Austin has always been live and let-live which after growing up in conservative San Antonio, I can appreciate. I have heard more than one newcomer express discomfort and or shock with the friendliness they first encounter here; they don't always appreciate small talk or a friendly hello from a stranger until they get used to it. I just hope the friendly, easy going nature of the city and central Texas I've always known doesn't disappear altogether.
I've been in Austin off-and-on since 1967 (yeah, the first class to enter Murchison Jr. High. And graduated from the real Austin High on Rio Grande!) I came back three years ago for eldercare reasons, and can't wait to leave for all the reasons that the OP stated: we're on the same wavelength, even though I'm a 50-something. For a long time I thought that Boise was "what Austin used to be" but now the Boise valley is cursed with rampant sprawling growth, so now where? Where do "old Austinites" fit?
Today -- because I had to kill an hour downtown -- I wandered around Whole Foods on 5th/Lamar for a bit and was utterly turned off by the prices and the atmosphere. I kept looking at the folks there and thinking, "I don't belong in Austin...who are these people?"
Logan, UT? I want something cooler, smaller and slower paced. I work in IT from home, so jobs aren't an issue.
When I first moved to Austin, you could wear non name brand shorts, t-shirts, and sandals anywhere around town and nobody cared. Now, people size you up as to whether you're a hipster, cowboy, hippie, etc... There are even signs of yuppie sneaking in. It's that vainness that I hate, it's still better than cities like Dallas (which is horrible for that), but it's not what I like. I want to be judged by my personality, not my "style". At least the options here are more varied than in Dallas, for instance they don't have the hippie culture or as many hipsters there, but I feel like Austin is going more of the "let's try to categorize you in a box" type of atmosphere than when I moved here. The problem with me is I can't be categorized, I do what's right for me, regardless of labels. I don't need tight jeans and an antique bike to prove anything, neither do I need designer shirts and $300 sunglasses. I don't want to have to wear a cowboy hat and boots either. Nor do I want to walk around with a foot long beard and not take baths. Why are these the only options that I have to choose from? Why can't I just be myself? Then the question is, is there any place where that is the case? I'm thinking the answer to that is "no" and while Austin may stereotype people, they don't seem as judgmental as other cities. They may not associate with you if you aren't their "type", but they won't judge you. At least there's still that.
I think the problem is that people think that people will be different in Austin than other places, but the problem is that people are well, people. Especially when most of the people are from other parts of the country and they are bringing in their customs and values. At some time what Austin was or what it represented gets diminished to the point that Austin isn't special. I don't think that's happened yet, but it will at some point. By that time, I will be on my beach sipping some rum and I won't care
At some time what Austin was or what it represented gets diminished to the point that Austin isn't special.
I think every city will always hold a validity of "specialness" no matter how big it grows. I will say that Austin will be the only city in Texas to boast a character thats entirely its own even after 20 years from now. I would even go as far to say that in 30 or 40 years Austin, along with "maybe" Dallas or Fort Worth, will be the only true urban city in Texas.
There's a reason why people from other parts of the US more often prefer Austin over any other Texas city. I don't see why people, namely here on city-data, tend to lose faith in what is going on in Austin.
I don't see why people, namely here on city-data, tend to lose faith in what is going on in Austin.
I told you why from my perspective. I hate people that tend to judge a person by the way they dress. Austin was good for that, but now it's becoming more a status conscious place. In the old days, you could be talking to someone in a bar and they could be in beat up clothes, but they could be a rich high tech entrepeneur. They'd be there sipping a Shiner and very non-descript. Now, that entrepeneur will be in designer clothes sipping $15 cocktails. Many of us tried to get away from that.
I think it's paradise for hipsters here, as this is hipster central, and I like some of what hipsters are doing (gentrifying East Austin as it used to be really rundown), but the hipsters don't realize they are kind of like punk rockers in the 80's or grunge artists in the 90's. They are just the fad of the moment. The irony (I'll use that word because that's what they like) is that they are trying to be original and unique, but they end up being all the same, much like what they were trying to not be in the first place.
In 5 years most of these hipsters will be living in Round Rock driving their kiddos to soccer games in SUV's anyway. How's that for irony?
Austin Native here and I watched Austin go from a one horse town to a vibrant little city. I think a lot of it was Public Relations matched with a vast amount of undeveloped land along Bee Caves. There are still roads for developments never realized. Developers from other states had $$$ in their eyes. I remember being horrified at all the million dollar remodels off of Enfield, an area I rented affordably in the 70s. So this is nothing new.
I moved to Kansas City for my husbands job, and I love my old midtown neighborhood with it's vigorous four seasons. We live in a 100yr old house and can walk to everything. BUT we chose that location for those reasons. The real estate is cheaper but it balances out with the taxes. If we moved back to Austin not sure where I'd like to live, possibly Mueller.
I watched both 360 and Mopac being built and thought 183 was never going to be finished. But I'm seeing some of the small businesses being eaten alive due to greed. That's what I'd watch out about and keep a keen eye to prevent.
The Parlour on North Loop is closing because the landlord raised the rent by a high margin. That was a small special dive to eat local pizza and listen to local bands. Remember the fight to keep the frog on the wall on Guadelupe because it was always there? Also on Oltorf and Lamar another mural was painted over with a Rum ad. Those are the small changes that if you blink and eye you won't notice, but as a whole takes away the identity that is Austin.
My daughter still lives there and working at one of the new small businesses heading to East Austin to survive. Hearts and Robots Salon. I am wondering about East Austin and how it's going to accept the fruits of gentrification without losing it's positive points of identity. Neighborhood identity will have to fight and be careful how much of it's soul it wants to lose. I hope better education and infrastructure comes with the gentrification of East Austin without flushing out it's original residents. Cuernavaca/Westlake tried to flush out the original mobil home establishment that was there first before the McMansions.
Austin has always had a problem with infrastructure. Tourists would come downtown with no place to park and get towed. You can take busses north and south but it's still difficult to go west to east. The train doesn't run late enough for the many people that work after 5pm hours of 6th Steet. Public transportation is what other cities like Chicago, San Francisco, NYC and Portland have over Austin.
But I DO miss the food .... KC's BBQ is not my taste, but I keep it to myself hehehhe. I do think there is a vibrancy in Austin that I can't pinpoint. But for as Artsy as Austin has a reputation, it's mostly the private underground scene that's bubbling. The Salon/Coffee/Restaurant art scene is more vibrant. I DO like the public ART in Kansas City and volunteer with the Nelson Atkins Museum. That FAIL under the railroad bridge on Lamar still makes me laugh. Hopefully with the new high rises with come better public art.
So far I'm OK with Kansas City, we have a new Mayor and that could be good. They've had a rough time with the Economy. I like snow and tree-lined streets and the quaintness of Westport. They have plenty of live music and things Austin has it's just not as spontaneous and it's spread out all over the sprawl. The weather wouldn't support a year round Lunch Cart environment.
Yeah the old Austin was charming but jobs were just as tight. If you didn't work for UT, the State or maybe Texas Instruments you kind of floundered. That was before all the high tech now, although it's questionable about DELL with it's revolving door of hires and lay offs.
I hope the residents new and old KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD....
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