Does Austin really live up to the hype? (Houston, Dallas: crime rates, school)

[jread]

Originally Posted by love roses

What part of SE Texas did you live in jread? I also lived in SE Texas. I grew up in Brazoria, and there were tons more mosquitos there than here. I can relate to the mosquito cloud!

Born in Port Arthur, grew up in Orange. I only go back when I have to.

Oh, and what about the Love Bugs??!!!?? People from Southeast TX and the Gulf Coast know all about these things. They are HORRIBLE this time of year. I remember seeing one, just ONE, in here in Austin last year and nearly freaked out. I guess he got stuck in someone's car on their way from Houston to Austin. I promptly squished him just in case he decided to make a home in Austin. I promise, you do not want Love Bugs here.

[love roses]

I hear ya. My friends who still live there usually refer to Brazoria as podunk texas

[jabbit]

the hell u all talking about? Denton is where its at. Most of you all just dont get it.


Austin is too touristy and falling to suburban sprawl. Where are the true "austinites"????


Denton is not like austin now it is like Austin was 20yrs ago before it became overhyped and touristy and yankified.

The dude doggin on denton has it out for denton. You can tell by his comment refering to it as iraq. Common.... what a bad argument or connection. Truely bad.

Do you all know how THICK/UNIQUE and respectable the music and art scene in Denton is????

If you can name ONE.. just ONE.... venue that showcases the heart of Denton's gritty/progressive music scene and still dog it then I can tell you did some diggin around here. If you can't you just dont know how to find the real voice and unique culture in the place.


They say Austin is the liberal hot bed of texas. True that.

But Denton is texas best kept secret. You know when you have this truelly amazing thing you kind of want to keep it to yourself and not let anyone know because it might screw up the magic. Well thats whats been happening with denton. They see whats happened to Austin and how they "austinites" fudged it up and want to learn from their lessons to keep supurban non native sprawl away from denton. Typicall....The people that live in Denton are true dentonites and not people that come here because its trendy or touristy.

There the secret is out. Now dont come to Denton to fudge it up. Denton has culture... art and music. Anyone that tells you differently is plain wrong. It has more "true" culture than dallas because its not trying to be cosmo... but rather keeping its own spirit of progressivness, liberalism and independence alive. There is a reason they call Denton ... Austin 2oyrs ago.... or "Beard Town".

I can supply with a number of articles referring to Denton's indepedent music dominance and respectability for such a small town.... and build an easy and strong case for it being better for this compared to other areas in texas... yes even Austin.


Musicians and artists move to Austin much the same way Actors move to LA.... to make it... typically.
People move to Denton just to make music and art. The hell with money. Money never really makes great music and art.

[twange]

Originally Posted by jabbit

Musicians and artists move to Austin much the same way Actors move to LA.... to make it... typically.
People move to Denton just to make music and art. The hell with money. Money never really makes great music and art.

Sounds a little simplified bro.

History is full of GREAT artists and composers who made money doing what they loved. Don't buy into the romantic notion of the starving artist profile. It's simply not true. There's a vast ocean between gettin' rich(bling-like) and making a decent living doing your thing.

BTW, ain't too many bands "makin' it" out of Austin in the traditional way. 99% of the musicians here or anywhere are doing it because they love it...

[DisplacedMidwesterner]

I hate Austin and Id move tomorrow if my elderly parents didnt live in the area. I live in Round Rock, but I work downtown. My parents moved here because my sister said Texas was affordable etc. Of course now my sister lives in Houston because the salaries in Austin are a joke. I took a huge pay cut to move here from Milwaukee, WI. People dont believe me, but its true. Not to mention the 8.25% sales tax and the ISD tax where is it more affordable? Im spending a ton of money on gasoline because public transportation is a joke. As for the flow of traffic here I cant complain. Ive lived in Northern VA and California and Austin traffic is nowhere near as bad as those places. The problem is that people here dont know how to drive. Noone uses their turn signals and if G-d Forbid they have to wait they either drive over the median in their big trucks or tailgate so youll get out of their way. Let me tell you about the time I was run off the road by a pickup truck that was speeding down Kiphen Rd at 6am. (Im on a roll so please forgive my grammar) Thats a whole other story. What about the toll roads? I take 130 to see my parents and let me tell you most of the time it is DEAD. Now Ive heard they want to make us pay to drive on 290. Why should we pay for a road thats already paid for? I could go on and on, but Im just getting angrier so Ill just let you know what working downtown is like for me. After I get to my exit I get to merge over 3 lanes of traffic to turn onto 8th St where the bums and derelicts are everywhere. Let me tell you anyone who says those people are harmless is crazy. Every day Im approached by some scary derelict who asks me for money. Of course when you refuse them they often get nasty and who knows what they are going to do. Every parking lot I know has had multiple break ins and this is right down from the Police Station. So essentially Im paying to park in an unsafe lot that reeks of urine. When I drive home at night I drive past the Salvation Army where the people are hanging around outside. Of course you can see the drug dealers driving behind the back of the building where they sell drugs. Ive even seen drug dealers dealing in the parking lots. When I get out of downtown and drive home on every street corner I get to see some vagrant standing on the corner panhandling. Its ridiculous. The argument that day laborers wont be able to get work is ridiculous also. I think we need to make sure day laborers are not here illegally and that they are paying taxes on their wages like the rest of us. I guess the bleeding hearts dont think about that. The only thing I ever hear from TX people is how great Austin used to be before everyone moved here from somewhere else. How we ruined it all. Hmm I guess all the new construction and service industry jobs we helped create by moving here dont mean a thing. I could go on and on....
All I can say is think twice before you move here. Id rather pay state taxes and have to shovel snow than live here, but I stay because of family.

[jabbit]

Originally Posted by twange

Sounds a little simplified bro.

History is full of GREAT artists and composers who made money doing what they loved. Don't buy into the romantic notion of the starving artist profile. It's simply not true. There's a vast ocean between gettin' rich(bling-like) and making a decent living doing your thing.

BTW, ain't too many bands "makin' it" out of Austin in the traditional way. 99% of the musicians here or anywhere are doing it because they love it...

sure some love it. its the most musically accessible place to be in texas. not many folks like to dig around... its understandable. there is more of a chance for musicians there to get picked up compared to any other place in texas. so goes the current model. higher rate for success as they call it.

nah no ones buying into a fictional romatic notion. i understand the philosophical trappings of such. i have the receipt for the non fictional romantic notion. sorry if my posted communicated such.

im speaking in generalities. like... "generaly speaking etc. etc. etc."

Austins has been on the worlds music spotlight/radar for awhile so consequently labels scout alot more in that artea... sxsw for example.

that was my point.


no ones has been scouting out of denton at the level austin has... from my understanding...(although since the whole midlake making a big splash in europe thing and Bella Union taking notice thats changing now).

[satanoid]

Originally Posted by DisplacedMidwesterner

I live in Round Rock, but I work downtown.

You trash Austin, yet you don't actually live here.

Sorry if the suburbs aren't making you happy, maybe you should relocate to Austin proper.

[DisplacedMidwesterner]

Hmmm I work downtown and spend more than 8 hours a day inside Austin.

Round Rock sure isnt anything great either.


Why would I move to Austin proper? Austin isnt very impressive. The taxes are high and there certainly is no shortage of crime. I could care less about live music and downtown is dirty and full of vagrants. After sitting in an office all day with people who blab on and on about UT football and how great Texas is in general there is no way in hell Id move to Austin proper. Whats so funny is that none of these people even went to UT, but if I say anything about Wisconsin they act like Im a criminal. I dont have the heart to say at least I went to school there.

As for me trashing Austin. I dont think Ive said anything that isnt true. Sure there are some nice things about Austin, but the bad far outweigh the good.

[satanoid]

Wow. You have a really different idea about what 'Austin' is.
The neighborhoods of south and east austin are what makes this town different, unique and amazing.

Our downtown is cleaner by far than many, many urban cities.

Spending a few hours in a cubicle inside the city limits does not an austinite make.

[austin-steve]

As for me trashing Austin. I dont think Ive said anything that isnt true. Sure there are some nice things about Austin, but the bad far outweigh the good.

You sound bitter and angry at life and people in general. Much of what you say about Austin is incorrect, or is a view that few would share.

Can you share with us the city that did bring you happiness, and what the city and people were like there as compared to your experience in Austin?

About the homeless, I've known many of the homeless and "vagrants" in Austin in a personal way that few will ever enjoy. We had an estranged/homeless family member die up on the hill at South Congress a year and a half ago, where the new condos are being built across from Rutamaya, and came to know many of his friends and fellow homeless through that experience and their attendance at the funeral.

I won't go into a long story about it, but I will say that the experienced changed my views about the homeless and some of the stereotypes I held. One couple had been foreclosed on their home 4 months earlier and were homeless for the first time. It put a face on foreclosures that I previously had not considered.

Anyway, I invite you to make some room for joy in your heart. You live in one of the best cities in the U.S. by many different measures and standards, yet you find nothing redeeming about it. Maybe it's just not the right fit for you, but your trashing of Austin tells me more about you than it does Austin.

I always believe this: no matter where you go, there you are.

Steve