Today's Austin is much better than old Austin (Houston, Dallas: sale, apartment)

[southwest1230]

Hey, I see the same comments on every post per "thinking about moving to Austin, blah, blah, blah". Always the same complaints, mostly from the locals, but, also, from the newcomers who whine about how they wish it was more like the big city they came from, or too bad it doesn't have mountains, oceans, great lakes, etc. The locals ALWAYS mention, even if they've been here 10 years or less, that you should have seen it 10 years ago, why are people still coming here and ruining it, why couldn't I have been the last newcomer, etc. Let me say this. First, to the out-of-area folks. You must not have liked your area to make that move. Something was nasty enough to push you away from there. Unfortunately, Austin shares many of those same problems(traffic, crime, big-box blight, unfriendliness, unaffordability, etc.). There is a fair chance you will see the same thing out in Austin, though perhaps on a slightly smaller scale. Austin is a big city, after all. The only way to find a perfect paradise is to create one, like the matrix movie concept, but we unfortunately aren't quite there yet technologically. Give science about 100 years, and maybe our great grandkids can work with that one. To the locals...I have news for y'all. Austin will NEVER, EVER be what it was, whatever that may have been. Also, we do tend to idealize the past, so it prob wasn't as great as we think we remember it anyway. Austin was way more Redneck/Bubba in the old days, particularly south austin, which was redneck and trailer court central. The one next to Shady Grove is a small vestige of all the double-wides that used to be in south Austin. Austin was somewhat dumpy in general too. We glamorize what we imagine as an ideal funky past, when it was pretty scuzzy, and the bars were almost 100% dives and college frat bars. There also wasn't a hell of a lot to do in the 70's as well. If you wanted to get stoned, and check out Commander Cody, you were pretty much maxing out the possibilities out here. In many ways, its a MUCH MUCH better, and without any doubt CLASSIER city now. Give the traffic infrastructure time to catch up, and you wouldn't be caught dead in the old Austin, even if you COULD go back in time.........

[jhwest]

Thanks for the post. I get pretty sick of everyone complaining that Austin is not So Cal (hooray!), or like it used to be in the good ol days.
I think it's a pretty great place the way it is. Try living someplace crappy for a while and see how great Austin is.

[llkltk]

Yeah, you could be living in Dallas so no one should complain.

[car957]

Instead of talking about the bygone days of Austin (and I was here for it) and the whining and moaning about how Austin sucks (which means you can pick up your crap and move) I offer the following things we have that makes Austin a pretty special place to call home:

-- The State of Texas
-- A pretty mellow attitude
-- The University of Texas at Austin
-- Texas A&M: Some of the smartest engineers I've worked for and with are Aggies.
-- The tallest Capital Building in the US. Yeah, our State House is 2 feet taller than the US Capital. There is a reason we are Texans. I always giggle to myself when I go to Sacramento and see the CA Capital Building. Wimpy.
-- Antone's
-- Austin City Limits
-- The Continental Club
-- Town Lake (a.k.a, Lake Ann Richards)
-- Home of Ann Richards, Molly Ivans and Barbara Jordan
-- Amy's Ice Cream
-- Really good tex-mex
-- Even better BBQ
-- A broad culture of people
-- 4 hours from the coast
-- Interesting weather
-- Mexican fruit bats under the Congress Avenue bridge
-- A well operated electric utility owned by the citizens
-- IH-35. It was bad 30 years ago and it will be bad the day I die
-- Shiner beer. Ah heck, I'll even mention Lone Star Beer. I like it.
-- South Congress. That has been the most interesting transformation I've witnessed in my 30 years in Austin.
-- People who say thank you, yes sir and yes ma'am.
-- Neighbors who wave to one another
-- We sometimes drive slow
-- We go to church and we care about our neighbors
-- The nice folks at HEB who say hello everytime I walk in
-- The choice of not shopping at Walmart
-- Waterloo Records
-- A greasy Hut's hamburger
-- Breakfast at the Magnolia Cafe on LAB or South Congress
-- Our gorgeous women. They smile, they flirt and they've taught me a few things. I am humbled by Texas women.
-- Porfiro's breakfast tacos
-- San Antonio is one hour from my house. Fort Worth and Dallas are 3 hours away as is Houston. All have their own attributes that make Texas unique.
-- Gulf shrimp
-- The Frio River
-- Threadgills
-- Shady Grove
-- A DQ blizzard
-- Pecan pie at the Green Mesquite
-- Blue Bell Ice Cream
-- Bob Bullock Museum of Texas History
-- Krietz's BBQ in Lockhart
-- Jerry at the Ace Hardware Store. He's a smart, funny guy.
-- The Paramount Theater
-- Jason and Justin and their annual performance of a Tuna Christmas
-- Asleep at the Wheel
-- Robert Earl Keen
-- The Highland Lakes
-- Hudson's Meat Market (look it up in the phone book - a great butcher)
-- Clean air (regardless of the ozone action days)
-- No snow
-- Texas French Bread bakery
-- Justin boots, Wrangler jeans and my Stetson hat. Yeah, some of us wear western wear.
-- Leslie in a thong (the guy for those you not in the know who is supposedly homeless and lives downtown). Yeah, he wears a thong. A rides around on roller skates.

Here's my challenge. You go visit or partake in half the items I offered. If you still find us in Austin to be quirky, off-beat, dense, obtuse or whatever phrase you choose to select to indicate your disdain for our little slice of heaven, please let me know. I'll be more than happy to buy you a roll of packing tape, $100 worth of boxes and draw you a map that shows you how to leave Austin.

Adios, live free and smile....

[twange]

Originally Posted by car957

Instead of talking about the bygone days of Austin (and I was here for it) and the whining and moaning about how Austin sucks (which means you can pick up your crap and move) I offer the following things we have that makes Austin a pretty special place to call home:

-- The State of Texas
-- A pretty mellow attitude
-- The University of Texas at Austin
-- Texas A&M: Some of the smartest engineers I've worked for and with are Aggies.
-- The tallest Capital Building in the US. Yeah, our State House is 2 feet taller than the US Capital. There is a reason we are Texans. I always giggle to myself when I go to Sacramento and see the CA Capital Building. Wimpy.
-- Antone's
-- Austin City Limits
-- The Continental Club
-- Town Lake (a.k.a, Lake Ann Richards)
-- Home of Ann Richards, Molly Ivans and Barbara Jordan
-- Amy's Ice Cream
-- Really good tex-mex
-- Even better BBQ
-- A broad culture of people
-- 4 hours from the coast
-- Interesting weather
-- Mexican fruit bats under the Congress Avenue bridge
-- A well operated electric utility owned by the citizens
-- IH-35. It was bad 30 years ago and it will be bad the day I die
-- Shiner beer. Ah heck, I'll even mention Lone Star Beer. I like it.
-- South Congress. That has been the most interesting transformation I've witnessed in my 30 years in Austin.
-- People who say thank you, yes sir and yes ma'am.
-- Neighbors who wave to one another
-- We sometimes drive slow
-- We go to church and we care about our neighbors
-- The nice folks at HEB who say hello everytime I walk in
-- The choice of not shopping at Walmart
-- Waterloo Records
-- A greasy Hut's hamburger
-- Breakfast at the Magnolia Cafe on LAB or South Congress
-- Our gorgeous women. They smile, they flirt and they've taught me a few things. I am humbled by Texas women.
-- Porfiro's breakfast tacos
-- San Antonio is one hour from my house. Fort Worth and Dallas are 3 hours away as is Houston. All have their own attributes that make Texas unique.
-- Gulf shrimp
-- The Frio River
-- Threadgills
-- Shady Grove
-- A DQ blizzard
-- Pecan pie at the Green Mesquite
-- Blue Bell Ice Cream
-- Bob Bullock Museum of Texas History
-- Krietz's BBQ in Lockhart
-- Jerry at the Ace Hardware Store. He's a smart, funny guy.
-- The Paramount Theater
-- Jason and Justin and their annual performance of a Tuna Christmas
-- Asleep at the Wheel
-- Robert Earl Keen
-- The Highland Lakes
-- Hudson's Meat Market (look it up in the phone book - a great butcher)
-- Clean air (regardless of the ozone action days)
-- No snow
-- Texas French Bread bakery
-- Justin boots, Wrangler jeans and my Stetson hat. Yeah, some of us wear western wear.
-- Leslie in a thong (the guy for those you not in the know who is supposedly homeless and lives downtown). Yeah, he wears a thong. A rides around on roller skates.

Here's my challenge. You go visit or partake in half the items I offered. If you still find us in Austin to be quirky, off-beat, dense, obtuse or whatever phrase you choose to select to indicate your disdain for our little slice of heaven, please let me know. I'll be more than happy to buy you a roll of packing tape, $100 worth of boxes and draw you a map that shows you how to leave Austin.

Adios, live free and smile....

Awesome post!

BTW, if anybody wants to leave Austin for a more affordable "off-the-grid" city, I heartily invite you to try my beloved(yet beleaguered) hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. If you buy a house now, you should be able to cash in after 30 years at an appreciation rate of a whopping 1.2% per year. A far cry from the cartoon-ish prices I see on houses here in Austin. Those poor, poor folks who bought their houses in South Central Austin 10+ years ago, only to sell them at 400% mark up due to all the damn Californians and Yankees invading. I wish Cleveland would have had such misfortunes, I might have made more than $8,700 on the sale of my house(that I owned for 8 yrs while pouring time and money into it). Then again, the average person can buy a house.

BTW, I've noticed a sort of S Austin snobbery, that suggests that the northern sections of town are somehow less authentically Austin? Is this aimed more at the farther northern suburbs or just north of the river in general. As far as I can tell, the price tag on the houses here in S Central(Travis Hts, Dawson, Bouldin Creek, SoCo etc...) are just as bloated as the ones in Hyde Park, Clarksville etc...That doesn't translate into much hippy street cred as far as I'm concerned

Don't get me wrong, I'm very, VERY, VERY smitten by S Austin but I guess I don't get the rivalry. All those neighborhoods are wonderful.

[car957]

Austin has always had a simple, nonconfrontational rivalry about North versus South Austin. I always tell my friends and family that I got to set my clock ahead by 10 minutes when I travel North of the River because North Austin is 10 minutes ahead of me. We in Bubbaland move a little slower.

A lot of us saw what was happening in Travis Heights and SoCo. I wasn't lucky enough to buy there 10 years ago. I purchased my homes in an area South of Ben White. I'm happy living in my neighborhood because of less traffic and downtown congestion. The beauty is I am 10-20 minutes from downtown and the airport and I never need to get on I-35. Plus, with all the development near Shady Hollow and Southpark Meadows our property values are increasing at a pretty good rate based on the latest TCAD appraisals.

North or South of the River really doesn't matter - if your living in Austin it's all good in my book.

[austin-steve]

I've noticed a sort of S Austin snobbery, that suggests that the northern sections of town are somehow less authentically Austin?

No, the areas near Burnet Rd. and off Anderson lane are as much South Austin as anywhere south of the river.

In the early 1990's, many people from Dallas and Houston moved to north Austin (north of Braker/Duval, and further out) and there does seem to me to be a notable yet undefinable "vibe" difference between north and south. Not that one is better than the other, but if you check out South 1st, Sout Congress, and the local shops and places like Vulcan video and the movie poster store on S. 1st, it sure is a far cry from Wells Branch. Like two different cities. Many would call South Austin "scummy" in parts, and I can see why they think that and don't disagree. Others call it "gritty" and "authentic".

To each his own. Anyone can find a place to feel at home in Austin, whether north or south.

Steve

[twange]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

No, the areas near Burnet Rd. and off Anderson lane are as much South Austin as anywhere south of the river.

In the early 1990's, many people from Dallas and Houston moved to north Austin (north of Braker/Duval, and further out) and there does seem to me to be a notable yet undefinable "vibe" difference between north and south. Not that one is better than the other, but if you check out South 1st, Sout Congress, and the local shops and places like Vulcan video and the movie poster store on S. 1st, it sure is a far cry from Wells Branch. Like two different cities. Many would call South Austin "scummy" in parts, and I can see why they think that and don't disagree. Others call it "gritty" and "authentic".

To each his own. Anyone can find a place to feel at home in Austin, whether north or south.

Steve

I totally understand. I'm currently living in Dawson on S 1st and my wife and I love it here. We can walk to SoCo, and a bunch of great little shops and such. The 10 busline runs right in front of our apartment which is very convenient and I think the houses on these little side streets are absolutely awesome. I like being away from UT personally. I'm just not in college anymore. If I want a college fix I can go walk around the university and visit the library, plus I can see the St. Edwards Tower from my front door which is cool. I really wish we could buy here. Yea, I understand the gritty vs scummy thing. It's a fine line really and depends upon taste. We are just south of Oltorf and there are a few areas that are trashy(literally), but most are very charming to my eyes.

[austinese]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

In the early 1990's, many people from Dallas and Houston moved to north Austin (north of Braker/Duval, and further out) and there does seem to me to be a notable yet undefinable "vibe" difference between north and south. Not that one is better than the other, but if you check out South 1st, Sout Congress, and the local shops and places like Vulcan video and the movie poster store on S. 1st, it sure is a far cry from Wells Branch. Like two different cities. Many would call South Austin "scummy" in parts, and I can see why they think that and don't disagree. Others call it "gritty" and "authentic".
Steve

I live north-central, but I can't deny that South Austin has eclipsed North Austin in terms of "vibe." South Congress, South Lamar, and South 1st have evolved into interesting, colorful areas, whereas there really isn't much north of UT that is comparable. Hyde Park has a small pocket of restaurants and cafes and Burnet north of 45th is starting to take off. Potentially, Guadalupe north of 29th St. could become more interesting and the Triangle development has potential as well. But, presently, south of the river is where it's at if you're looking for an area that has more of unique Austin character.

[southwest1230]

Car 957, where are you?(sorry, couldn't resist that one!)Great read per all those bulleted items! And Shiner beer! Oh man, Lone Star and Shiner are the classic local beers for sure. I think you can still pick up a 24-can pack of Lone Star for 7 bucks at H-E-B occasionally.

And I "likes" my Lone Star very much, thank you! Where do I begin to comment on all those xtra special Austin thangs you mentioned? BTW, you have to send that to the Chronicle, or else I will. I gaaahrantee(remember when that cajun chef used to say that?) that the good folks at the Chron would publish it.
I just gotta comment on a few of those xtra special thangs.......
1)Mellow attitude...oh yeah, I think we are the one place mellower than even the west
coast. This is true until the Austinite gets into his car. Then he becomes the Terminator,
getting from point A to point B with a mission, riding bumper, and takng names......
then he gets out of his car, walks into his/her Yoga class, and bonds with the universe.
2.)Yes, our capitol has balls of steel. If it was human, it would surely kick the collective
butt of all the other wimpy excuses for capitols. And it sure looks purdy walking north
on Congress at night! Actually my favorite sight!

3.)Continental Club - I just have one thing to say about it......Barfield is God!


4.)Ann Richards - The only person with the guts and sheer audacity to tell the Bushes
where to get off......"Lil' george was born with a silver spoon in his mouth indeed".
One of the great Texas characters of all time!


5.) Hut's hamburger's - All the cholesterol you need for the week in one serving!
Insane, is it not?


6.)Pecan pie lovers unite! or untie? Ins't it crazy how music is EVERYWHERE out here?


And...two of my favorite local things not mentioned


AND, Ruta Maya's


Thanks again for the post, CAR!