Why I'm leaving Austin: An 8th Generation Austinite's observations (tax, to live)

[EzPeterson]

Originally Posted by Newbe10

By "North of 183," do you mean all of those in the city limits who live north of the "non-tolled" portion of the route??

Hey Toolio. There is no part of the city limits north of the tolled portion. Buy a map, or find a free one online and learn to read it. It might be applicable to the point you're trying to make then.

and generally horrified by everything north of 183 and south of Ben White Blvd. . .which I don't even really consider to be Austin.

Which is really funny, since you cannot tell the difference between North loop houses/neighborhoods and spots clear up off Anderson Mill

Sorry your arbitrary border doesn't work, but hey - better luck discriminating next time.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by EzPeterson

Hey Toolio. There is no part of the city limits north of the tolled portion. Buy a map, or find a free one online and learn to read it. It might be applicable to the point you're trying to make then.



Which is really funny, since you cannot tell the difference between North loop houses/neighborhoods and spots clear up off Anderson Mill

Sorry your arbitrary border doesn't work, but hey - better luck discriminating next time.

Oh, I will take that Pepsi challenge. Bring it on.

[Newbe10]

Originally Posted by EzPeterson

Hey Toolio. There is no part of the city limits north of the tolled portion. Buy a map, or find a free one online and learn to read it. It might be applicable to the point you're trying to make then.



Which is really funny, since you cannot tell the difference between North loop houses/neighborhoods and spots clear up off Anderson Mill

Sorry your arbitrary border doesn't work, but hey - better luck discriminating next time.

Hey genius (hint sarcasm), I wasn't talking about parts of Austin NORTH of the TOLLED portion. Maybe you should learn to read and comprehend posts a little better.

[EzPeterson]

Originally Posted by Komeht

Oh, I will take that Pepsi challenge. Bring it on.

See if this works.

2 inside your line, 2 outside. Which ones? Assuming 1 is top, 4 is bottom

Damn - came out kind of small.

[jabbit]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

NO city is the city it used to be. .

true but not every city changes as drastically with so much heat as Austin has. the changes that some cities go through are not all on the same level. certain cities change where their identity is not as vehemently in question such as the way austin's is. some of those changes are agreed upon with the majority of the citie's inhabitants. Austin has a huge line drawn between those that want the current LA style Austin to those that prefer the previous Austin style Austin.

[sxrckr]

Until the state allows counties or MUDs to have more powers for zoning or development controls -- city of Austin, city of Round Rock, and every other area city really cannot control what goes on outside of the city limits or unincorporated areas. The worst is when developers put up a bunch of multifamily all over virgin land way out (it's very profitable for them) when that should be going in the city where it's more needed.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by Komeht

I remember going to see Slacker at Dobie Mall when it came out. My friends and I smuggled in beers and then walked into a warm Austin night, over to Les Amis and the movie just kept on going. We were slackers - lived the life. Hell, I know half the cast.

Austin is better now. Yeah, I know, Les Amis was closed and replaced with a Starbucks and that sucks. I mourn for all those places too - Liberty Lunch, Las Manitas all of it . . .I even have memories of Armadillo World Headquarters.

But Austin is a better city today than it was then. Downtown was decrepit. Half of Congress was boarded up. The other half barely alive. The ONLY sign of life downtown was the strip of bars on 6th St (though there were better bars back then (Black Cat, Cannibal Club, etc.). East side? Breakfast tacos on Sunday - otherwise, no. South Congress? good place to pick up a skanky hooker. South Lamar was one long strip of garages, adult books stores, strip malls, pod malls and decent tex mex - it was horrible.

I think there was ONE decent place to get sushi - and that was a minor miracle. There were a scattering of ethnic restaurants, mostly in far off strip malls. No one went downtown at night. Ever. It was dead. The population in downtown Austin consisted mostly of people incarcerated in the county pokey and bums, Austin has always had a health supply of bums - then and now.

And yeah, I ran into my friends every night. . .every night. ..every night - it was soap opera city.

But it was cheap. God yes, you could eat like a pauper king at Les Amis for a few bucks. And I called some pretty amazing homes my casa back in the day.

Slacker is the perfect movie to show people what Austin was like back in the day. And looking back at Slacker - you realize it was interesting and different and had a vibe, but something of a backwater.

I wouldn't go back to those days for all the green chili in new mexico.

Kohmeht, I don't know about you, but I used to go downtown after dark in the past - and I'm 5'2" and female. I don't go downtown at all now if I can possibly help it beyond going to Savory Spice two or three times a year. Even Whole Foods has managed to drive me away.

And what, I might ask, is wrong with being a "backwater" (though I never considered it one) with personality rather than just like every other big city out there? If you love big cities so much, why on earth didn't you just move to one?

Perhaps we should get one thing defined first, though - what, to you, is "back in the day"?

[ScoPro]

lol @ all those who think "slacker" personifies Austin.

Watching the city grow for 54 years, about the only thing that sucks to me is the traffic

[Melissa78703]

Originally Posted by jabbit

true but not every city changes as drastically with so much heat as Austin has. the changes that some cities go through are not all on the same level. certain cities change where their identity is not as vehemently in question such as the way austin's is. some of those changes are agreed upon with the majority of the citie's inhabitants. Austin has a huge line drawn between those that want the current LA style Austin to those that prefer the previous Austin style Austin.

Exactly. There was a way to let Austin expand organically so that it maintained its authentic flavor. That hasn't happened. To my mind, there's just not a lot of difference between "mainstream" L.A. and Austin these days. Which I suppose was the goal all along.

[Melissa78703]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Kohmeht, I don't know about you, but I used to go downtown after dark in the past - and I'm 5'2" and female. I don't go downtown at all now if I can possibly help it beyond going to Savory Spice two or three times a year. Even Whole Foods has managed to drive me away.

And what, I might ask, is wrong with being a "backwater" (though I never considered it one) with personality rather than just like every other big city out there? If you love big cities so much, why on earth didn't you just move to one?

Perhaps we should get one thing defined first, though - what, to you, is "back in the day"?

I find myself loathe to go downtown too, THL, and my neighborhood practically bumps up against it. Oh, right! I live "downtown" according to newcomers.

I never considered Austin "backwater." I know backwater when I see it, and Austin was anything but. It had just enough choices so that you could indulge yourself your favorite cuisine or type of music. Maybe one sushi restaurant (I presume that would be Kyoto) was a little restrictive, but do we really need fifty of them? How many music venues is enough? Coffee shops? Organic food markets? High brow tapas bars? I daresay that most Americans who traveled to Austin back in the day would take a look around an envy us for all of the really cool options we had back then.

Choices are one thing, but excess is another.