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Has nothing to do with NIMBY. NIMBY is, I think it's a good idea but not in my back yard. This is something else entirely.
You're "backyard" seems to be all of central Texas.
If you want to offer up a single concrete suggestion as to how to accommodate doubling Austin's population in 3 decades without resorting to another meaningless aphorism I'm all ears.
So, if you don't appreciate watching a city of, for you and a lot of other people, exactly the right size, and that's one of the reasons you live there and love it, be destroyed for the dubious "benefit" of becoming a "major city", you're the one with a problem?
Since when was being a "major city" the ultimate goal for every community and every person in every community? Just because you want to live in a major city doesn't mean that everyone does, or even that they should.
As for the "privilege of watching that happen", some people used to think that watching hangings, or witch burnings, or gladiators, were something worth watching, too, and anyone who didn't appreciate them had a problem (and was likely to end up on the being viewed end of that in some cases).
If people who live here and love it because they don't WANT to live in a major city and wouldn't if you paid them are sad that the city they love is being destroyed, the problem is not really with them. That's like someone telling a woman who objects to being raped that not appreciating what's happening to her means that the problem is in her because, after all, the rapist is happy with what's happening!
I mean, lady, seriously, this conversation should have been done away with back in the late 90s when Austin started to seriously grow again. I feel there's nothing you can do about it now. It's the way life is. Change comes.
No one looks at you as the bad person just because you like smaller communities. I mean no one really looks at you as the bad person at all, but just a bit uninformed and unwilling to admit that you're methods aren't the best approaches to sustain a diverse and thriving community.
Where I feel you are wrong is you're comparisons of a growing city to lynches, or witch burnings; it is laughable, weird and I think a bit unfair to the victims of those atrocities.
On the norm, diversity is attracted to major city hubs. What you are asking is for a quasi-hippy community with less diversity. That's not feasible for a growing city. Because first you say, "I like Austin better when it was smaller" and then you say, "well there's nothing wrong with growth, just don't build skyscrapers." I mean, if anything you're ideas are pretty darn confusing and not concise.
Uh...perhaps you missed the late 1980s/early 1990s when Austin was in the grips of a real estate collapse. If you've been here since 1975 you couldn't have missed it.
Then there was the high tech bubble burst...the idea the somehow Austin is immune to downturns is absurd given its history but distant and recent demonstrating boom/bust cycles
That doesn't change the fact that Austin remained one of the fasted growing cities in the country, even in the 80's. "People will stop migrating here with great speed." will just not happen... even though I wish it would.
The problem is not growth so much as an inability to put a priority on basics like transportation options, housing (for all age and income levels), safe bike lanes, etc to maintain quality and accommodate the invasion of newcomers. It always seems to come back to profit for developers and revenue for the city and not the basic things that citizens need. Yet another apartment complex for young professionals with a six-story parking garage will be built on Burnet Rd where the old Farmer's Market now sits. That will add dense housing and maybe some trendy shops and 300 more cars to traffic every morning. How does that make life better for the rest of us. The developer could care less...
I mean, lady, seriously, this conversation should have been done away with back in the late 90s when Austin started to seriously grow again. I feel there's nothing you can do about it now. It's the way life is. Change comes.
No one looks at you as the bad person just because you like smaller communities. I mean no one really looks at you as the bad person at all, but just a bit uninformed and unwilling to admit that you're methods aren't the best approaches to sustain a diverse and thriving community.
Where I feel you are wrong is you're comparisons of a growing city to lynches, or witch burnings; it is laughable, weird and I think a bit unfair to the victims of those atrocities.
On the norm, diversity is attracted to major city hubs. What you are asking is for a quasi-hippy community with less diversity. That's not feasible for a growing city. Because first you say, "I like Austin better when it was smaller" and then you say, "well there's nothing wrong with growth, just don't build skyscrapers." I mean, if anything you're ideas are pretty darn confusing and not concise.
I'm comparing feelings of people who see their city, their way of life, that they love being destroyed, and being told when they object that there's something wrong with THEM for not appreciating being able to experience that destruction. Love of city is deep in many, where they live, where they are from, is part of them. I realize that in Texas this MAY be stronger than in other places, though that is based pretty much on what I read online of people who just don't get why Texans love their state so deeply. (My question is always, why don't you love where you come from just as deeply? That doesn't make sense to me.) But that doesn't make it any less real or the pain any less when others come in and decide to make over that city and that life into something they prefer. To say that there's something wrong with them for not appreciating it? The comparison is apt, I think. It's much like saying to the victims of witch burnings, "If you were a really GOOD person you'd APPRECIATE that we're doing this for your own good, to save your soul." Or to the victims of rape that they should appreciate the great opportunity of the experience that they're having. (By the way, I'm pretty sure I'm in a better position than you to say what's unfair to the latter.)
Whether or not I agree with them as to what's best for the city (and I do think there are much better ways to manage the growth than I've seen proposed by the PTB and the folks with the money), I am able to recognize those feelings and I would be mortified to think that I was the kind of person who thought that there was something wrong with them for having those feelings or for not appreciating experiencing the destruction that they see. That would mean that there was something deeply wrong with ME.
Cities are not museums. They evolve. The good ones grow, the bad ones die. Austin is growing because it is successful. The only way to stop growth is make the city less attractive. Can we all agree that we don't want to make the city less attractive?
Evolve and growth are not synonymous. A city can "evolve" without increasing its population. Unfortunately, the "leadership" of Austin can't separate the two. I'm not a native of Austin but I have spent the last 20 years here. The changes I've seen have changed the personality of Austin considerably. To me, it is a horrible change. To others, it may be a vast improvement. People have different perspectives. And before the majority of you jump all over me and tell me to leave if I don't like it here, that is my plan. I'm a little over a year from retirement and when that day comes, I will be relocating to somewhere that appeals to my personal tastes. (That place is still not finalized, but the choices have been narrowed down to three at the moment.)
Evolve and growth are not synonymous. A city can "evolve" without increasing its population. Unfortunately, the "leadership" of Austin can't separate the two. I'm not a native of Austin but I have spent the last 20 years here. The changes I've seen have changed the personality of Austin considerably. To me, it is a horrible change. To others, it may be a vast improvement.
You forget that for most of us, it's neither a horrible change nor a vast improvement. It's just different.
Glad I got to live in the version of Austin,TX from 20 years ago. But also glad that I get to live in the 2012 model. I'm looking forward to the 2013 model coming out soon.
[quote=atxcio;27155939]You forget that for most of us, it's neither a horrible change nor a vast improvement. It's just different.
I'm happy that you are able to speak for the majority of people living in Austin. That sort of power must be very comforting. Poor me was only about to speak about "some" people in Austin. I guess my little opinion doesn't count for much when you hold so much power.
I'm happy that you are able to speak for the majority of people living in Austin. That sort of power must be very comforting. Poor me was only about to speak about "some" people in Austin. I guess my little opinion doesn't count for much when you hold so much power.
I'm just pointing out the majority does not hold an extreme view either way, did not meant to offend. Take a poll if you like.
I'm comparing feelings of people who see their city, their way of life, that they love being destroyed, and being told when they object that there's something wrong with THEM for not appreciating being able to experience that destruction. Love of city is deep in many, where they live, where they are from, is part of them. I realize that in Texas this MAY be stronger than in other places, though that is based pretty much on what I read online of people who just don't get why Texans love their state so deeply. (My question is always, why don't you love where you come from just as deeply? That doesn't make sense to me.) But that doesn't make it any less real or the pain any less when others come in and decide to make over that city and that life into something they prefer. To say that there's something wrong with them for not appreciating it? The comparison is apt, I think. It's much like saying to the victims of witch burnings, "If you were a really GOOD person you'd APPRECIATE that we're doing this for your own good, to save your soul." Or to the victims of rape that they should appreciate the great opportunity of the experience that they're having. (By the way, I'm pretty sure I'm in a better position than you to say what's unfair to the latter.)
Whether or not I agree with them as to what's best for the city (and I do think there are much better ways to manage the growth than I've seen proposed by the PTB and the folks with the money), I am able to recognize those feelings and I would be mortified to think that I was the kind of person who thought that there was something wrong with them for having those feelings or for not appreciating experiencing the destruction that they see. That would mean that there was something deeply wrong with ME.
Who exactly has said anything about something "being wrong about THEM" or you for that matter? We just have a disagreement, that is all. Pro developers simply want to see a thriving city because it's interesting to them and brings in more diverse and can most likely move Austin as a contending major city. You don't see that way... but who cares. We like what is going on for Austin. Nothing further needs to be said and not much you could do about it now.
As for loving Texas... well, I've lived in Texas since I was about 2 years old... so I can confidently say that Texas is my home. I simply happened to have been born in Idaho, but my culture is Texan. Everyone in my family is from Texas and I have no familiarity with any other state but Texas. So my love for Texas runs deep, as well as some things that frustrate me about Texas. And it frustrates me because I care for that state and will defend it fervently any chance that I get, just as I am now.
I like what is going for all the major cities in Texas. All of them are doing the same Austin is doing, by trying to bring the population growth back to where cities traditionally have for as long as civilization has been around - the center. And its not CHANGING into something else, on the other hand, I feel it is capitalizing on what makes Texas a great state. It's becoming a better version of itself... the same way Austin is.
There is nothing wrong with you, nor anyone who doesn't like traditional cities... but there is something wrong with the way it is being analyzed by those people. It was you on the other hand who compared Austin's redevelopment to lynching and witch hunts.
But forget that... I somehow feel you're taking this way way way too seriously talking about emotions or whatnot. This discussion doesn't need to go further to the point of psychoanalyzing each other. That's just even more weird.
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