What about Austin makes folks want to write about it so much? (Paris: university)

[socrates1234]

Fellow Austinites, I have a question for you......what makes Austin such a type of place that people feel compelled to write/reflect so much on their experiences, good/bad, there? I never really felt compelled to write/think much of any other area I've lived in, but Austin seems to get the pens/keys flowing.
I've got a few opinions on this, and then I'll leave it to you for your response:

1) Austin is still in a growing, formative stage, and hasn't quite solidified its persona yet collectively. As a relatively open-minded city, people feel compelled to offer a plethora of feedback per likes/dislikes. One still feels able to be on the firing line of change here, the change that comes with a rapidly growing metro.

2.)Austin is a university orientated city, and UO places, whether small towns or larger cities, encourage reflection and pondering. The whole college experience would include a large amount of reflection on where one stands as a young adult - who they are, where they are going, what they value, what they should discard. Austin in many ways generates that reflective mode of thought per where one stands just from the mindset of 55,000 young adults in their midst asking the same questions, filtering up to the larger population.

3.) Austin is an intelligent city as a whole - When you pack 700,000 + intelligent folks together, lots of questions/pondering will take place just because it is the nature of intelligent people to ponder/reflect/question.
Put them together anywhere, and they will question the city they have found themselves in, and their place in the same.

4.) Austin rewards and encourages creativity in all realms. It isn't just a slogan, but a genuine mindset, that would be understood even if words were never put down as such. Not a esoteric creativity, not a snooty creativity, not even a mental, philosophical creativity. Just a earthy creativity. The best kind, as everyone can appreciate and take part in such a type. It's more creativity as a way of life, though hard to explain. One of those you-have-to-be-there-to-understand kind of things. Have a bite to eat at Opal Devines on South Congress, check out the hand mosaics in the sink, and the dogs leashed to the outside tables, and you might get a clue. In this earthy creative mix, one feels compelled to mull over everything, what one eats, what one is doing that evening, the garden in the backyard, etc. Along with that, one also ponders Austin itself as well. What it means, how one fits in, what one can change, likes/dislikes/etc.

So, in conclusion, you can ask if Austin has anything special that makes one wax philosophic about it. I don't think it does. Cities have grown as fast/faster before.....there are reams of University towns/cities, and some have far better art districts/museums/bookstores et.al. than Austin.........many other cities have a bright population....DC, Denver, Atlanta, San Diego, San Fran/San Jose, Chicago, New York, Minneapolis-St.Paul, Boston, et.al. ........many other cities encourage creativity....Richard Florida has coined the phrases "Creative Class" and "Creative Cities", to describe the people and areas that encourage such a mentality, and are trying to base entire metropolitan regions on such a demographic.

http://creativeclass.com/

The answer is that Austin combines all of the above in such a mix. Wedded to the fact that it has a hot buzz in the national media, and many folks come here to redefine their lives/careers, you have a critical mass that kicks off a multitude of reflections on City Data, and websites all over, along with endless reflections in the local papers........

When it comes down to it, we weren't really reflecting on Austin all along..... We were just reflecting on our own inner dreams, mindsets, and desires, with Austin just a canvass for us to pin them on.......and as far as canvasses goes, its a pretty good place..................
[RIGHT][/RIGHT]

[Melissa78703]

Why wax poetic about Austin?

For the same reason writers was poetic about San Francisco or New York City. We have our own subculture here. To be fair, it's in the process of slowly being eradicated. The Austin "flavor" is one that's hard to define unless you've lived here all your life and seen how the city has grown. I myself find it hard to define. It's out community, our art, our music, the taste of our food, the way people dress and speak; it's our general sensibility. When I think of Austin, I think of me and a handful of friends sitting at a table at the old Les Amis, drinking cheap wine, eating beans and brown rice, plotting our illustrious futures as novelists, directors, painters ...

[socrates1234]

Originally Posted by Melissa78703

Why wax poetic about Austin?

For the same reason writers was poetic about San Francisco or New York City. We have our own subculture here. To be fair, it's in the process of slowly being eradicated. The Austin "flavor" is one that's hard to define unless you've lived here all your life and seen how the city has grown. I myself find it hard to define. It's out community, our art, our music, the taste of our food, the way people dress and speak; it's our general sensibility. When I think of Austin, I think of me and a handful of friends sitting at a table at the old Les Amis, drinking cheap wine, eating beans and brown rice, plotting our illustrious futures as novelists, directors, painters ...

Two other places come to mind when you mention the outdoor collective pondering/musing. Central Paris(the cafe-dense inner part), and Greenwich Village in Manhattan. I think you have just hit on the muse that is Austin. It isn't really philsophical/logical/political......just pondering, much as an artist would as he looks at the canvass. Again, the Austin mindset is truly creativity as a way of life. As you say, taken as a whole, it is quite a beautiful thing......and the dogs hanging around the cafes add that little Austin quirkiness........gotta love it...

[elduderino38]

Its hard to put my finger on it but i love the vibe here. Some of the change i don't care for but as you say every metropolitan city is growing. When ever i travel out of town i always let a big sigh of relief when i return!