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Old 11-11-2014, 08:50 AM
 
10,130 posts, read 19,882,004 times
Reputation: 5815

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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScoPro View Post
That right there.

DT during the '70s & early '80s looked like a ghost town with a lot of boarded up storefronts on Congress. Really kinda depressing to drive up to the Capitol then.

Today it's an exciting "happening" place. The only gripe I have is the CoA's propensity for closing off half the streets dang near every weekend in the central core for the latest charity du jour race.
Agreed. Downtown Austin back then was pretty much worthless after you graduated college and stopped going to 6th street. It's much better now, at least for me.

And I'll gladly take more tall buildings DT if the city council would just stop rubber-stamping endless office complexes along 360. If they were serious about doing anything for traffic in this city, that is the easiest and cheapest thing they could do. 360 is already a parking lot, yet every new hilltop development that is proposed gets approved. Those should go DT or on that nice, empty tollway east of town.
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Old 11-11-2014, 09:07 AM
 
Location: San Antonio, TX
2,089 posts, read 3,907,683 times
Reputation: 2695
Quote:
Originally Posted by scm53 View Post
We spend so much time on the preservation of every obscure species on earth - wonder why there isn't as much time spent on the preservation of Austin? Charleston seems to understand well how to modernize, without losing your soul in the process.
What era would you want to preserve? Me, 1959. IH35 running over East Avenue killed any chance of "Charleston-ing" the city. We have 130 now, remove the interstate through the city and boulevard it again-- my pipe dream. Now, if we can only not become Seattle...

Photo in the public domain:

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Old 11-11-2014, 09:13 AM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
12,950 posts, read 13,346,261 times
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A lot of Austinites would like to see the "old" preserved, but that doesn't mean core progress should come to a stop. Texas towns have always evolved in one way or another - and Austin doesn't need to be another Waco, nor should it try to emulate Dallas.
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Old 11-11-2014, 09:39 AM
 
Location: Central East Austin
615 posts, read 781,206 times
Reputation: 551
So, y'all want to preserve Austin by making it into Charleston? Makes sense...

Cities evolve and change. The 1959 picture above makes that point perfectly. The surprising part is that most/all of the people complaining here, don't even live in Austin, never mind central Austin. Folks that live in the central area choose to live there because they love the Austin of today. And they're willing to pay more money and live in a smaller dwelling to have access to all that central Austin has to offer. Rising real estate prices in urban areas aren't unique to Austin—it's a nation-wide trend. People in age brackets from millennials to retirees are choosing city life over suburbia in record numbers. This is driving up price. This effect is amplified in Austin as housing cannot keep up with the demand. And I'm sorry, if you can have your sprawling McMansion in Georgetown, downtowners can have their condo with a view of the lake.
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Old 11-11-2014, 09:48 AM
 
1,588 posts, read 2,316,661 times
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...Jesus in a juniper bush!

Isn't Austin completely gentrified yet!

...and Dave Grohl, didn't he used to play in a band that was just a lame copy of the Butthole Surfers?
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Old 11-11-2014, 09:50 AM
 
1,549 posts, read 1,955,930 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by petro View Post
So, y'all want to preserve Austin by making it into Charleston? Makes sense...

Cities evolve and change. The 1959 picture above makes that point perfectly. The surprising part is that most/all of the people complaining here, don't even live in Austin, never mind central Austin. Folks that live in the central area choose to live there because they love the Austin of today. And they're willing to pay more money and live in a smaller dwelling to have access to all that central Austin has to offer. Rising real estate prices in urban areas aren't unique to Austin—it's a nation-wide trend. People in age brackets from millennials to retirees are choosing city life over suburbia in record numbers. This is driving up price. This effect is amplified in Austin as housing cannot keep up with the demand. And I'm sorry, if you can have your sprawling McMansion in Georgetown, downtowners can have their condo with a view of the lake.
Our choice to live in central Austin for decades (and for many of our longtime friends and neighbors here) had nothing to do with the Austin of today. It had everything to do with history, architecture and community --- all of which are being gobbled up by this so called progress.
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Old 11-11-2014, 10:11 AM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
13,448 posts, read 15,484,806 times
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Hey, the urbanites can have their urban paradises. I'm all for personal choice, really. As for me? Well next year we'll be trading our suburban house for yet another suburban house. the way I look at it, for $400k-500k, we'd rather have all of the suburban comforts that we've appreciated over the years. If we really need to travel into the core, it's as simple as driving fifteen minutes for us, though we really don't venture into the city much at all. Neither of us are subjected to a grinding commute since one half works in North Austin and the other half takes metrorail.

I merely pointed out that there is nothing particularly Austin when it comes to the paint by numbers skyscrapers coming up. Beautiful architecture to me are the landmark buildings that are being sandwiched between these behemoths. What is uniquely Austin are the beautiful properties found in Tarrytown. If the strip mall is something to be scared of, it's a little too late. Austin is probably 80% strip malls, chain restaurants, and roadway.
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Old 11-11-2014, 10:34 AM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
12,950 posts, read 13,346,261 times
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Well, "if we won the Lottery", we would have a nice large house (not a McMansion) on a section of land overlooking the Hill Country and a "pied-à-terre" condo in a high rise west of Congress in the old warehouse district, which used to be called "Guy Town" in the late 19th Century.

That way we could enjoy some of both worlds.
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Old 11-11-2014, 10:44 AM
 
Location: San Antonio, TX
2,089 posts, read 3,907,683 times
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"Guy Town": gamblin' parlours, dens of ill repute, red light district.

History House: Austin's Guy Town
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Old 11-11-2014, 10:47 AM
 
Location: Central East Austin
615 posts, read 781,206 times
Reputation: 551
Quote:
Originally Posted by A-Tex View Post
Our choice to live in central Austin for decades (and for many of our longtime friends and neighbors here) had nothing to do with the Austin of today. It had everything to do with history, architecture and community --- all of which are being gobbled up by this so called progress.
If you're not living in Austin because you "love the Austin of today" then it's time for you to question why you're here.
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