How much longer does Austin have? (Houston, Mercedes: condo, house, neighborhoods)

[centralaustinite]

Frankly, I'd take more Californians over the influx of people from Chicago!

To me, Chicago is the exact opposite of all that I love about Austin and the influx from the upper midwest will kill what is left of the Austin spirit. Chicago = intense attention to the most tiny details of money, class and status, and pricing used as a means of exclusion. It has already been happening in Austin and I only see it accelerating.

I always thought we'd stay in Austin forever (been here 25 years now) in part because our kids wanted to grow up and stay here but they haven't even hit college yet and they are starting to think about other places and so are we.

[Rynldsbr]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

5 Years.

Then Austin will be special for different reasons that old timers don't want or need, but that newcomers will appreciate.

If you look back at headlines and info from 30 years ago, this same question was being asked and bantered about. Steve is correct that Austin will continue to have special qualities based on its history, traditions, culture, and location that will make it special for a new group of people. It will not be the same as it always was, but it will still be Austin.

If anyone is longing for the quiet little city with a heavy dose of weird, unfortunately it appears to be pretty well gone already.

[Leaving Arizona]

I knew Austin was losing its uniqueness when, as we scouted locations back in November, we saw these monster multi-phase developments (Mayfield Ranches, I'm looking at you, primarily... but there are a lot of them) with tiny lots and cruddy cracker-box houses.

Now, granted, we're part of the influx, but we come here with job offer in hand, not to move here blindly because we're running away from Cali or the east coast. We'd have been here two years ago, except it was really bad timing on our part. That said, Austin has been on The List for many years and for many reasons, not the least of which is that it's only a two hour flight to Phoenix if we need to rush back for the elderly parents... and not because we're looking for a utopia touted by Austin area PR that, if it existed, is being crowded out in the wake of this boom.

But it makes me sad because this is what happened to my hometown. The flood came in and wrecked it, took what made it a great place to grow up and live and raise kids, because some politicos and businessmen got greedy. The people who came weren't happy because it wasn't what they were used to, and took what they didn't like and made it the way it was where they came from. It's depressing as hell. It destroyed the character of the place. And once the bottom fell out with the crash, it went to hell. Now my home state has a governor who has no connection to the history or character of the state, but just a lot of money that bought him the office (it was true of his opponent as well). Sad.

I hate to see it happen here, too. I'm sorry, native and long-time Austinites - I feel your pain.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by Leaving Arizona

I knew Austin was losing its uniqueness when, as we scouted locations back in November, we saw these monster multi-phase developments (Mayfield Ranches, I'm looking at you, primarily... but there are a lot of them) with tiny lots and cruddy cracker-box houses.

So this has all been around in the Austin area since at least the mid 90's and Mayfield Ranch specifically started to build well over 10 years ago. And Mayfield Ranch actually has some pretty good quality homes compared to Stone Oak (lots of Centex) for example which is right next to it. The point is that this type of development is nothing new to areas that started to experience tremendous growth in the 80's and 90's like Austin has. Southern California is the same way, but the homes there are made with stucco and Spanish tile roofs.

I was just in Phoenix last month and saw a lot of the same there as well and the traffic there was even more confusing than Austin in my opinion with all the different lanes that change direction depending on the time of day. No place is perfect and it's hard to find anyplace in the U.S. that is actually "getting better" in the eyes of most people.

[Eastcoasting]

Nostalgia is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days.
Doug Larson

Nostalgia is a powerful feeling; it can drown out anything.
Terrence Malick

It isn't necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia.
Frank Zappa

[Shredding_Gnar78]

uh... ya. if you take a look around, you can see the hippy vibe is sort of a novelty at this point. more of a sale than a culture. Like the above poster mentioned... when you get silicon valley, chicago, north eastern and dallas people all converging for career and COL transitions, everything becomes cut throat

[SmartGXL]

Originally Posted by Shredding_Gnar78

uh... ya. if you take a look around, you can see the hippy vibe is sort of a novelty at this point. more of a sale than a culture. Like the above poster mentioned... when you get silicon valley, chicago, north eastern and dallas people all converging for career and COL transitions, everything becomes cut throat

Very true.

But, to be fair, the "hippy" vibe and culture is fading nationwide anyway.

I dont mean the spirit or vision (world peace, striving to co-exist with nature etc) is fading....that is in fact, being carried on by people today. But the aesthetic....living in communes, long hair, drug experimentation...that is all fading and is more of a stereotype that you see on TV now.

[Aquitaine]

The other problem is that (even within this thread) people don't agree on what makes Austin special.

I could care less about the hippie vibe or the cathedral of junk. To some people, folks like me who don't care about that are 'wrecking' Austin. Doesn't bother me if they think so.

The culture of the city that brought me here is a sweet spot between being enterprising/innovative and taking yourself too seriously. Certainly in tech - where I work and I love it - the Bay Area turns me off because everybody takes themselves very, very seriously. Maybe they deserve it - I mean, they are inventing the damn future over there. There are places with smaller tech sectors that are 'fine' but not really doing a heck of a lot.

Austin is in between: it's a good business environment that attracts sharp people interested in doing new things but it's less of a 'which Porsche do you drive' town. Probably more of one than it was ten years ago but it's got a long way to go before it's anything like SF.

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by SmartGXL

Very true.

But, to be fair, the "hippy" vibe and culture is fading nationwide anyway.

I dont mean the spirit or vision (world peace, striving to co-exist with nature etc) is fading....that is in fact, being carried on by people today. But the aesthetic....living in communes, long hair, drug experimentation...that is all fading and is more of a stereotype that you see on TV now.

I did a lot of walking around SF last year and didn't see much in the way of hippiedom because, yes, people move on.

Austin has many more good years and decades ahead of it. There is more and more good stuff in my neighborhood all the time and very few of the establishments worth getting nostalgic over have left. We have thankfully lost one power plant (from the good ol' days of Austin, remember!) and gained a new boardwalk.

[SmartGXL]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

Frankly, I'd take more Californians over the influx of people from Chicago!

To me, Chicago is the exact opposite of all that I love about Austin and the influx from the upper midwest will kill what is left of the Austin spirit. Chicago = intense attention to the most tiny details of money, class and status, and pricing used as a means of exclusion. It has already been happening in Austin and I only see it accelerating.

I always thought we'd stay in Austin forever (been here 25 years now) in part because our kids wanted to grow up and stay here but they haven't even hit college yet and they are starting to think about other places and so are we.

Agreed.

I am a native midwesterner who was born and raised in Ohio (by a Texan mother and grandmother!), but who later moved to Chicago in the 90's and lived there for close to 20 years, before heading to Texas.

I love Chicago and the people have a lot of heart and spirit. They love their city, even with the horrible weather. They are very social people, and that is one of the great things about them. But, the culture there sometimes comes off as oppressive, aggressive, conformist. Pretentiousness beyond what is necessary. Unrealistic expectations. Over-bearing and uptight. Willing to accept tyranny and corruption. You are allowed to think outside the box there, but only outside specific pre-defined boxes. World-class city, but at the same time, provincial and clique-ish. Not very welcoming to people who they didnt grow up with.

I enjoyed living there; I built my career there. I was accepted there, but I always felt like an outsider and never really felt comfortable with being there permanently or starting a family there. I have been told by various people that I have more of a laid-back "West Coast" type of personality, and I think I agree with that, and that is why I choose to go to Texas...it's laid back, warm and friendly, and that is exactly who I am.

Hopefully, as people move there from colder, harsher areas, the people who do move there will learn to relax and ease up a little...my hope is that people who move to Austin dont go there with the idea of re-making it into whatever hell they came from, but instead, become Texans!