My take on Austin (Round Rock, Allen: real estate market, to buy, schools)

[passionatearts]

Originally Posted by Raskolnikov

I'm curious:

You go to other cities around the world and you find a nice mix of communities with every different size house, income, and race.. But in Austin, we have a paradise for white rich liberal 20-30 somethings who do not associate with anyone other than other white liberal rich people.

This is pretty much what I was getting at in my post. For a city it's size, Austin is pretty homogeneous.

[Aquitaine]

You go to other cities around the world and you find a nice mix of communities with every different size house, income, and race.. But in Austin, we have a paradise for white rich liberal 20-30somethings who do not associate with anyone other than other white liberal rich people.

Then why did SW Austin elect a Republican city councilwoman? Nor was it the only district to do so.

Oh wait, it's the Internet. Here's to sweeping generalizations.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by Aquitaine

Then why did SW Austin elect a Republican city councilwoman?

Well, according to at least one of the cognoscenti around here, "real" Austin ends at Ben White.

And that was just the one with low enough barriers to say it. Pretty confident there are hundreds more that believe it.

[pop251808]

Originally Posted by Aquitaine

Then why did SW Austin elect a Republican city councilwoman? Nor was it the only district to do so.

Oh wait, it's the Internet. Here's to sweeping generalizations.

Strawman. First, pretend that all of Austin is "liberal." Say it to yourself and anyone who will listen over and over again. Then, declare the republic of diversity (in the suburbs!) when white Republican suburbanites elect: a white Republican representative.
I love it.

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by Raskolnikov

I'm curious:

- everyone agrees that Austin has not handled it's growth well in terms of roads and traffic. Where do they place the blame? (On big business or on big government? Neither? Both?)
- Everyone agrees that Austin has somewhat done well at encouraging density downtown, and Downtown is more liveable than it was in the 1990's. Right?
- But why is it that no minorities, middle class, or poor people can actually live anywhere other than the suburbs?

And the rhetorical question:
- Why is it that Austin's ultra-wealthy despise those that live in the far-flung burbs as creating problems with the environment, when I'm sure they would love to live very close in but simply can't?

You go to other cities around the world and you find a nice mix of communities with every different size house, income, and race.. But in Austin, we have a paradise for white rich liberal 20-30somethings who do not associate with anyone other than other white liberal rich people.

How is Austin progressive again?

Uh, just refuting a number of your points.

Minorities live in Austin. Heck Hispanics are just about everywhere.

Middle classed people are likewise still found in Austin. A $300k home can be purchased by two average salaried people, no problem. While there are some who move farther out because they don't have a choice, there are many more who move to the suburbs because that,s what they want. It may be hard to fathom, but the suburbs appeal to the middle class because they offer larger homes, larger lots, above average schools and lots of family friendly appeal. You get more value for your dollar and you may or may not have to commute. My husband works north so commuting is a non issue. As for us, we're minorities and middle classed with a 400k-500k housing budget and we chose to live in the suburbs, again. It's not just price, it's a lifestyle.

Poor people still live in austin. I see poverty daily. Just go to dove springs and parts of northeast.

[ATX Wahine]

Originally Posted by riaelise

Poor people still live in austin. I see poverty daily. Just go to dove springs and parts of northeast.

I agree. We have two large low-income trailer parks and a Section Eight apartment complex across Highway 71 from 450k homes in Covered Bridge. An apartment complex featuring a percentage of low-income units is currently being sandwiched into the same area. We also have several lower-end apartment complexes just a few hundred yards down Highway 71 from homes in the 150k range.

I'm not sure this side of SW Austin is ever considered when discussing wealth. So many people seem to think Circle C is the de facto lifestyle for anyone in SW Austin. It's ... not.

[Aquitaine]

Originally Posted by pop251808

Strawman. First, pretend that all of Austin is "liberal." Say it to yourself and anyone who will listen over and over again. Then, declare the republic of diversity (in the suburbs!) when white Republican suburbanites elect: a white Republican representative.
I love it.

I was correcting the fellow who said that Austin was full of nothing but white liberals.

I'm not interested in winning a diversity campaign, or proving my bona-fides, least of all to anybody who worships at the altar of identity politics. My point is merely that there are folks who disagree on politics around here and that it is not a uniform city in that respect - perhaps it once was, but it ain't any more.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by pop251808

Strawman. First, pretend that all of Austin is "liberal." Say it to yourself and anyone who will listen over and over again. Then, declare the republic of diversity (in the suburbs!) when white Republican suburbanites elect: a white Republican representative.
I love it.

Dang! Made it seven pages without anyone saying "STRAWMAN":smac k:

[Raskolnikov]

There are a few people here with their head in the sand about the disparity of income and wealth in Austin.

Let's be clear: Austin is the NUMBER ONE city for economic segregation IN THE NATION. Not the state, the NATION.

Austin is a divided city, more so than most other cities it's size. It is divided in terms of wealth. But the amusing thing is, the wealthy people with families here are Democrat / ultra liberal, and live in the city center, in neighborhoods like Tarrytown, Rosewood, Allendale, Brykerwoods, Barton Hills, Northwest Hills, Balcones, etc. etc. Compared with 90 percent of the rest of this country, they are rich.

By and large, they also have a snobbishness about people who don't live in the city center. They actively disdain people who live in Circle C or Steiner Ranch as "part of the sprawl problem" and politically try to throw their weight in against them for things like parks, road improvements, and any sort of public transportation options that would actually help the middle class.

I know this because I work in the city center, my life is really more in the city center, and most of my friends live int he city center. And I hear them bash people. Part of their whole identity is bashing people who live in the burbs. They even call people in Circle C "Breeders" who are polluting their rivers, (to them Barton Springs is like their personal swimming pool, which the 'breeders' in the suburbs with are polluting with their car oil and runoff).

What i notice in my conversations where I hear hate dished out by city center people is, they are just not friendly people. They are committed democrats, and supposedly that's the party of the "middle class". It is hilarious to hear their fear and hate toward politically conservative, churchgoing types. Because what you realize is, much of it actually is an underlying class elitism. It's about the aesthetics, the taste (or the lack thereof) of the suburbanites. Also, these Austin core people generally are uniformly white, and in many ways responsible themselves for driving out the minorities in old East Austin.

It comes down to this for them: the suburbs are ugly, full of ugly / homogenous step ford people, bubbas, religious extremists, and tea partiers.

The amusing thing about all of this is, the suburban people ARE the middle or even lower class. You know - the middle class that supposedly, the conservative/ Republican hate mongers are TRYING to destroy because they only care about the 1 percent who play golf. (Right?) The narrative has now become hilarious.

If you don't believe this is an issue, read this : Austin No. 1 for economic segregation, report finds - Austin Business Journal

[Austinite101]

Originally Posted by Aquitaine

Then why did SW Austin elect a Republican city councilwoman? Nor was it the only district to do so.

Oh wait, it's the Internet. Here's to sweeping generalizations.

Barely. Troxclair won by about 50 votes (<0.5%) in an abnormally strong Republican year nationally. If anything, it says SW Austin isn't as conservative as people claim it to be.