Is Austin as great as the top 10 lists say? (Pittsburg: neighborhood, places to live)

[scongress1234]

Originally Posted by ricanmama

I too have read many posts from scongress1234 and agree that his posts are RARELY something worth reading. They are so one-sided and based on a period LONNNNNG ago, as if he really expected the world to stay the same forever. There are plenty of people who use this forum to vent how much has changed from when they moved to Austin and no one has a problem with what they've written. But your posts are full of venom, sarcasm and callous.

News flash... change is EVERYWHERE! Development and growth is not exclusive to just Austin. I have lived in the same city for almost 30 years and seen it change for better AND worse. But I, by no means, am trying to convince people NOT to move to the city....IT'S NOT MINE. And a city to one person is not the same to another person. So I don't try to SHOVE my opinions down anyone's throat. I give them BOTH sides and let them decide for themselves. THAT is what people are looking for when asking questions here.

The post from TerryDactyls is not even in the same realm as the overly obsessive and WHINY rants from scongress1234. They have stated their opinion and moved on like most normal folks would. They have listed what has changed since they moved here and that's that.

Scongress, you complain, complain and complain some more about people talking on the net (why sign on and subject yourself then), development and growth in the city (nothing you can do about it, it's everywhere), etc. I've read other member's responses to your posts about how "cranky" you are and "negative" and "grumpy", so there must be some truth in that. You've even gone so far as to apologize for it, so nothing that was said here was a stretch by any means.

scongress1234 wrote: "Only a healthy person can handle self-criticism."

Doesn't sound like he's taking criticism all that well, now does it.

I'm quite honored that you have read many of my posts...Yes, I can be cranky, but I do get right to the core of things, and that makes me appear something I'm not....I can go on about what I love about Austin, but thats all I see on here, and showing what the city lacks, and the wrong directions it is heading in, surely is somewhat instructive. Again, I can take criticism, but so should Austin, and people's opinions of the same.
The fact is, rapid growth has destroyed every cities' ambience in which it has occured. Talk to someone from LA pre 1965, Phoenix pre '72, or Vegas
pre 80, and you will hear essentially a story of two different cities, and a turning point that forked forever. Austin is at that point, and may never be the same again. It is losing its livability, uniqueness, and eclecticism, and developers and outside corporate interests are creating a blandness that was never there. In my opinion, it has turned, and will jump the shark soon, if it hasn't already. If not now, in 2 years, when the next 100,000 new folks come in and pave over another 10,000 acres......

[TexasHorseLady]

I thought it was Hamilton's Pool. I remember it from . . . oh, my goodness, it must be close to 40 years ago now.

Pretty unmistakable.

Not to worry, though. I've thought that Austin ambiance was lost several times in the past few decades, only to discover it in a different part of the city than I had previously expected to find it. It's always there, just sometimes lying low.

[scongress1234]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I thought it was Hamilton's Pool. I remember it from . . . oh, my goodness, it must be close to 40 years ago now.

Pretty unmistakable.

Not to worry, though. I've thought that Austin ambiance was lost several times in the past few decades, only to discover it in a different part of the city than I had previously expected to find it. It's always there, just sometimes lying low.

THL, have you ever been to Jim O'Brian's backyard monthly parties/campfires? Every second wednesday, since '73. Just south of Zilker Park/Riverside. That, and Eeyore's BD, is to me the last two vestiges of old Austin. And maybe the old Alamo DH, before they moved to the ritz.....

We went from this:





To this:

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by scongress1234

Just to prove how ridiculous these lists are, check out Kiplingers latest, which ranks Houston as the number one city for relocatees.

I like Austin (I lived there for 8 years) but now I live in Houston and I like it, too. Houston has a LOT going for it and a lot of the bad press just focuses on the negatives while ignoring all the positives. Read the Kiplinger's article...you'll see some good reasons given why Houston is actually a fine place to live. And there are many more career opportunities here than in Austin. Austin is terrific if you can find an excellent job but the job market in Houston is booming in comparison.

[TexasHorseLady]

No, haven't been to those particular parties, but I've been to plenty of others! Some of them with 800 or so people out in the woods, so I suspect they qualify.

Austin City Limits Festival is still Austin, The Broken Spoke, the Green Mesquite where Jerry Jacobs' used to be, and many places that are not so well known.

[thirdtimesacharm]

scongress1234,

Even though I may not agree with everything you have said, I admire you for speaking your mind. That's what these forums should be for. I just moved from NM and in that forum I was in your place. People never wanted to hear the negative side of the area. All places have good and bad. Nobody should be afraid to speak about how they feel about a place.

I also do believe that those trendy lists are BS!

[scongress1234]

Originally Posted by ricanmama

I too have read many posts from scongress1234 and agree that his posts are RARELY something worth reading. They are so one-sided and based on a period LONNNNNG ago, as if he really expected the world to stay the same forever. There are plenty of people who use this forum to vent how much has changed from when they moved to Austin and no one has a problem with what they've written. But your posts are full of venom, sarcasm and callous.

News flash... change is EVERYWHERE! Development and growth is not exclusive to just Austin. I have lived in the same city for almost 30 years and seen it change for better AND worse. But I, by no means, am trying to convince people NOT to move to the city....IT'S NOT MINE. And a city to one person is not the same to another person. So I don't try to SHOVE my opinions down anyone's throat. I give them BOTH sides and let them decide for themselves. THAT is what people are looking for when asking questions here.

The post from TerryDactyls is not even in the same realm as the overly obsessive and WHINY rants from scongress1234. They have stated their opinion and moved on like most normal folks would. They have listed what has changed since they moved here and that's that.

Scongress, you complain, complain and complain some more about people talking on the net (why sign on and subject yourself then), development and growth in the city (nothing you can do about it, it's everywhere), etc. I've read other member's responses to your posts about how "cranky" you are and "negative" and "grumpy", so there must be some truth in that. You've even gone so far as to apologize for it, so nothing that was said here was a stretch by any means.

scongress1234 wrote: "Only a healthy person can handle self-criticism."

Doesn't sound like he's taking criticism all that well, now does it.

I would imagine apologizing for being cranky is taking a spoonful of self-criticism. Again, I get to the point,which does not exactly endear one with folks. My old handle on here was socrates, and look what they did to that gadfly of Athens!

"Poor George...he caint heelp it...he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth!"

BTW, Miss Richards looked mighty fine as a young lass!

[MJinAustin]

Originally Posted by scongress1234

"Poor George...he caint heelp it...he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth!"

I thought the quote was that he was born with a silver foot in his mouth.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by scongress1234

And people will still keep coming and coming and coming........none having any conception of what went before, and how truly wonderful and
singular the city once was, so long ago......



Austin in the 80's

This is not Hamilton pool. When have you ever seen a canoe in Hamilton Pool? Or people diving off the cliff (it's very, very rare and a much longer fall than appears in the image .. also highly prohibited)

oh, and it's NOT Austin in the 80's. It's from an National Geographic article from 2007 --

Travel to Austin, Texas - National Geographic Adventure Magazine

The caption says Lake Travis, which it could be I guess (there are some coves similar to the image), but the distance between the banks look much more like some of the swimming holes along Barton Creek. Of course, it also looks photoshopped.

[scongress1234]

Originally Posted by atxcio

This is not Hamilton pool. When have you ever seen a canoe in Hamilton Pool? Or people diving off the cliff (it's very, very rare and a much longer fall than appears in the image .. also highly prohibited)

oh, and it's NOT Austin in the 80's. It's from an National Geographic article from 2007 --

Travel to Austin, Texas - National Geographic Adventure Magazine

The caption says Lake Travis, which it could be I guess (there are some coves similar to the image), but the distance between the banks look much more like some of the swimming holes along Barton Creek. Of course, it also looks photoshopped.

Always a spoilsport in the crowd! LOL! Actually, its from Starved Rock
state park in Illinois



...just trying to keep everyone on their toes here.
Glad to see someone finally point that out! HeeHee! Well, we had texas Horse
Lady going for awhile on that one.......thanks, atxcio, for pointing that out!
Nice to see someone has the time and energy to waste 10 minutes of ones life,
never to be reclaimed again, looking up links to pictures on here! I'll remember that next time
I'm on the toilet.

BTW, BAD National Geo for photoshopping! People mag I would expect, but NG? Next thing you know they'll superimpose Britney Spears head on
a naked tribeswoman(might do wonders for her career, whats left of it anyway)....LOL!