Will the "real" Austinites, please stand up? (Dallas: transplants, real estate)

[ATXIronHorse]

The local artsy places are fun and nice, but they typically don't create the real jobs. We need real companies who bring real economic prosperity. The government just needs to provide the infrastructure to support them.

The local businesses are not getting pushed out; they fail or prosper on their own merits or weaknesses. If their products and services are so good they will survive with competition. If they cannot survive they deserve to fail.

The "Keep Austin Weird" idiots, aka the no-growth idiots, (and yes they are morons) want government to regulate growth and decide who can do business. That failed with the Berlin wall. Didn't you get the memo?

[twange]

Originally Posted by ATXIronHorse

The "Keep Austin Weird" idiots, aka the no-growth idiots, (and yes they are morons) want government to regulate growth and decide who can do business. That failed with the Berlin wall. Didn't you get the memo?

The "Keep Austin Weird" and non-growth factions(NIMBY's) are not necessarily the same thing. KAW is indeed a campaign to promote and support local businesses but it's not really "anti-growth".

That's misleading.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by ATXIronHorse

The "Keep Austin Weird" idiots, aka the no-growth idiots, (and yes they are morons) want government to regulate growth and decide who can do business. That failed with the Berlin wall. Didn't you get the memo?

Well, then, I'm a moron, because I had a "Keep Austin Weird" bumper sticker from the guy who originally coined the phrase long ago. I actually know what he really meant (and means) by it, and it had nothing to do with business and everything to do with the spirit of the city, which was then, and still is, a little bit "weird" in that we realize that a fancy suit and car doesn't mean that you're successful (financially or otherwise) and that whimsy is at least as important to Austin as, if not more important than, "infrastructure" that is designed, as I said, to get the most people from Point A to Point B the fastest so that they don't have a clue what kind of city they're going through. Infrastructure is all well and good, and we do need to improve ours, but when you let it rule to the exclusion of everything else, you've lost everything worth having.

Just like I don't care to eat at McDonald's but at local restaurants where I can get to know the people and where the food is different, and maybe a little bit unusual, at each one (and that's whether I'm in Austin or traveling - what's the point in traveling, or moving for that matter, if where you're going is exactly the same as where you're coming from?), I don't care to live in a city where it doesn't really matter WHAT city I'm in because it's just like every other city. "Keep Austin Weird" means nothing more nor less than honoring and cherishing the distinctive things (not just art, either, though yard art of certain kinds qualifies) that make Austin unique, giving them the place they deserve in the priorities of our city, and not thinking that making Austin into another McDonald's-style city is progress. It's anything but, and trying to make it into that in the name of "progress" and "business" is heresy, in my book.

[austin-steve]

I think Austin has many special attributes which will remain permanent, even 30, 50, 100 years from now. Zilker Park, for example, will change but it won't go away. Barton Springs Rd. (restaurant row, future "condo row") is certainly changing, and that is not going to stop, regardless of who likes it or not. I'm not saying I like it, it's simply happening and can't be stopped due to a number of economic and location reasons. Austin, no matter what, will remain a State Capital with a flagship University (not many of those in the country to start with), a highly educated and diverse population with an abundance of recreational and social choices and a fairly tolerant and liberal core surrounded by more conservative suburbs and a mostly conservative state.

Those are unique ingredients that form and shape the experience of living in Austin.

But Austin's weirdness and/or uniqueness is measured in large part relative to the alternatives available for someone seeking the sort lifestyle and experience that Austin offers. As Austin changes, so does the rest of the nation and other cities. And as Austin compared favorably to alternative places to live in 1972, and 2007, so shall it in 2030 and 2050, because eveyplace else is changing as well.

Now, perhaps some of the truley disgusted and fed up Austin old timers will find someplace that is "the way Austin use to be", and move there. Then others will find out about it and follow. Then it will appear in some "best small town" list in Money Magazine. Then that place will start changing, much to the dismay and disapproval of those locals who would view their quaint little town as "being invaded" by Texans, while their local government welcomes the influx of a new tax base and jobs.

And the cycle continues...

[TexasHorseLady]

It's only inevitable if we decide to let it be. That's what "inevitable" too often means, that we've decided it must be and given up on the idea that we have any power to do anything.

Heck, put a unique statue in your front yard! Or, like some are doing, make your front yard into a beautiful vegetable garden (it's possible, you know - have you ever really looked at an okra flower?). Dress a little strange now and again. Eat ONLY at local restaurants, and seek out the local stores whenever possible. (Doesn't mean don't go to Walmart on occasion, just spread your wings and fly a little by shopping local) Wear a costume to Eeyore's - don't just go in your regular clothes and gawk. Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm and try the various veggies that you've never eaten when they're in season, or go to one of the farmer's markets regularly. Support local musicians by going and listening to them. Support your local weird!

If you do that kind of thing as regularly and determinedly as supporting some reasonable growth in infrastructure, Austin might stand a chance. It doesn't have to be either/or, but the weird has to be cherished and nurtured, because, like a flower or a puppy, it's vulnerable to the steamroller effect if no one stands up and says, "No!"

[mphillips101]

I can't get over the outrageous attitude. Everyone moved here at some stage and the persons prior can always say, oh what a shame it was blah blah better when x or y. Get over it, Austin is about the people as much as the place. I moved here from abroad and I think its great, but I can't get over the attitude.

[readymade]

The guy who coined the "Keep Austin Weird" phrase (Red Wassenich) wrote a really great book called (of course) "Keep Austin Weird." I loved it. It made me feel like the true spirit of Austin was still alive.

Go pick it up at Book People!

Here's a link to it at Amazon too: Amazon.com: Keep Austin Weird: A Guide to the Odd Side of Town: Red Wassenich, C. Thresher, Karen Pavelka: Books

[TexasHorseLady]

Red also has a website where one can learn about the individual and community weirdnesses of Austin, where it came from, who stole it to make it commercial (now, there's an analogy for you!), and other weird and wonderful things.

[Rainier2]

Austin is insanely crowded these days. Places like Lake Travis, Zilker, Pace Bend, Bull Creek can be a lot of times more aggrivating than relaxing because of so many people. Everywhere I go I see countless out-of-state license plates. Traffic is so bad now, I can only imagine how it's going to be in 5-10 years. I worry about water supply too. I personally probably won't ever live in Austin again (in city limits) as it's just too crowded.

[austin-steve]

According a economic presentation I attended last week by Residential Strategies, over 50% of Austinites have lived here less than 5 years. They also say Austin will continue to attract people for decades to come. The name "Austin" is known around the world (which couldn't be said 10 years ago), has a powerfully positive "brand identity", and people actually "aspire" to live here.

In other words, we have a potent combination of factors that few, if any other US cities can claim. Because of that, we will double in size by 2030.

Steve