Austin-- Gone But Not Forgotten...

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by Lady Jaye

Wow this is a cool thread!! I grew up in Austin, I think at the perfect time, the 80's!! So many things I remember as a we child!!

I grew up in the Hyde Park area, so I remember Hancock and Highland Mall vividly!!! I went to Robert E Lee elementary, and miss the grand ole stairs that used to comprise the original front!! I understand wheelchair accessible, but the school looks hideous now, ugh what did they do to my alma mater!!

Let's see, as far as eats go, I remember the Burger Chef that used to be across from Hancock!! That place was awesome!!! I remember the Mr Gatti's in Highland Mall, have loved that pizza since I was a wee one!! I remember the counter at the old Woolworth's store in downtown Austin. Also remember Picadilly's in downtown, that had that cool spiral staircase to the area upstairs!! Of course who could forget Wyatt's Cafeteria, while it may not have been real chicken fried steak, it was the best I ever ate!!! I miss it so!! Oh yeah, what was the name of the store that was next to HEB in Hancock, the one with the lunch counter and toy section downstairs, the one that became Bealls!

Speaking of Toy Stores, I remember all the glorious toy depts in every dept store my mom shopped at!!! Ahh the glory days for action figures, yes I was a tom boy!!! Still am I guess!! Ha ha ha. Woolworths, Joskes, Sears, Montgomery Wards, Dillards, when it was still in Hancock and of course before KB, there was the Toy Box!!

For entertainment I remember the Fox Theater on Airport where I saw Ghostbusters, the theater behind Capital Plaza where I saw Popeye, the theater at Highland Mall where I saw Return of the Jedi (opening day I might ad), the theater on Burnet Road, (where I saw a re-release of ROJ ha ha)!

Most important of all, I remember the good ole days, the days where Austin was truly unique and had a cool vibe to it!! Now, it's just full of yuppy scum and if I may take a page from Ghostbusters 2, their yuppy larva! Seeing all the development all around Austin makes me sick!! I remember taking day trips to all the little towns around Austin, such as Lampassas and Lockhart, and seeing so much green, now it's nothing but ugly strip malls!! It's hideous, concrete jungle at its worst! And don't get me started on the housing, just on the street I grew up on, 46th, there are several McMansions, monstrosities I call em!! Long gone is the beautiful and green Austin!!

Don't worry about keepin Austin Weird, it's long gone!!



Oh and yes, before I left Hyde Park because of the skyrocketting taxes, I too missed the airplanes going over. They used to welcome me in the morning as I woke up. We were right under the flight path!!

Thank you, Lady, for confirming my worst suspicions about Austin...I moved here three years ago, and I'm the one person out of a thousand that perceives how things "were" in a place just walking around....I recall walking down Riverside drive past the eateries, and getting a mental glimpse, looking down Lamar and such, at how slower and sweet things were way back before the entire metro was paved and concreted over with malls, Mcmansions, Superhighways and Big Box stores.......and became Dallas....

Believe me, it looks very hideous to me, and I wasn't even around to see how ambient and livable the Austin metro once was, even as recently as the 80's......if you read my posts, you prob have seen how much I yearn to just experience three days way back when in Older Austin.....If I could choose, it would be one day in the early 80's, one in the early 70's, and one in the late 60's....how wonderful it must have been......

[capcat]

I can understand pining for the Austin of the 60s and 70s, but not the 80s. Nothing special about the 80s, imo, except that everyone wanted to have an MBA, and we went boom and then bust. IIRC. The store in Hancock was called G.C. Murphy's, btw. But, the Austin of old still exists, if you know where to go and if you actually knew the Austin of old.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by capcat

I can understand pining for the Austin of the 60s and 70s, but not the 80s. Nothing special about the 80s, imo, except that everyone wanted to have an MBA, and we went boom and then bust. IIRC. The store in Hancock was called G.C. Murphy's, btw. But, the Austin of old still exists, if you know where to go and if you actually knew the Austin of old.

The cool thing about the late 80s here was that it was just so dead, because of the depressed economy. Traffic was nonexistent, going completely across town from the farthest NE point to the farthest SW was a 15 minute affair, max. It was incredibly cheap to live here ($150 rents near campus, $30K condos in NW Hills, $50K houses in Allandale), and UT was a breeze to get in to (if you could sign your name, you could become a longhorn!). Slacker culture was thriving.

However, outside of slacker-types and government jobs, there wasn't any opportunity for a career. As much as I enjoyed it back then, it wouldn't be possible for me to live here now without the growth.

[capcat]

Originally Posted by atxcio

The cool thing about the late 80s here was that it was just so dead, because of the depressed economy. Traffic was nonexistent, going completely across town from the farthest NE point to the farthest SW was a 15 minute affair, max. It was incredibly cheap to live here ($150 rents near campus, $30K condos in NW Hills, $50K houses in Allandale), and UT was a breeze to get in to (if you could sign your name, you could become a longhorn!). Slacker culture was thriving.

However, outside of slacker-types and government jobs, there wasn't any opportunity for a career. As much as I enjoyed it back then, it wouldn't be possible for me to live here now without the growth.

It was maybe $50,000 to live in the suburbs, but Allandale was in the 75,000 and up range back then (all the way up to maybe 115,000 or more). We bought our home in Allandale in 1983, and paid 76,000 for it. Believe me, I had looked and looked at the time, comparing it to Rosedale. We had just sold a house off of 1325 past IBM for $52,000. I do remember when MoPac was a breeze to get downtown, but Lamar has always been a mess during rush hour traffic. Driving south into town before we moved, from 1979-1981 I had to get up and out of the house pretty early to avoid the backup on FM 1325. I remember people waiting to leave work until around 6 pm in the afternoon to avoid traffic headed back north. Admittedly, these days I only wish rush hour ended by then.

[Cha Ching]

Originally Posted by capcat

I can understand pining for the Austin of the 60s and 70s, but not the 80s. Nothing special about the 80s, imo, except that everyone wanted to have an MBA, and we went boom and then bust. IIRC. The store in Hancock was called G.C. Murphy's, btw. But, the Austin of old still exists, if you know where to go and if you actually knew the Austin of old.

Yes, but the music scene was AMAZING. I wouldn't have traded my days in Austin then for anything in the world. But at the time I didn't truly appreciate them.

I tell people I grew up in Austin and they look at me so strangely. "you grew up there? Seriously? I thought everybody just MOVED there."

[LongTimeAustinite]

When I was a kid Villa Capri had a weekly coloring contest and the prize was a bike. The winner went on the Uncle Jay show to get their prize. I won a purple spider bike with a big bannana seat.

Anyone remember Aqua Fest when it was a Festival Beach? Rackley's Hardware on Congress, Oscar Snowdens, the lunch counter downstairs at Woolworth's on 6th and Congress? What about going to the Flat's out at Paleface?

[capcat]

I remember Aqua Festival as it was originally, Villa Capri, Uncle Jay and Packer Jack, Oscar Snowden's. I vaguely remember Rackley's, etc. but I didn't get downtown much so I can't say for sure.

I remember Scarbrough's downtown and their lunch counter/restaurant downstairs, though. Also Yaring's. They had a location downtown, but the one on Burnet Road at North Loop where Sue Patrick is now was a delight to the senses, walking in those glass-handled doors, greeted by the fragrances of the cosmetic counter.