Alamo Drafthouse - Circle C!! (Austin, Allen: mortgage, houses, schools)

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by llkltk

I totally agree with you Steve. Any idea of where the new P-Terry's is going?

Near William Cannon and Mopac I heard. I think in an existing establishment that isn't doing so well, but I can't remember which one.

[Lillibelle]

Here's another yellow dog Democrat Circle C resident who's one of the Alamo's biggest fans. Woohoo!

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by llkltk

What does an Obama sticker have to do with the Drafthouse? Are you saying conservatives don't go to the Alamo?

Read back up thread. The person called Circle C an enclave of Republicans. My point is that is a gross generalization, there are plenty of nonrepublicans living down here.

[llkltk]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Near William Cannon and Mopac I heard. I think in an existing establishment that isn't doing so well, but I can't remember which one.

Ahhh, it might be going in the old Willy O's that closed down.

[Athex]

I am glad that the Alamodrafthouse is coming to SW Austin! This is going to really increase the desireability of the neighborhood in my opinion, one of the biggest problems previously with SW Austin was the lack of retail, but at least that is slowly changing!

[camermom]

Actually it is going in where the Long John Silvers/A & W was.

[llkltk]

Thanks camermom, I forgot about that location. It makes sense since that is a drive through.

Athex, we are lacking retail. Central Austinites like to call it sprawl, but I'm happy about it. SW Austin seems to be doing it the right way.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

And we're getting a P-Terry's in SW Austin too.

I think all of us funky, cool central Austinites from the 1980s had our funkiness temporarily interrupted by offspring. I like Central Austin, but with two teenage girls, it's suburban living and a minivan all the way. And the HEB at Circle C is the best in town for grocery shopping, especially compared to the HEB at Oltorf/SoCo.

It was the birth of our second, who was born at home in the corner bedroom of our house on Newning Street in Travis Heights, that prompted our migration toward the dark side, and evil suburban living in uncool, uninspired South and SW Austin homes.

We do have a mental red X on the calendar for 6 years from now when we'll be semi-retired empty nesters in our mid 50s. And we'd love to be back in the '04 in a charming old house with hardwoods, and once again walk to places we enjoy. But right now, being a Mom and Dad is priority, and we'll be happy partons of the new Draft House, P-Terry's, and we've already eaten at Chuey's several times.

Steve

And now I'm wondering how it was that all of us funky, cool central Austinites from the 1970's and 1980's (I had kids in both decades) managed to raise our teenagers in Central Austin with no problem. Including having a daughter attending the Waldorf School 20 minutes away in Oak Hill. It was the horses that finally prompted the move out of Central Austin (wouldn't fit on the terraced lot overlooking the Greenbelt, darn it!).

[Raskolnikov]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

And now I'm wondering how it was that all of us funky, cool central Austinites from the 1970's and 1980's (I had kids in both decades) managed to raise our teenagers in Central Austin with no problem. Including having a daughter attending the Waldorf School 20 minutes away in Oak Hill. It was the horses that finally prompted the move out of Central Austin (wouldn't fit on the terraced lot overlooking the Greenbelt, darn it!).

I think Austin was a different town then, and the central areas of Austin were more family friendly. To be honest, the biggest deterrent for having a family in a central Austin neighborhood is the hipster factor, and the amount of 20-30 year old renters who have taken over the neighborhoods. That, and the upwardly mobile people in their 30s who haven't had any kids-- and either never will (too much of a nuisance and gets in the way of career) or have just had one kid and that's it. To me, this crowd is so anal about making sure they have perfect lives (Yoga, swimming, massages, visits to spas, holistic lifestyle, organic grocery shopping, riding a bike everywhere, driving a hybrid, having the most stylish clothes and furniture from the expensive urban elitist furniture places) and a child would really shatter all the perfect order and harmony in their lives. And having neighbors with loud messy unruly kids would really crimp their style. But seriously, when I think about places like Clarksville... in the 1940s, they were probably full of kids. Now, driving through there reminds me of the book 'Children of Men'... a world made for sophistication and adults who like to drink wine on the porch while remodeling their bungalow for the 3rd time. The investment they have made is too expensive and time consuming to allow kids to mess it all up. (I know someone will mention Mathews Elementary but that school has few kids from right around there.)

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

And now I'm wondering how it was that all of us funky, cool central Austinites from the 1970's and 1980's (I had kids in both decades) managed to raise our teenagers in Central Austin with no problem. Including having a daughter attending the Waldorf School 20 minutes away in Oak Hill. It was the horses that finally prompted the move out of Central Austin (wouldn't fit on the terraced lot overlooking the Greenbelt, darn it!).

I know, I know. And my parents raised me and my brother in a 900 square foot home with no shower or tub in the master, and they owned that home for 30 years and never thought about their house value, or moving, nor did they worry or wonder if our schools were any good, or care that we rode our bikes 10 miles into the canyon as 8 year olds, or disappeared for entire weekends as 14 year olds, etc. In short, they were not neurotic like todays parents (me included) and pretty much let us be kids, for better or worse.

I think Rasko hit the nail on the head. Those neighborhoods are different nowadays. I love Travis Heights, Barton Hills, Hyde Park - and I know families that do live there, but they all send their kids to private school and drive to Circle C for trick or treat on Halloween night. Even in the 1990s when we lived in Travis Heights, there were very few kids for trick or treat, but there were a lot of us at Little Stacy Pool with a 2 year old mid-afternoon on a hot summer day.

As a side note, I knew South Austin died, as I knew it, in 1996 when we moved to Cherry Creek. I set our old couch out on Newning street for a scavenger, or some poor college kids to take. When I returned home that afternoon, it was still there. Hmmm.

Next day, a Saturday...still there. Hmmm. I made a cardboard sign with a black magic marker in big letters saying "TAKE ME - FREE", figuring people must just be getting shy and unsure about the free couch rules.

Sunday night, still there. {scratches head} I loaded it in my truck and took it to St. Vincent on SoCo the next morning. They rejected it because of a small tear on one of the arm rests - this perfectly good couch that just days before was in my home.

So I drove it to the dump. For shame. "What happened to South Austin?", I thought? Rasko's people started moving in, that's what.