Rank the Austin metro areas in "weirdness"......give it a try! (Round Rock: apartment, condo)

[inthecut]

Obviously the Austin metro is not "Uniformly Wierd"..........while being one of the most creative cities, some areas are far more iconoclastic than others...For example, the northwest city areas dominated by mega-apartment sprawl and suburban-type retail and big-box most assuredly are not in the creative/weird category of the central city.....
What would you consider the most and least representative examples of "Austin Weirdness" per its' metro regions?

Don't be shy.....and let your freak flag fly....

[future_itisnow]

from the time i have spent in Austin thus far I would say:

Most (and I think this is a good thing btw): Travis Heights/SoCo
Least: Round Rock or 6th Street

[inthecut]

Interesting you mention 6th as "least representative"......when you think of it, quite true........I don't think it EVER was representative of Austin.......most all the formative music sites are/were off that strip, sometimes FAR off it....even today, think of Threadgills, Continental Club, and ACL/Cactus Cafe on UT's campus..........and even the Armadillo wasn't on 6th in the seventies, being in south austin......
I think it a great misnomer that 6th is identified with Austin by so many visitors, as it essentially is a tourist trap, pandering to the same with dueling piano bars, cigar rolling windows, awful pizza slice windows, T-shirt/Head Shops/Liquor Stores, and 17 different imitations of SRV........its only saving grace is on the eastern flank/Red River disc., where a vital INDY/Metal/Hard Edged scene thrives....

Armadillo World headquarters is gone, but this plaque at least commemorates it......
Public Domain/Wiki



For those interested, this small high-rise office building stands on the former grounds of the "dillo", and was completed only 3 years after the dillo closed in 1980.
http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=...-austin-tx-usa

[TexasHorseLady]

This puts me in mind of the people who categorize all folks living rural or in a small town as conservative and uneducated. However, if you actually TALK to the people living in these areas and get to know them, you'll find a large number of doctors, lawyers, engineers, IT types (telecommuting), and so forth and so on.

Just as, if you actually get to know the folks in the areas some designate as "not weird", you'll find more Austin weirdness than you might otherwise think. It's just a comfortable with itself weirdness, rather than a "hey, look at me and how weird I am!" weirdness.

I do agree that 6th Street is the Anti-Austin and have no idea how it came to be some sort of symbol of Austin.

[ATX Homeboy]

Yeah, I gotta agree. Austin Weirdness is more about the people and less about the places. Or at least it was in the 70's and 80's.

I hate those little stickers and shirts that say keep austin weird. There was a time once when that just wasn't necessary. Today, however, you got people moving DT or near other areas like The Backyard and it destroys city icons of culture. People are complaining about too much noise coming from a music bar they decided to live next door to. That is their own fault. Kinda like those people who live in suburban sprawl and complain that Wiley Coyote is eating their cats/dogs. I know let's all cry.

But to answer your OP. The Drag (certain parts), South Congress, South First, Various parts of Lamar N & S, and Parts of Burnet Rd.

Please don't say Round Rock, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Kyle/Buda, Dripping, etc. because they aren't part of Austin even though Austin has grown toward those areas. Let's keep it real.

[brattpowered]

I'm going to have to give a shout-out here for lower Burnet Road. South Congress, Clarksville, Hyde Park and Travis Heights still have some weirdness but have become caricatures of themselves. Lower Burnet has been the least touched of the old-Austin central neighborhoods, and although it is less "weird" than other areas were at their peak, it still holds onto a lot of its old character. What comes to mind are the thrift stores, Pit BBQ, Omelettry, Top Notch, the knife sharpist and the Out of the Past junk shop.

However, Hey Cupcake and a new mixed use condo/storefront building have arrived as of late so lets see how much integrity the neighborhood is able to hold on to.

Honorable mention to the North Loop strip/Airport Blvd area.

[Raskolnikov]

I've gotta agree with Brattpowered. Lower Burnet, Allandale area, parts of Lamar have the old school feeling. And I agree that those other neighborhoods associated with old Austin has become too elite. South Congress is great but in a "Santa Monica meets Texas" way. I like it, but it's not "weird."

[ILikeSmartHippies]

what do you even mean by "weird" ?? Do you mean eclectic? or unique??

globalization has taken it's toll on the uniqueness of the world's regions.

[love roses]

Originally Posted by ATX Homeboy

Yeah, I gotta agree. Austin Weirdness is more about the people and less about the places. Or at least it was in the 70's and 80's.

I hate those little stickers and shirts that say keep austin weird. There was a time once when that just wasn't necessary. Today, however, you got people moving DT or near other areas like The Backyard and it destroys city icons of culture. People are complaining about too much noise coming from a music bar they decided to live next door to. That is their own fault. Kinda like those people who live in suburban sprawl and complain that Wiley Coyote is eating their cats/dogs. I know let's all cry.

But to answer your OP. The Drag (certain parts), South Congress, South First, Various parts of Lamar N & S, and Parts of Burnet Rd.

Please don't say Round Rock, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Kyle/Buda, Dripping, etc. because they aren't part of Austin even though Austin has grown toward those areas. Let's keep it real.

I'll stay out of it but I will say this...It's a little hard to when there are so many ex-Austinites living or moving out those directions and also some of the Austiny things moving out this way. Even some places in Georgetown have Amy's Ice Cream.

[TexasHorseLady]

Think about old Austin weirdness is, when you think it's disappeared, what's happened is it's just moved somewhere you don't expect and sort of gone into hiding again from the anti-weirds. It takes time, and patience, and familiarity with what it is in the first place, and sometimes a promise not to reveal the secret, to find it.