Has Austin become homogenized? (Atlanta, Dayton: spring break, neighborhoods, good schools)

[senor_jt]

Originally Posted by hound 109

[...]

I bet 3/4ths of the people who've moved here haven't heard of Doug Sahm.... haven't had a CFS (or knows what this stands for) or had a longneck at Dry Creek.....their loss.

7 months in "relo" here, reporting guilty as charged! Thanks for the Google search terms, neighbor. I still don't know what CFS stands for -- a couple entries on the first page of results could fit my evolving picture of Austin...

Now, how many of those old, quirky, think-for-themselves Austin types will be checking out the Austin Asian Film Festival this weekend? Or does that count as a frou-frou import and serve as an example of a homogenizing event?

I'm still learning the flavors of this town.

ps... wait. Chicken fried stake?! This place is hell on those of us with already high blood pressure!

[ElectroPlumber]

The more new people that come in to a town, the less desirable it becomes. It's obvious why--the things that made the town desirable in the first place disappear as new people come in who are not in tune with why the town was once desirable. They think they want the attributes of the town, but really just want to live like they did where they came from.

It will happen to any town that people perceive as being "cool". Those people will move there and then the town is not "cool" anymore. I think there is a similar principle in quantum physics.

[inthecut]

I think you mean the critical mass of Quantum Physics...either the energy level is hit, or ir is not. Indeed, same principle in the parabola of a city becoming cool, being cool, and eclipsing/losing cool.

The energy starts slowly, gains pace rapidly at midpoint, and flames out after saturation...our slowly was the 80's, our midpoint was the late 80's-early 90's, and our jump-the-shark flame out eclipsing of cool is happening right now.

In 5-10 years the overriding persona in the Austin metro will be far closer to the more conservative, family, corporate-orientated suburbs, than the older, established city areas, which will become a smaller and smaller loci of "iconoclastic eclectica"........

Perhaps even the center will become family-friendly ala the making over of Times Square and Ft.Lauderdale's strip......if they can disney-fy TS, they can surely exorcise the college frat/mardi gras viber of 6th st. and environs....

At that point the metro will be antiseptic from hub to spoke, everywhere dense....

[love roses]

I'll give native Austinites more credit than that....I think they'd draw the line at Disneyfication

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by love roses

I'll give native Austinites more credit than that....I think they'd draw the line at Disneyfication

Don't be surprised if they gentrify 6th, and re-make Guadalupe as the college strip it once was, before 6th ecliped it, like the vegas strip eclipsed freemont st/DT in vegas......they pretty much did that to Duvall st. in Key West, which was once rowdy, but now confined to 118 illiterations of out-of-area folks idea of what a "Jimmy Buffet" type bar should be in Key West(and in the annals of life imitating art imitating life even Jimmy Buffet has his own restaurant parodying himself in KW, where he can never been seen except from the soundtrack/tapeloop playing all his "hits")......

Look for 6th to be an upscale adult entertainment(in the sense of mature, not porn)/live theater/art district, centering on its' confluence with Congress, and radiating out from the same, especially as Austin ages in place(the vast majority of new young residents are here permanently, and Austin will age with them, transforming neighorhoods/streets in their wake).......

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by inthecut

I wonder if they even go to the clubs/concerts.....they prob stay home in the burbs and have potluck parties....

Is that meant to be a slam? When you have kids that's what you do because babysitters are expensive. When we lived here in '99 and were sans children we used to go out.

[love roses]

That's so true...I would LOVE to go out almost as much as I did before the kid, but it's not really easy to find a good sitter

[capcat]

Originally Posted by inthecut

Don't be surprised if they gentrify 6th, and re-make Guadalupe as the college strip it once was...
Look for 6th to be an upscale adult entertainment(in the sense of mature, not porn)/live theater/art district, centering on its' confluence with Congress, and radiating out from the same, especially as Austin ages in place(the vast majority of new young residents are here permanently, and Austin will age with them, transforming neighorhoods/streets in their wake).......

Not sure if it's news to you or not, but what you predict will happen to 6th street would be a return to the way it was after it was "gentrified" in the 1980s.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by capcat

Not sure if it's news to you or not, but what you predict will happen to 6th street would be a return to the way it was after it was "gentrified" in the 1980s.

You know, I tried to get historical info on 6th, but, short of finding out its old name was Cedar St., hardly anything exists on the web. A side issue is that Austin History is very little emphasized, and, I venture to say, very little seems to be written/recorded about the same. Search "Old Austin" on Google, and you'll find nothing whatsoever, while googling most cities prefixing old trigggers many pics.

It would be interesting to do a 100 year pictorial on 6th(Cedar) st., and show how it has changed, and if, indeed, it was for a time gentrified in the 80's, before it became frat row, with pizza slice/t-shirt shops/rooftop bars with 200 college kids and DJ's/dueling piano-sing a long bars.........

Anyone know if/where on the web any substantial history of Austin is?
Best I ever came up with would be info/pics on the old Armadillo World Headquarters and Austin City Limits on U of T campus...

[capcat]

ITC, I suggest visiting the Austin History Center in person if, indeed, you are interested in the history of Austin.