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Austin's core is good compared to some in the south but it's no way near as complete as NOLA. NOLA doesn't need an influx of new residents to have a built up core as its core has been built up for 200 years. That's why NOLA'S core feels more urban. There's thinks to do spreading out in multiple directions around downtown.
Austin has things to do too, but it's sporadic.
I think comments here are very familiar with downtown but sleep on the rest of the city.
Even Uptown, which is right across from the quarter is slept on here. People saying that nightlife in NOLA is one dimensional clearly spend all their time on Bourbon.
The nightlife in The quarter is charmingly a NOLA brand but venturing out into the surrounding neighborhoods you find similar scenes to those in Atlanta, Houston, Dallas etc.
And Idk why people think locals don't avail themselves of the nightlife around the core. I will grant you that the majority of people on Bourbon are visitors, but to say nightlife in NOLA is relegated to Bourbon is not knowing NOLA very well.
FYI, I consider areas like Mid city, Warehouse District, Marigny, Tulane... As NOLA'S core. I would even add the garden district for its popular restaurants and Irish Channel for its industrial feel. For the same reason I consider areas like Bishop Arts, Deep Ellum, Montrose, Houston Heights etc as core neighborhoods.
Taking the trolley down St Charles is usually a pain, but try the one along Canal and you will see the uninterrupted charm of the live, work and play neighborhoods that I'm taking about.
I wouldn't consider Tulane and upriver neighborhoods that far to be the core necessarily. You will also see that dynamic along St. Charles, I was one of those people.
I'm still struggling to understand your point. The live/work qualities of New Orleans aren't automatic due to lack of growth and being an older city? What is a live/work factor anyway? Is this factor automatic in Austin due to it being recent growth?
They seem to have similar downtown populations.
Most older cities are going to a have more mature urban fabric; they were built at a time when "live/work/play" was just the way cities were built and not as a gimmick. So compared to most other any other Southern city in particular, NOLA will automatically win there. Austin, though, is an outlier with a downtown economic boom that seemingly matches its downtown residential boom. The jobs and residences skew towards the more affluent of course, but the growth on both fronts in downtown Austin is something to see. So a comparison with Austin on the live/work front isn't something I think is a slam-dunk in NOLA's favor simply on the basis of age.
Most older cities are going to a have more mature urban fabric; they were built at a time when "live/work/play" was just the way cities were built and not as a gimmick. So compared to most other any other Southern city in particular, NOLA will automatically win there. Austin, though, is an outlier with a downtown economic boom that seemingly matches its downtown residential boom. The jobs and residences skew towards the more affluent of course, but the growth on both fronts in downtown Austin is something to see. So a comparison with Austin on the live/work front isn't something I think is a slam-dunk in NOLA's favor simply on the basis of age.
I agree that Austin has had both an economic and Residential boom downtown, unlike places like Dallas and Houston that have been growing in population downtown but not so much seeing an economic boom downtown. I give you that. But where age ways heavily in NOLAs favor is the surrounding areas have been built out for so long the entertainment / nightlife options have been engrained for many years that the volume of options are not similar.
Comparing Austin to the other Texas cities you can easily tell that Austin is further ahead than the others by a decade or two. The same way you get the feel that NOLA is ahead by a good bit. I was in nola two weeks ago and the nighttime activity in the neighboring areas around downtown was off the sorry you don't usually see in the south. I'm not saying that IN downtown Austin that there are no spots that you see activity at night, but outside of downtown Austin that nighttime activity doesn't bleed that far.
Hotels too add a lot to nightlife. Downtown Austin most probably has more hotels than Downtown Nola because downtown nola is tiny, but the number of hotels in the nearby neighborhoods in nola sets it apart. And because it's so compact you can easily walk around. NOLA's core to me is just more complete because it has a built core surrounded by aged neighborhoods.
I agree that Austin has had both an economic and Residential boom downtown, unlike places like Dallas and Houston that have been growing in population downtown but not so much seeing an economic boom downtown. I give you that. But where age ways heavily in NOLAs favor is the surrounding areas have been built out for so long the entertainment / nightlife options have been engrained for many years that the volume of options are not similar.
Comparing Austin to the other Texas cities you can easily tell that Austin is further ahead than the others by a decade or two. The same way you get the feel that NOLA is ahead by a good bit. I was in nola two weeks ago and the nighttime activity in the neighboring areas around downtown was off the sorry you don't usually see in the south. I'm not saying that IN downtown Austin that there are no spots that you see activity at night, but outside of downtown Austin that nighttime activity doesn't bleed that far.
Hotels too add a lot to nightlife. Downtown Austin most probably has more hotels than Downtown Nola because downtown nola is tiny, but the number of hotels in the nearby neighborhoods in nola sets it apart. And because it's so compact you can easily walk around. NOLA's core to me is just more complete because it has a built core surrounded by aged neighborhoods.
All in all, I agree with you that NOLA's urban fabric is more mature inside AND outside of downtown. And NOLA is tops for nightlife in the South and I stated this thread should have excluded it. I've experienced the nightlife in the FQ as well as surrounding neighborhoods and it simply stands apart on that basis. I just wanted to give Austin the props it was due with respect to adding jobs and residential development downtown.
I agree that Austin has had both an economic and Residential boom downtown, unlike places like Dallas and Houston that have been growing in population downtown but not so much seeing an economic boom downtown. I give you that. But where age ways heavily in NOLAs favor is the surrounding areas have been built out for so long the entertainment / nightlife options have been engrained for many years that the volume of options are not similar.
Comparing Austin to the other Texas cities you can easily tell that Austin is further ahead than the others by a decade or two. The same way you get the feel that NOLA is ahead by a good bit. I was in nola two weeks ago and the nighttime activity in the neighboring areas around downtown was off the sorry you don't usually see in the south. I'm not saying that IN downtown Austin that there are no spots that you see activity at night, but outside of downtown Austin that nighttime activity doesn't bleed that far.
Hotels too add a lot to nightlife. Downtown Austin most probably has more hotels than Downtown Nola because downtown nola is tiny, but the number of hotels in the nearby neighborhoods in nola sets it apart. And because it's so compact you can easily walk around. NOLA's core to me is just more complete because it has a built core surrounded by aged neighborhoods.
To be clear, I wasn't suggesting that Austin's nighttime activity matches New Orleans. My point is that most of that activity in New Orleans is tourism, and once you've had enough of Bourbon Street I think Austin has more variety of local-oriented nightlife. Like I'd take Rainey St or Red River over Frenchman St, for example. New Orleans is an amazing, one-of-a-kind city, though.
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