Think Austin is weird? (Houston, Dallas: living in, restaurants, shops)

[scm53]

We aren't even in the running.

[CptnRn]

^^^ Probably nothing there that couldn't be found in Austin.

[Komeht]

Never understood the "weird" moniker in Austin - an almost completely conventional city. It skews a little younger and a very slightly more towards bohemian/creative class than uber straight laced Dallas (and even Houston, not a very weird city by West Coast standards, outpaces Austin on that score). I guess as compared to, IDK, Oklahoma City it's weird - but that's an exceptionally low bar.

Anyone who's spent any time at all in LA, SF, Oakland/Berserkeley, Portland or Seattle has to shrug their shoulder in bafflement at Austin's self described "weirdness" (oh wow - food trucks - how weird is that? - oh, you once had a sometimes homeless cross dressing beggar - so weird). If you google Austin Weird, or Keep Austin Weird - 9/10 images are proclamations of supposed weirdness with the 10th being a not very, if at all, out of the ordinary thing (graffiti, said dead sometimes homeless cross-dressing dude, food trucks. . .) And when you compare Austin to a truly weird place - like New Orleans, or the Conch Republic - the whole thing feels like a forced and utterly not-weird marketing ploy.

[Down Lo Ho]

The adjective "weird" is what the issue is here and what is "weird" to one person may not be so "weird" to another. Heck, what's weird to me might be quite conventional to you. Who knows?? While I agree it's not closest to the weirdest place I have ever been, however if I had to describe Austin in one word, I would say that Austin is "fun". There you go, "Keep Austin Fun"

[CptnRn]

There is no question when compared to the rest of Texas that to most Texans Austin seems weird. But I saw more weirdness in San Francisco on a one week vacation then I have seen in 30+ years of living in Austin.

[LiveUrban]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

There is no question when compared to the rest of Texas that to most Texans Austin seems weird. But I saw more weirdness in San Francisco on a one week vacation then I have seen in 30+ years of living in Austin.

Agreed! Austin is weird for someone coming from a conservative small town in Texas or a suburb like Sugar Land.

Many people here ride bicycles as a form of transportation. There are actual bike lanes. Many people are politically vocal and lean left. There are a lot of musicians and techies. There is an abundance of small businesses and unique shops/cafes/restaurants. Lots of homeless people. Many old hippies. A very active fitness culture. Lots of festivals involving music. Many eccentric people who are quirky and offbeat. People are generally accepting of atypical lifestyles and dress.

New Orleans is much more weirder in my opinion though. Such an odd, spooky city.

The West Coast is even weirder.. coming from a Texan standpoint

[Westerner92]

Wasn't the slogan started by local businesses promoting local business? It was a marketing ploy from the beginning capitalizing on the fact that Austin has a higher proportion of "alternative" lifestyles compared to most of middle America (which includes suburbs of major cities as well).

Austin isn't particularly unusual in content or prevalence of "alternative" culture compared to West Coast cities. What's unusual is that the "alternative" culture isn't confined to sections of the city, that it has a unique Texas twist, and how relaxed and unpretentious this aspect of the culture is.

[cBach]

I don't think the OP understands the weirdness that is Austin. In that Portland article, where are the normal people?

What you have in Portland is an area of far left liberals and some extremely far left liberals.

What you have in Austin is a small core of extremely far left liberals and a suburban core that increasingly gets conservative, to the point that three or four counties away are some of the most conservative in the country.

It is the mixing between the cultures that makes Austin weird. Here you have a cowboy driving an F-350 pickup next to a tattooed barista driving a Prius. This is what makes Austin weird, nowhere else do you have this mixing of very un-homogenous populations.

[LiveUrban]

Originally Posted by cBach

Here you have a cowboy driving an F-350 pickup next to a tattooed barista driving a Prius.

Both next to a granny ridin' a bicycle

[love roses]

I saw weirder people when I lived in Rice Village than I do in Austin.