Dave Grohl weighs in on Austin's gentrification (Dallas, Liberty: to rent, lawyers)

[TexasHorseLady]

Yes, I do remember life before those - quite enjoyed it. But I wasn't a college student except for a few years in the late 60's - I was working for UT, working for the State, working for Ginny's when it was new, working for law offices, raising a family and enjoying downtown and NOT living in Dallas or Houston. If I'd wanted to live in Dallas, I would have done the reasonable thing and stayed there. Instead, liking Austin, I didn't try to turn Dallas into Austin, I, amazingly enough, moved to Austin (even though jobs weren't anywhere near as readily available as they are now) and enjoyed it for what it was.

Lots of people did that. Lots of others, hearing from the former about how cool Austin was, moved here (or graduated and stayed here) and promptly tried to turn it into some other city. Never have understood that unless it's the old "it's not any good unless I pee on it and mark it as mine" way of thinking. Or feeling threatened if every place isn't just like every other place (they used to call that Ugly American syndrome decades ago when Americans would visit exotic foreign countries and complain about not having a McDonald's and talk about how everything was better wherever they came from and why didn't the people there change everything to match America rather than enjoying the place for what it was).

[ScoPro]

I do too, except for the awful traffic on 35 & MOPAC half the time.

[Austinite101]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

The irony of this entire thread - and I'm guessing at poster ages but also pretty confident at guesstimates - is that it follows the larger pattern that I have seen. That is the generations of Americans including the WWII generation, the baby boomers, and the GenXers that left the inner cities to rot in their suburban explorations, are the first to decry those that want to redevelop and re-imagine their discards.

Maybe if we had been more like Canada in not abandoning our cities and investing in infrastructure like mass transit (double the rate of US ridership) we would have an even more livable city now.

*Drops mic

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by Eastcoasting

Funny, Gen X is typically placed at birth from mid 1960s to the mid 1980's (I'm one) and to be honest I never thought of Gen X as abandoning cities The damage of white flight was pretty well wrapped up by the time the first Gen Xers were entering kindergarten.

Based on my experience I would say just about the opposite GenX were among the first waves to move back into cities in the 1980s after the urban sh*tshow of the 1970s had passed.

Just an aside but personally I see the great divide is between the Boomers (and Echo Boomers) and Gen X.

The census data I have seen and discussed on planning sites like PLANETIZEN seem to point to GenY as the ones to break from the previous generations. Driving less, riding transit more, biking more and choosing to live urban in greater numbers compared to the same age group just 10 years before. Big question amongst planners is how much this will change once they hit child-rearing years.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

"all of the cancers" = massive hyperbole and being out of touch with reality. I really think you should get out and meet some of these residents. They might not fit your stereotypes:

You have morphed negative behaviors into people. You took behaviors and made them applicable to 100% of people. Never said that.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

That is the generations of Americans including the WWII generation, the baby boomers, and the GenXers that left the inner cities to rot in their suburban explorations, are the first to decry those that want to redevelop and re-imagine their discards.

Who said anything about "discards"? Tearing down AWH to build a bank building wasn't because it was a "discard". Replacing the original Antone's with a parking garage wasn't because it was a "discard". If anything, it is Austinites you are so busy generalizing about that are the ones that WANT to preserve the unique culture here.

Nice strawman, however.

[petro]

Originally Posted by scm53

Who said anything about "discards"? Tearing down AWH to build a bank building wasn't because it was a "discard". Replacing the original Antone's with a parking garage wasn't because it was a "discard". If anything, it is Austinites you are so busy generalizing about that are the ones that WANT to preserve the unique culture here.

Nice strawman, however.

You keep bringing up Antone's, which is confusing to me. They have moved many times over the years and have have been bought/sold several times—it's a business. Their last move out to east riverside was a big mistake and they have said so much. Bars sales (where thy make their money) dropped massively (something like 30%) because everyone had to drive out there and people weren't drinking since they had to get back in their cars. They have closed and they are looking for a new location back downtown.

I could mourn the loss of Emo's downtown, but what would be the point? They moved so they could bring in larger acts. That was a business decision they made. Do I love the new location/venue? No. So, now I see the smaller shows that I normally would have seen at Emo's at other locations in Austin, and that's perfectly fine. Austin isn't under a bell jar to be preserved in some sort of stasis. It will continue to evolve and change whether we like it or not. I don't suddenly stop seeing bands I like because a music venue closed and/or moved.

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by scm53

Who said anything about "discards"? Tearing down AWH to build a bank building wasn't because it was a "discard". Replacing the original Antone's with a parking garage wasn't because it was a "discard". If anything, it is Austinites you are so busy generalizing about that are the ones that WANT to preserve the unique culture here.

Nice strawman, however.

AWH, I've just been reading, was it's own worst enemy:

Despite its successes, the Armadillo always struggled financially. The addition of the Armadillo Beer Garden in 1972 and the subsequent establishment of food service were both bids to generate positive cash flow. However, the financial difficulties continued. In an interview for the 2010 book Weird City, Eddie Wilson remarked:

"People don’t remember this part: the months and months of drudgery. People talk about the Armadillo like it was a huge success, but there were months where hardly anyone showed up. After the first night when no one really came I ended up crying myself to sleep up on stage."

Antone's can find another spot just like Dog & Duck is doing and many others have already done.

And what about all of those surface level parking lots downtown that are not thankfully disappearing?
I'd venture to guess they once had businesses, but the land had such little value at one point in time they were bulldozed. Now they are adding parking spaces to those lots along with many thousands of square feet of commercial and residential.

When you have prime DT space that is being utilized as something akin to SouthPark Meadows that is a sign that it was considered a discard. Thankfully we are in the process of a market correction.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by petro

You keep bringing up Antone's, which is confusing to me. They have moved many times over the years and have have been bought/sold several times—it's a business. Their last move out to east riverside was a big mistake and they have said so much. Bars sales (where thy make their money) dropped massively (something like 30%) because everyone had to drive out there and people weren't drinking since they had to get back in their cars. They have closed and they are looking for a new location back downtown.

I thought businesses moved, no problem - at least that's what you were selling. Guess not, if the last move of Antone's was such a disaster. And none of the locations matched the original on Sixth - because it was in Sixth. They will never be back.

The mistake you make is in thinking "it's a business". Some are, some aren't. The fact CenTex Nissan moved and the site is now Perla's is a plus. But some are parts of the warp and wove of a city. AWH was. Liberty Lunch was. Las Manitas was. And every single one is gone - not replaced. Some soulless, amorphous glass/steel/brick monument now stands where they did. Part of the jettisoning of the unique culture of Austin, in a mad rush for gentrification, ostentatiousness, and materialism.

OBTW - your fellow traveler was busy patting himself on the back about how Gen X were saving "discards", unlike those indifferent Boomers. For the record, AWH was a discarded National Guard armory, and Liberty Lunch was a discarded Calcesieu lumber yard - both repurposed by those evil Boomers.

[verybadgnome]

I wonder if Dave Grohl knows about the East Austin Studio Tour, something that did not exist in the nostalgic days of yore:

East Austin Studio Tour