How much longer does Austin have? (Houston, Dallas: elementary school, Whole Foods, horse)

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by Hyena

Change does not equate to destroy, except in small minds.

The only thing constant in life is change, when you stop evolving, that's called death.

The only thing that really threatens Austin is the "me, me, me - all mine" attitude epitomized by sentiments quoted above.

There's change, and then there's change. Some change is good, but change for change's sake is not.

And you're confused - those who want to remake Austin into their own image or the image of where they came from no matter WHAT those there before them think are the ones that have the "me, me, me - all mine" attitude.

[Hyena]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

There's change, and then there's change. Some change is good, but change for change's sake is not.

And you're confused - those who want to remake Austin into their own image or the image of where they came from no matter WHAT those there before them think are the ones that have the "me, me, me - all mine" attitude.

Which has exactly what to do with supporting a great little restaurant?

Oh yeah. Making sure that nobody else knows so it goes out of business and dies.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by Hyena

Which has exactly what to do with supporting a great little restaurant?

Oh yeah. Making sure that nobody else knows so it goes out of business and dies.

Nope, that's not how it works all too often. If a great little restaurant becomes "in", all too often it gets too much business too soon and can't handle it and either the quality of the food and/or the service plummets or it grows too fast and then dies.

Or somebody decides they crave the land it is on to build something "better" (like a Marriott, say?) and runs it out and builds Anywhere USA. Which is what's happening to Austin. Sad to see if happen to somewhere else that is still undiscovered, is all.

[homeinatx]

Everyone's experience will be different. Here's mine. I arrived in Austin in 2001 in my early 30s. I recognize now that that time was probably a low point in Austin's history. I hated it. Frankly, I thought Austin sucked donkey balls and not in any erotic or interesting fashion. It was shortly after the dot.com bust. Downtown was largely a collection of weed strewn parking lots with an adolescent strip - dirty sixth. There was the shell of the Intel building. South Congress was cheap and unattractive hookers, Rainey Street a neighborhood of dilapidated houses, East Austin an impoverished legacy of Jim Crow, south Lamar - all auto dealers. The cheap food was bad, the expensive food worse. The much vaunted music scene, long gone - live music mostly cover bands on dirty sixth. It was impossible to find a good cocktail that wasn't a margarita. There was no visual arts scene - no East Austin arts tour. And Austin did not feel to me like some undiscovered gem. It felt like small and slightly depressing city Anywhere: Omaha, Nebraska with worse architecture and better weather, a more conservative Madison, Wisconsin, Adelaide, Australia without the wine, much more like Eugene, Oregon than Portland: the Drag an anemic copy of Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. Austin was dumpy, smug and provincial, and incredibly overhyped. I could go on about the tedium of the place. The only things I liked were the warm-weather and the natural environs.

Fast forward 15 years, the warm weather and the natural environs are still here, and it feels to me anyway so much more distinctive. There is now great local cuisine, many more and better live music venues, and a much stronger sense of place. The new boardwalk is a magnificent extension to the hike and bike trail. I love that you can now stand up paddle in Town/Ladybird lake. Sure there are problems. It was a fairly nasty racist city for black people in 2001, and while maybe slightly better now, is still not great. Housing costs are very high especially for what you get, and traffic has become significantly worse. I have lived in many places in a few countries: Sydney, Johannesburg, London, New York and Chicago. Austin in 2001 and now is nothing like any of them, and nor should it be. In 2001, Austin was pretty crap, I find it much better now. I suspect its best days are still to come.

[TexasHorseLady]

Yes, everyone's experience is different. For example, we lived just off South Lamar from 1984 until 1996, and still own the house that we lived in then and spend a fair amount of time in that area, and at the time we lived there, I could walk to Whole Foods, then Sun Harvest when Whole Foods moved to 6th Street, to the store that is now Book People, to Half Price Books, to restaurants, to Whole Earth Provision, to other shopping, and I can remember 1 car dealership at Bluebonnet and South Lamar in the entire strip from downtown to Ben White. There were some convenient repair shops which are no longer there, but no dealerships. And what's been done surrounding the Broken Spoke (also an easy walk or crawl, depending) is an abomination. Just waiting for those who moved in there to start complaining about the music.

Rainey Street was the place where the artists that made Austin interesting could live and still be close to work - a vibrant community even if not a financially wealthy one - a different kind of wealth, a less visible one. To see that as just "a neighborhood of dilapidated houses" is a viewpoint that was part of the problem.

[Hyena]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Yes, everyone's experience is different. For example, we lived just off South Lamar from 1984 until 1996, and still own the house that we lived in then and spend a fair amount of time in that area, and at the time we lived there, I could walk to Whole Foods, then Sun Harvest when Whole Foods moved to 6th Street, to the store that is now Book People, to Half Price Books, to restaurants, to Whole Earth Provision, to other shopping, and I can remember 1 car dealership at Bluebonnet and South Lamar in the entire strip from downtown to Ben White. There were some convenient repair shops which are no longer there, but no dealerships. And what's been done surrounding the Broken Spoke (also an easy walk or crawl, depending) is an abomination. Just waiting for those who moved in there to start complaining about the music.

Rainey Street was the place where the artists that made Austin interesting could live and still be close to work - a vibrant community even if not a financially wealthy one - a different kind of wealth, a less visible one. To see that as just "a neighborhood of dilapidated houses" is a viewpoint that was part of the problem.

Ah yes. The shrivel up and die viewpoint.

is that why you fled to the boonies?

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by Hyena

Ah yes. The shrivel up and die viewpoint.

is that why you fled to the boonies?

Didn't flee - in fact, for quite a few years before we turned the house into a rental we had a city house and a country house, my husband's business was in Austin (which meant he was there 7 days a week, being the owner, and I was there almost as much), we shop in Austin, I work in Austin (he's retired now). My horses wouldn't fit on our lot five minutes from downtown is why we moved.

Tell me, how long have you lived in Austin and what's your vision for the city?

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by Hyena

Ah yes. The shrivel up and die viewpoint.

is that why you fled to the boonies?

Hyena,you have to understand that some Texans are very nativist and feel as though some transplants move here and act as though the place doesn't belong to the natives (which they're kinda right) and can be changed just how they see fit. That is their impression. Even some transplants who move here and adapt to the culture think the same way. They might see Texas as different and almost as a shelter from the rest of the county (and to a larger extent the world) because the rest of the country and the world has gotten crowded, expensive and a giant rat race full of people who don't say howdy. Texans can be very extroverted friendly people who are proud of their culture and their impression of a transplant (which is erroneous) is that of an introverted, smarmy yuppie who has a vision for the city to be some corporate, trendy expensive mess for younger people and cares two diddlies about Texas culture. Of course it's silly but that is the gist of what I've gathered are the transplant fears from nativist people I know from Austin. I think it's all overblown and it reminds me of the bickering my is parents did when a Starbucks was proposed in their small town outside of Houston. Growth is inevitable, I welcome it but what I do hope for is that Texas stays Texan: as in lack of pretentiousness, friendly, no rat race, COL relatively low for the great amenities, etc. I think a lot of people that move there seem to move there for those reasons and would hate to see it gone too so the nativist line while a bit understandable is still overblown.

[Hyena]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

Hyena,you have to understand that some Texans are very nativist and feel as though some transplants move here and act as though the place doesn't belong to the natives (which they're kinda right) and can be changed just how they see fit. That is their impression. Even some transplants who move here and adapt to the culture think the same way. They might see Texas as different and almost as a shelter from the rest of the county (and to a larger extent the world) because the rest of the country and the world has gotten crowded, expensive and a giant rat race full of people who don't say howdy. Texans can be very extroverted friendly people who are proud of their culture and their impression of a transplant (which is erroneous) is that of an introverted, smarmy yuppie who has a vision for the city to be some corporate, trendy expensive mess for younger people and cares two diddlies about Texas culture. Of course it's silly but that is the gist of what I've gathered are the transplant fears from nativist people I know from Austin. I think it's all overblown and it reminds me of the bickering my is parents did when a Starbucks was proposed in their small town outside of Houston. Growth is inevitable, I welcome it but what I do hope for is that Texas stays Texan: as in lack of pretentiousness, friendly, no rat race, COL relatively low for the great amenities, etc. I think a lot of people that move there seem to move there for those reasons and would hate to see it gone too so the nativist line while a bit understandable is still overblown.

Too funny.

I was born and raised here - spent 30 of my 40 years on the planet here, travel all over Texas for work, and some guy from LA is going to lecture based on what internet articles?

[Hyena]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Didn't flee - in fact, for quite a few years before we turned the house into a rental we had a city house and a country house, my husband's business was in Austin (which meant he was there 7 days a week, being the owner, and I was there almost as much), we shop in Austin, I work in Austin (he's retired now). My horses wouldn't fit on our lot five minutes from downtown is why we moved.

Tell me, how long have you lived in Austin and what's your vision for the city?

Born here, raised here. Probably went to school with your kids if they were AISD. Left for a few years to take advantage of scholarships and employment opportunities that came after them all over the west coast and upper Midwest.

Finally able to wrangle an opportunity back here about 10 years ago. Does that establish my cred enough for you?

My vision for Austin is pretty close to what we have now. I'd certainly like to see more of the grouchy "if we don't build it, they won't come" crowd embrace some of the improvements that the feared "outsiders" bring - ala Uber/Lyft to help compensate for lack of transport infrastructure, relaxed zoning regulations to help develop housing options that could mitigate some of the crazy housing inflation that prices out much of the crowd that makes Austin, well Austin.

It's people like you that fear and resist all change that have helped create the dynamic we have now - and sadly, the only people that can afford it are (generally) the type that sanitize it.