Austin at "risk" of ruining what once made it great (sales, amusement park)

[ScoPro]

Folks need to accept the fact that urban areas outside the Rustbelt aren't static these days, particularly the cities that are growing rapidly.


Change is the name of the game.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

Folks need to accept the fact that urban areas outside the Rustbelt aren't static these days, particularly the cities that are growing rapidly.


Change is the name of the game.

And people need to realize that change is not change is not change, and some change is not what we should be pursuing/accepting.

Ever heard of the concept "killing the goose that laid the golden egg"?

[ScoPro]

We didn't accept the traffic & crowding - moved up by Round Rock 22 years ago. It's more manageable here, but if it gets like Austin - Florence here we come!

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

The thing that bugs me about change: no more trees.

[AFD1017]

South Lamar sure isn't the neighborhood I grew up in and I'm 57 years old and still call Austin home.

[twange]

I spent a lot of time on this forum when I moved to Austin 10 years ago. It's been quite awhile since I've been here...on a whim, I sign in and it's like a time warp. Same topic, complaining about the same things, making the same analogies...

Yes, Austin has been growing and changing for many years now. Sometimes it's a huge pain in the *ss. Developers often make greedy and insensitive decisions that alienate neighborhoods. It can be hard to accept change, especially when it doesn't directly benefit you. Other times it's amazing, exciting and surprising. Austin has a lot of new and different things to offer now that it didn't when I first moved here. Is it hard to make a living with music? Of course it is - always has been. I have been a musician most of my life and I have always known this. Arts are generally undervalued by the public in America. Most people complain when they are asked to pay a $5 cover to see a band but won't think twice about dropping $50 on beer and liquor. Don't get me started on the exploitation of musicians during SXSW. But the restaurant scene is certainly more robust. The area surrounding my neighborhood is finally getting some decent redevelopment after years of pawn shops, trashy used car lots, storage facilities and other blight. That new downtown library is going to be damn sharp. Though I sure wish Austin would add more green space downtown. Public transportation is still an embarrassment unfortunately.

That's just the compromise of living in a city. I have had to commute on I35 and MoPac now for many years. I mostly hate it. But my decade in Austin has transformed my career and provided opportunities I did not have before I came here. I have made many great friends and continue to do so. I am making the best work of my life. If and/or when I've had enough, I'll move to a smaller, quieter and cheaper place - hopefully someplace out in the desert with mountains where I can live in a trailer, write a manifesto and look for UFOs and Sasquatch. I'll be 50 next year so maybe that isn't too far off. It's totally OK not to like living in a city, it's certainly not for everyone. But it's also unfair to expect that others should feel the same way. This train isn't stopping anytime soon. I think the important question is "how can Austin become the best city it can be as its population swells?"

Either way, fretting about it isn't very healthy.

"The secret to a long life is knowing when it's time to go" - Michelle Shocked

[Treasurevalley92]

Things change.

For example take a look at the Boise, Idaho where I grew up. Similar situation of a metro about 1/3 of the size of Austin, or about what Austin was in the mid 80s. There are lots of other similarities as well. Blue city in a red state, strong cycling community, outdoorsy people large state school etc. Anyway, lots of people back home think that the traffic and Californians are ruining the area. Y'all in Austin would think the traffic there is a joke and it is, from a larger city perspective. The transplants who are "ruining" everything are actually creating infill on under productive lots downtown.

More traffic usually means more economic activity. Less parking means more economic activity. Places with lots of free parking and no traffic are usually dying places.

I'm not saying it isn't normal to feel a little sad when things change, I certainly do a little bit about where I grew up, but it is really a mater of perspective.

[ScoPro]

Well $25 to valet part ain't "perspective, it's freakin' highway robbery!

[Phisch]

Originally Posted by twange

I spent a lot of time on this forum when I moved to Austin 10 years ago. It's been quite awhile since I've been here...on a whim, I sign in and it's like a time warp. Same topic, complaining about the same things, making the same analogies...

That's just the compromise of living in a city.

We moved here at the same time and we hung out in this forum before moving, too.

What gets me is when there isn't compromise. Once we got comfortable, I drove often to friends who lived at Belterra. At the time, I thought Nutty Brown Cafe would be in trouble and I was going to have an internal fit if that happened. Sure enough. Community Impact Newsletter posted articles about Belterra neighbors complaining about the noise levels. Logic should be if you don't like loud music, don't move near loud music.

Similar thing happened to some condo complex near Barton Springs pool. I guess the nearby live music was too much live music.

Something like it happened to people who moved near a bbq joint in Austin and were complaining about the smell.

More people moving to an area drives up prices and cities see the $$$ and they increase property tax. Increase in cost is inevitable. But some of these complaints are certainly avoidable. If you build near where there's something that will drive you nuts, look elsewhere. Don't ruin it for the people who have been enjoying it for years.

[ScoPro]

Same thing happened in the '60s - '80s around the old Mueller Airport. Also the Austin Gun & Skeet Range at the intersection of 2222 and City Park Road.