Coming for a Visit!!!

[roaring-rox]

Love reading threads on this Austin forum b/c of the interesting, thoughtful ideas people have along with light-hearted humor!

Like the yuppie things, but at the same time, not a yuppie. When I lived in Dallas some years ago, I used to go to Neiman-Marcus in NorthPark every Saturday and wait outside the door before they opened at 10 a.m. I would wear the same old blue jeans every time...kind of ironic, going to the bastion of high-fashion and I dressed like a slob (so to speak by Dallas standards). I remember this jewelry salesgirl suppressing a smile to herself at the sight of me standing out there waiting. Kind of thinking I looked like an eccentric to her. Oh well, I didn't care...I loved to look at the jewelry, the shoe displays, etc. and then eat at their Mermaid Bar for lunch. Anyway, I didn't care, because all the designs and colors of clothes at Neiman's was influencing mixed-media art work I was doing...so I had a purpose inadvertently.

When I first hit Dallas, I felt the complete absence of the hippie era...it was weird to me. Moved to Atlanta several years later for one year and found it amazing that there still was a feel of the hippie years in certain parts of town. It made me come up with a theory that the more a city completely yuppifies, the more it loses its' history.

So, hope Austin can keep it balanced.

[Almeda]

I just got back from Austin. Here are my highlights.....We stayed at the Hyatt Downtown. Nice hotel, renovated recently. We had great views of the landscape and the river.

We ate at Gueros and South Congress Cafe, both located on South Congress. Gueros was pretty busy, we waited about 30 minutes for a table, but there was a nice waiting area. The chips and salsa were good and I had the enchilidas for dinner. I recommend getting the corn tortillas. After eating we drove downtown. Had a bit of trouble finding parking on the street. We ended up paying 5 dollars to park. We walked to the Gingerman Pub which had a wide variety of good beers. Then we walked to 6th street and went in a few more bars.

The next day we woke and drove over to the S Congress Cafe. The food was excellent here and they had a variety of lunch and brunch items. The waitstaff was extremely friendly. I ended up chatting a bit with our waitress about Austin living. She was very helpful.

We drove around along the western edge of downtown. Saw the Whole Foods along Lamar, drove around the neighborghoods west of Lamar. Then we drove back to Dallas.

I wish we had more time to explore. We completely missed the Hyde Park area because we got lost and were running late. It was a short but fun trip!

Have fun.

[deeptrance]

Almeda, you saw my favorite places. The neighborhoods west of Lamar are amazing, especially Pemberton Heights. It was ranked as one of the 10 places in the USA that defines "The Good Life" in an issue of Fortune Mag, so obviously I'll never be able to live there cuz I can barely afford my 400 square foot efficiency in a funky area off of far-south Lamar.

I'm glad you got to experience South Congress, too. It's a fun little strip of kookiness and good food, but it's unfortunate that it's on such a busy street and not more pedestrian-friendly. I hate the way Austin is designed for cars and there aren't any pedestrian-only zones downtown. On hot summer days it's awful to smell the exhaust and be blasted with traffic noise as you stand there frying at a red light waiting to cross a busy street. Austin could be so much nicer if city planners had been smarter and friendlier to bikes, legs, and wheelchairs.

[Almeda]

^ It's funny that you mention city planning because that is what I do professionally and the reason I would like to leave Florida and move to Texas. What you lack in Austin is ten times better than what Florida has to offer. Unfortunately the planners are bound by zoning and design regulations which are auto-dominated. There has been a planning movement, a resurgence of sorts, to promote walkable, pedestrian friendly downtowns and residential developments. Hopefully the movement continues to grow.