Old Austin Gone Forever (Houston, Live Oak: hotel, construction, income)

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

It just seems paying $150 a night for a hotel room and $13 a day to park in their parking lot which is outdoors and not always full is pretty outrageous. If I owned a hotel I would not charge a guest to park. I've stayed in hotels all acoss the country, usually along the interstate, and never ever had to pay to park in a hotel parking lot. It never even crossed my mind.

I was going to say you’ve never been to Vegas, but you say stayed all over the country so I’ll just take your word that you haven’t seen this before. But it’s quite common. Any hotel in or even near downtown Austin will have a parking fee, and it ain’t gonna be no $13.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by PhinneyWalker

I was thinking tonight about Austin the way it used to be prior to the end of the 1980s after it began to sprawl and could easily be mistaken for almost any other city of the same size in this country. I miss the old Austin. Everyone wanted to live in Austin back in the day. It had a certain je ne sais quois that was lost long ago now. Anyone know what I mean? It will never be the same. Alas, it is true; you can never go home again. {{{HEAVY SIGH}}}

Old everywhere is gone. Things change over time. Cities grow, business open and close, neighborhoods become more or less desirable.

Houston is the same way. It's not like it was in the past. We can either whine about it, or move on with our lives.

My grandmother said the same thing about Austin. She was born there in 1910 and lived in Austin until she graduated from UT in 1932. Prior to UT, she attended Austin HS. I recall her saying every time we visited Austin with her that it was all changing. My parents met at UT in the early to mid 50s. Same thing "look how much it's changed, it's just not the same".

[WellTraveled1988]

Originally Posted by WRM20

Old everywhere is gone. Things change over time. Cities grow, business open and close, neighborhoods become more or less desirable.

Houston is the same way. It's not like it was in the past. We can either whine about it, or move on with our lives.

My grandmother said the same thing about Austin. She was born there in 1910 and lived in Austin until she graduated from UT in 1932. Prior to UT, she attended Austin HS. I recall her saying every time we visited Austin with her that it was all changing. My parents met at UT in the early to mid 50s. Same thing "look how much it's changed, it's just not the same".

You're telling me. DFW has changed a bunch too. I would say it has changed a LOT in the past ~10 years or so, although I had been gone for the past 8 years and went home recently for family reasons.

I remember growing up and graduating from SMU and Dallas was supposed to be the "next LA".... not anymore, unless you're talking about maybe Louisiana.

Dallas has gotten "fat"... and I mean F-A-T. Lol. It's noticeable... part of it for me was maybe perception having lived out of State (and in very fit States) and returning for family, but then I saw a recent online statistics report that ranks DFW as the 2nd fattest metro in Texas.

...boy, talk about change. I thought it was just perception/me, but it's an actual fact.

[WellTraveled1988]

DFW is now 15th fattest in the nation according to WalletHub (Google it, I don't feel like linking it) for 2022.

Things change. lol.

I never thought I'd see it, but when I went home recently it was VERY obvious. It is very noticeable. So if you want to go "eat and drink" yourself to death and obesity, DFW might be the place for you lol

All I can say is that it did not happen when I was there and that it isn't a reflection of myself. I just am glad I wasn't there to be a part of it.

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by atxcio

I was going to say you’ve never been to Vegas, but you say stayed all over the country so I’ll just take your word that you haven’t seen this before. But it’s quite common. Any hotel in or even near downtown Austin will have a parking fee, and it ain’t gonna be no $13.

Hotels in the San Antonio Riverwalk area have been charging guests for parking for many years.
But I hear some Vegas hotels are dropping parking fees for their room guests.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by atxcio

I was going to say you’ve never been to Vegas, but you say stayed all over the country so I’ll just take your word that you haven’t seen this before. But it’s quite common. Any hotel in or even near downtown Austin will have a parking fee, and it ain’t gonna be no $13.

I been to Vegas many times but never have drove out there. But I have drove to Colorado, Southern California, all over the South and most of the Midwest and never paid to park in a hotel parking lot anywhere. I stayed close to 100 days in a Candlewood Suites 3 or 4 or 5 yrs ago and never paid a dime to park, even though the parking lot was full most of the time. The last time I stayed in a hotel was near I-35 and 1604 on the NE side of San Antonio about a year or 2 ago. Paying to park in hotel parking lot that one is renting a room from is something that has come along in the last few years, especially on the interstate and not downtown.

[ashbeeigh]

I paid for parking at the Embassy on South 1st and Riverside in 2015. I just figured it was because it was downtown. I don't think you would pay for parking in Pflugerville, which is relatively equivalent to the 1604/35 area of San Antonio.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

I paid for parking at the Embassy on South 1st and Riverside in 2015. I just figured it was because it was downtown. I don't think you would pay for parking in Pflugerville, which is relatively equivalent to the 1604/35 area of San Antonio.

Actually it was the Embassy Suites at 290 and I-35 that charged $13 a day to park, about 4 or 5 miles north of downtown. I didn't stay there but some friends from Houston did and they was telling me about it. That was the 1st time I ever heard of a hotel charging to park in their parking lot.

[Trainwreck20]

Many (most?) downtown hotels anywhere seem to charge for parking these days. Come to think of it, I have paid for it on occasion for decades, probably. Your typical Best Western or Holiday Inn and Suites, though, I cannot ever recall paying for parking.

[Need4Camaro]

Atlanta’s Westin Hotel charged for parking. Hardly do I stay in a Downtown hotel though. I don’t think we had to pay for hotel parking when we went to Vegas though.