Has Austin become homogenized? (Dallas, West: rent, condos, how much)

[inthecut]

As a whole, how much are we losing per the unique character in the general metro?

As Austin grows out, does it become more standardized and uniform, ala any other US metro? Do relos actually PREFER an area they can feel familiar with, with retail and such that they've shopped at in their place of origin, and with a general layout that is far more similar than different from whence they came?

If Austin's growth just causes it to become more and more generic, at what point will it lose the attractiveness that is causing interest in the first place?

I've heard it mentioned that housing types/styles are being designed to attract relos by replicating what they are familiar with already. Is there a local architecture here in danger of being watered down as well?

Is the metro just becoming a facsimile of what out-of-area people want to see in Austin, per the tail wagging the dog? And, if so, is there any group/consortium fighting against the same?

Personally, I think Austin will extend the everpresent theme of being a blue patch in a sea of red, by becoming the default place intelligent folks(NPR Crowd) looking to move out of liberal cold weather and west coast states can feel comfortable relocating to in the sunbelt. The rest of the south obviously has little attraction, outside of Florida. Forget all of the deep south. Most of Texas as well. As Austin builds up this little patch, it will take on its own persona, as a sum of all the northern/west coast mindsets writ large.

At that point, Austin will essentially no longer resemble Greater Texas in any respect whatsoever.......just an oasis of outsiders, making their own private idaho in a state they feel little connection to as a whole..

[harrison512]

This reminds me of a story of a person from a small town in the Pacific NW who was telling people that their town had a lovely coffee shop called Starbucks. They didn't realize their Starbucks was a chain.

I moved here 4 years ago based on all the "Austin's character" promotion. But it is very much like many other college towns. I've had friends visit me from California and we've hung around South Congress to do sightseeing. But when I showed them the "Keep Austin Weird" bumper stickers, everyone pointed out that there was nothing weird about Austin.

I think there was a self-image about Austin, but it's changed - you call it "homogenized" - as more people discover that it's a city like many others of 700k - with its growing pains, pro's and cons.

[yehudi]

To paraphrase Diaz....

Poor Austin. So far from God, so close to Dallas.

[austin-steve]

Yes, of course we are regressing to the mean as we grow. Can you name any large city that became more quirky, unique and differentiated in its character as it added more suburbs, malls and chain stores?

Your question is like asking a bunch of Baby Boomers if we think we're starting to look older and if our knees hurt more often than before. What do you thing we're going to say?

Are the unique and special aspects of Austin being lost? No. Are they being diluted somewhat by the growth, yes.

Steve

[CarnivalGal]

Most of the quirky, "weird," residents of Austin are priced out of areas close in. Unless you can afford to drop $500,000+ for a small, 2 bedroom house that needs work, you are forced to live farther out.

Even supposedly "affluent" areas like Steiner Ranch are still a heck of a lot cheaper than areas closer in.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by mm57553

Most of the quirky, "weird," residents of Austin are priced out of areas close in. Unless you can afford to drop $500,000+ for a small, 2 bedroom house that needs work, you are forced to live farther out.

Even supposedly "affluent" areas like Steiner Ranch are still a heck of a lot cheaper than areas closer in.

Reality check.....eclectic growth in every urban metro can be found in whatever area is currently known as an artist haven. The reason is that these are the areas where rent is affordable for lower-income artists, and they invariably seed those areas to where upper-income gays are attracted to the same, and trend it up. After the artists and gays, young 20-somethings looking for the next cool, relatively safe, I should say, newly safe, city neighborhood come, and it hits the radar and starts getting memed out all over the net/media, and gets an nickname, usually a Nickname, like our SOCO, or SOLA(south lamar)......

After that last step, the upper-income folks of all stripes stream in, upscale the place, build condos all over, and price the artists and kids out.....this is what has happened on SoCO and West Riverside, among other places......

The current artist haven would be just east of I-35, east 6th, an hispanic area which is actually in the middle stages of gentrifying......

[love roses]

I think inthecut is right on this one.

[hound 109]

I agree.

A bunch of Stepford Obamaniacs (listening to Coldplay & Ray Lamontagne, driving their Volvo wagon or BMW SUV on the way to Home Depot, Whole Foods & HEB) to go along with (or counter mirror) the Stepford Bushies in the outer burbs on their way to WalMart.

Much less quirk, much less independent thinking...not as much character. It's not that the interesting stores/restaurants/musicians/politicians/eccentrics are going away...they're probably just getting crowded out.

I bet 3/4ths of the people who've moved here haven't heard of Doug Sahm.... haven't had a CFS (or knows what this stands for) or had a longneck at Dry Creek.....their loss.

[inthecut]

I wonder if they even go to the clubs/concerts.....they prob stay home in the burbs and have potluck parties....

[verybadgnome]

My East Austin neighborhood certainly isn't homogenized. Case in point is that I have a neighbor with a kayak for a mailbox and a Citroen (a French car) with a rumble seat.

For new neighborhoods I think Mueller is on the way to becoming unique based on the 5 people I've known so far from that development.