Yeah, it felt like a long time before anything came along. I don't really remember any of the construction that went on in the 80s even though I was 10 years old in 1990. It wasn't until about 1991 or 92 that I started becoming interested in architecture and tall buildings. There were a few small buildings built in Austin during the 90s, but all of those were less than 200 feet, so they weren't skyline changers even though the skyline was a lot smaller back then. It wasn't until 1999 that the first significant building was proposed - 300 West Sixth. It finished in 2002. So, basically, I waited about 10 years to see anything significant happen in Austin from the time that I became interested in the subject. For a long time, I was seriously beginning to think that nothing would happen. When the Frost Bank Tower came along in 2001 I could hardly believe it. They broke ground on it on my 21st birthday. My brother and I and a friend of mine from the forum,
427MM, went to go watch them put the cranes up for it.
It's just been really something to watch. I've enjoyed learning to appreciate architecture and to learn the process of how they're built. Plus, it got me back into riding bicycles again, which I had sort of not done in a long time. I started riding my bike downtown to go watch the construction and to take pictures of the changes. And of course, it got me hooked on photography a bit, which, I hadn't really been until then.