AUSTIN | Misc. Discussions - No Politics - Page 126

StoOgE · #1 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 4:47 PM**

What the hell is going on in here?

Austin's skyline is not the only thing "Major" about the city - our GDP increased by 50% from 2010 to 2018 and while we don't have stats yet I would not be shocked to find that we've come close to doubling our GDP since 2010.

Our population growth is off the charts. Our per capita income is in the top 20 nationally.

The idea that Austin is an outgrown college town is a though stuck in the late 90s. It's simply ceased to be the case and pointing to legacy institutions like the Spurs (who only exist because of a merger of a minor basketball league) or museums which are a function of how long a city has been large are silly.

Yes, Austin has improvements the city needs to make to catch up to the sort of cultural and social institutions you expect of a city of our size and importance but acting as though we aren't a "major" city because you have arbitrarily set "has a zoo" or "has an MLB team" as the metrics that you measure a city by is extremely silly.

Also, I guarantee you hosting an F1 race and SXSW make Austin a much more "known" city internationally than Columbus, OH with a "big 4" sports team.

Austin will wind up with a major sports team (I would argue MLS' growth over the next decade will supplant the NHL nationally - though the NHL will regionally be dominant in parts of the country) in the next 20 years. I would bet anything on it, but it won't mean that Austin is finally a "big city". Austin will have already been a big city. Pro sports teams are a scarce resource - there are limited numbers of them and moving legacy teams to new locations is not easy and expansions are not common in the "big 4" sports.

Strayone · #2 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 12:57 PM**

It would be very hard to add any of the big 4 sports in Austin. 1st and foremost the Longhorns are Austin! They have their own cable Network. And no way Jerrah would let an NFL team expand anywhere in Tx. NBA fans here are big Spurs fans...maybe if they hadn't been so successful during their semi Dynasty of 2 decades, there might be some consideration. And Hockey won't cut it in Austin, and we have a triple A team as is. But none the less I'll be fine with a near world class skyline.

BTW has anyone come up with a nickname for this building? I'm stumped as to a fitting nomer for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx14

Seems like this will really happen. Amazing considering Austin is not a major city but a college town with good night life and a quirky unique personality. However those who have said Austin is in the big leagues now seem to base this on our growing quite impressive skyline. But Austin has no major league sports (soccer is not a major sport just the big 4). We are over shadowed by Dallas and Houston and maybe San Antonio though that one is more of a large tourist town with a basketball team though it does over shadow Austin a bit. We have no major zoo or amusement parks. Austin needs a real sports team to establish its identity among the rest of the country also something for all Austinites to rally around. But until then cities with a smaller population such as Cincinnati near to me seem to be much more professional looking at the stadiums it gives you a felling you are in a major city. A major city can not be dominated by a college such as UT does to Austin. So again we are the least (major) city on Earth with a super tall.

AusTex · #3 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 7:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strayone

...BTW has anyone come up with a nickname for this building? I'm stumped as to a fitting nomer for it.

Like Londoners have The Gherkin and The Shard? Well...I am stumped as well except for the crown reminds me an open lid of a can...therefore, The Lid.

As far as Austin being in the Big Leagues, in the early 1990's the five county metro area had about 850,000 people living here. Now it is close to 2,200,000 people. We are new to The Big Leagues, and as others have stated there are many different ways of being Big. Give us time; We are still very young!

Lobotomizer · #4 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 8:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by AusTex

Like Londoners have The Gherkin and The Shard? Well...I am stumped as well except for the crown reminds me an open lid of a can...therefore, The Lid.

As far as Austin being in the Big Leagues, in the early 1990's the five county metro area had about 850,000 people living here. Now it is close to 2,200,000 people. We are new to The Big Leagues, and as others have stated there are many different ways of being Big. Give us time; We are still very young!

Minor correction: In the 2020 census the metro was just a hair under 2.3 million. In the roughly 2 years since it's grown by roughly 100,000 more to around 2.4 million or so.

By the 2030 the 5 county metro will probably be over 2.8 million, and only a few years away from breaking the 3 million people mark.

Of course it is possible more counties could be added to the metro as well, inflating the population even more.

Mopacs · #5 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 9:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lobotomizer

Of course it is possible more counties could be added to the metro as well, inflating the population even more.

It's been mentioned before, but I can't imagine Burnet County not joining the metro area by 2030. Spicewood and especially Marble Falls are set to grow significantly with large residential developments in the works. Also Liberty Hill is creeping closer to the Burnet County line along highway 29.

H2O · #6 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 1:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx14

Seems like this will really happen. Amazing considering Austin is not a major city but a college town with good night life and a quirky unique personality. However those who have said Austin is in the big leagues now seem to base this on our growing quite impressive skyline. But Austin has no major league sports (soccer is not a major sport just the big 4). We are over shadowed by Dallas and Houston and maybe San Antonio though that one is more of a large tourist town with a basketball team though it does over shadow Austin a bit. We have no major zoo or amusement parks. Austin needs a real sports team to establish its identity among the rest of the country also something for all Austinites to rally around. But until then cities with a smaller population such as Cincinnati near to me seem to be much more professional looking at the stadiums it gives you a felling you are in a major city. A major city can not be dominated by a college such as UT does to Austin. So again we are the least (major) city on Earth with a super tall.

Your definition of 'major city' and characterization of Austin is very 1970s. Soccer and F1 are major international sports. Austin is way more of a global player than any city in Ohio or Kentucky.

Lobotomizer · #7 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 3:06 PM**

So many points to counter, but I just can't get motivated to do so.

The proof is in the pudding, though. Austin is most certainly a "major city" now. It is however a characterization which only quite recently would be accurate, unlike some which already would've been considered as such a century or more ago.

Atom_Mirny · #8 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 4:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx14

Seems like this will really happen. Amazing considering Austin is not a major city but a college town with good night life and a quirky unique personality. However those who have said Austin is in the big leagues now seem to base this on our growing quite impressive skyline. But Austin has no major league sports (soccer is not a major sport just the big 4). We are over shadowed by Dallas and Houston and maybe San Antonio though that one is more of a large tourist town with a basketball team though it does over shadow Austin a bit. We have no major zoo or amusement parks. Austin needs a real sports team to establish its identity among the rest of the country also something for all Austinites to rally around. But until then cities with a smaller population such as Cincinnati near to me seem to be much more professional looking at the stadiums it gives you a felling you are in a major city. A major city can not be dominated by a college such as UT does to Austin. So again we are the least (major) city on Earth with a super tall.

ok boomer.

The entire reason Austin is growing the way it is is that it DOESN'T have the baggage of those cities.

enragedcamel · #9 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 6:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx14

Seems like this will really happen. Amazing considering Austin is not a major city but a college town with good night life and a quirky unique personality.

Austin has not been this since at least 2010, if not much earlier. We are the 11th largest city in the US, and will probably become the 10th in the next couple of years. Among cities with over half a million people, we're the second fastest growing city.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx14

However those who have said Austin is in the big leagues now seem to base this on our growing quite impressive skyline. But Austin has no major league sports (soccer is not a major sport just the big 4). We are over shadowed by Dallas and Houston and maybe San Antonio though that one is more of a large tourist town with a basketball team though it does over shadow Austin a bit. We have no major zoo or amusement parks. Austin needs a real sports team to establish its identity among the rest of the country also something for all Austinites to rally around. But until then cities with a smaller population such as Cincinnati near to me seem to be much more professional looking at the stadiums it gives you a felling you are in a major city. A major city can not be dominated by a college such as UT does to Austin. So again we are the least (major) city on Earth with a super tall.

You're right about zoos and amusement parks, but I couldn't care less about major league sports, and I resent that you're using that as the criteria to determine if a city feels like it's a "major" city. It's a completely subjective evaluation.

Bottom line:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atom_Mirny

ok boomer.

MichaelB · #10 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 6:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx14

Seems like this will really happen. Amazing considering Austin is not a major city but a college town with good night life and a quirky unique personality. However those who have said Austin is in the big leagues now seem to base this on our growing quite impressive skyline. But Austin has no major league sports (soccer is not a major sport just the big 4). We are over shadowed by Dallas and Houston and maybe San Antonio though that one is more of a large tourist town with a basketball team though it does over shadow Austin a bit. We have no major zoo or amusement parks. Austin needs a real sports team to establish its identity among the rest of the country also something for all Austinites to rally around. But until then cities with a smaller population such as Cincinnati near to me seem to be much more professional looking at the stadiums it gives you a felling you are in a major city. A major city can not be dominated by a college such as UT does to Austin. So again we are the least (major) city on Earth with a super tall.

Oh Lordy, Please .... not the "I need a sports team to create an Identity for me" crap again. Perhaps it's what makes Austin unique and a haven for people who are not defined by for profit sports teams. I'm still waiting for more "world class architecture. Not a stadium. You also have to realize that AUSTIN is just starting to really gain Philanthropic money that builds public Amenities. It's only been in the last 15 years that we have seen efforts like the Long Center and the Park Conservancy begin that large scale efforts that places that were large cities 100 years ago have. I'm happy for the slow burn. Better quality over time than filler.

ILUVSAT · #11 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 7:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx14

Seems like this will really happen. Amazing considering Austin is not a major city but a college town with good night life and a quirky unique personality. However those who have said Austin is in the big leagues now seem to base this on our growing quite impressive skyline. But Austin has no major league sports (soccer is not a major sport just the big 4). We are over shadowed by Dallas and Houston and maybe San Antonio though that one is more of a large tourist town with a basketball team though it does over shadow Austin a bit. We have no major zoo or amusement parks. Austin needs a real sports team to establish its identity among the rest of the country also something for all Austinites to rally around. But until then cities with a smaller population such as Cincinnati near to me seem to be much more professional looking at the stadiums it gives you a felling you are in a major city. A major city can not be dominated by a college such as UT does to Austin. So again we are the least (major) city on Earth with a super tall.

WOW! I too don't know where to start with this malarky.

Let's please not bog down this thread with nonsense like this.

migol24 · #12 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 2:55 PM**

What Strayone said is true. If Austin had an NBA team I probably wouldn't support them. Go Spurs Go!

clubtokyo · #13 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 4:20 PM**

I don’t even know how to respond to that gibberish. Austin already has two major league teams MLS and MLR plus F1 and they are doing just fine. We can certainly support Major Sports.

myBrain · #14 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 4:37 PM**

Major league sports teams are just private businesses. Their association with a city is literally just marketing used to build up a fan base and secure economic incentives from local governments. At least in some parts of Europe the clubs can be part-owned by local fan clubs or municipalities that makes their association with the city more concrete. Here, it's a rich guy (or a gaggle of them) who can move the team pretty much whenever they please.

I'm a big fan of Austin FC, namely for the experience of actually going to a game (completely counter to MOST major league sports fans who are generally lucky to make it to one of their team's games once a season or even once every few years, and who are largely experiencing the team that nominally represents their city through the TV), it's just silly to think that a sports team represents a city's identity.

lonewolf · #15 Posted **Feb 25, 2022, 4:52 PM**

since zelensky became president (2019) they have made significant strides towards nato membership. eg conducting military drills together and Ukraine while not a member ukraine is like an "enhanced partner" or something with nato. both of those started within last 2 years. this conflict makes a lot of people look bad. russia, ukraine, nato, US, EU. many mistakes brought us here.