Austin | 6G | 874 Feet | 65 Floors | Complete

[KevinFromTexas]

I think most of the people doing the complaining are longing for the days from the 1960s and 70s, but that Austin is long gone. When I think of the Austin back then I'm reminded of places like Amarillo, Lubbock, and Midland today. Granted, Austin's downtown was much more active back then than those cities downtowns are now. What set Austin on a different path toward growth and prosperity was that it diversified its economy. Having UT here didn't hurt either. It's a huge boost, but Lubbock has Texas Tech which isn't exactly a shabby school with a mediocre influence on Lubbock. Those places aren't doing horribly, though, Lubbock I would suggest is in better shape than Midland and Amarillo are judging from the number of proposed projects it has versus those two. Midland has even been tearing down some of its high rises. The only one out there in better shape than those three is El Paso. I'm glad Austin grew up. Sure, there's charm in smaller cities, but it felt like forever before we had anything interesting to do in Austin, especially in downtown unless you were only into music.