AUSTIN | Misc. Discussions - No Politics

[Maximusx1]

Originally Posted by Lobotomizer

Correct, but people are allowed to think some people's opinions are terrible as well.

[kingkirbythe....]

Bars could face legal action under Austin's new Sixth Street safety plan

https://www.statesman.com/story/news...ce/9375381002/

In a continued response to shootings and alcohol-induced fighting in downtown Austin, the Sixth Street entertainment district will undergo a makeover to allow for a broader mix of activities beyond just drinking.

Expanding on a safety plan approved last summer after a mass shooting that led to a tourist's death, the Austin City Council agreed this week to additional steps that include a pilot program for seating, dining and "small-scale activations."

Council members say the additions on Sixth Street — which will be activated on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays — should leave less space on the crowded street for fighting. Applications for the program are to open May 1.

[kingkirbythe....]

Ten years after his death, Leslie Cochran still defines old, weird Austin

https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/lo...P-CP-Spotlight

“It’s a thing of the past,” Leslie Cochran says in the beginning of the 2019 documentary Becoming Leslie. Clad in his requisite thong and not much else, the cross-dressing activist is dodging a question, Keanu in the Matrix-style, about his history. It’s a skill he honed on the corner of Sixth and Congress for years.

“When you give up your secrets, people lose interest,” he finishes.

And he’s right. In the 10 years since he died, residents who caught him telling tales downtown or drinking too much on South Congress still haven’t solved the riddle of Leslie. How can one homeless, thong-clad activist become a city’s most famous resident? How can that same man come to define a city of more than one million?

Since Leslie’s death on March 8, 2012, Austinites have come to miss more than just the loquacious, half-nude, mononymic street fixture. They now mourn what they have lost alongside his passing: the place that allowed Leslie to exist in the first place.

[eguidry]

Saw what looked to be a a coring rig at 512 E 11th street across from the Symphony Square development. Not sure if it's related or a new developer but seemed worth noting. Only a small bit of that property isn't under a CVC so if it is a project I hope it'll be interesting.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by eguidry

Saw what looked to be a a coring rig at 512 E 11th street across from the Symphony Square development. Not sure if it's related or a new developer but seemed worth noting. Only a small bit of that property isn't under a CVC so if it is a project I hope it'll be interesting.

Is 512 E 11th an historical property, or does it just look old in pictures?

[chinchaaa]

Originally Posted by austlar1

Is 512 E 11th an historical property, or does it just look old in pictures?

nope, built it 1979. tear it down.

[ahealy]

I think 321 W. 6th has sparked this idea--is Austin's perceived DNA no fuss down to the nitty-gritty details? Will that cliched laid back idea of yesteryear actually wind up dressing Austin into some sort of big blue box any-town USA kind of place in the near future? One like Dallas or Houston except without the recognizable world renowned architecture.

The idea of not needing to wear no stinkin' nice dinner jacket to that nice restaurant, just like we don't need no fuddy duddy facade on our towers. I just wonder if certain local designers have that same mindset.

Just a rando thought...and curious if that's the consensus with the city on certain design requirements as well.

I am of course so in love with Pelli sail and many of our towers. Not saying we're anywhere near a full blown nose dive design-wise.

[Lobotomizer]

Originally Posted by ahealy

Will that cliched laid back idea of yesteryear actually wind up dressing Austin into some sort of big blue box any-town USA kind of place in the near future? One like Dallas or Houston except without the recognizable world renowned architecture.

Dallas and Houston's downtowns are not known as being fun, vibrant places to live, work , and play. You may prefer their architecture, but their CBDs are essentially vertical office parks. Austin's downtown is drastically different, and only diverging further from their downtowns as the years go by.

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by Lobotomizer

Dallas and Houston's downtowns are not known as being fun, vibrant places to live, work , and play. You may prefer their architecture, but their CBDs are essentially vertical office parks. Austin's downtown is drastically different, and only diverging further from their downtowns as the years go by.

Oh I know, the visionary in me sees soooo much potential for their CBDs though. If they flipped the switch and went full urban resi they'd blow Austin outta the water in that regard. Especially Dallas

[AusTex]

Originally Posted by ahealy

Oh I know, the visionary in me sees soooo much potential for their CBDs though. If they flipped the switch and went full urban resi they'd blow Austin outta the water in that regard. Especially Dallas

Both Dallas and Houston CBDs do have great potential, however Austin has live water, a major trail and park system as the focal point. This is hard to compete with!

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by AusTex

Both Dallas and Houston CBDs do have great potential, however Austin has live water, a major trail and park system as the focal point. This is hard to compete with!

Let's not forget the Capitol Bldg. Nothing between Dallas and Houston is as iconic. I don't think I would intentionally go to either if not for their zoos.

[lonewolf]

eado(houston) is becoming a very walkable neighborhood.

but yeah dallas and houston have completely commercial office oriented downtowns. austin has benefitted greatly from our boom coming well after theirs. has been much easier for us to focus on getting residential in our urban core

san Antonio has a very underrated walkable downtown

[Tyrone Shoes]

Originally Posted by the Genral

Let's not forget the Capitol Bldg. Nothing between Dallas and Houston is as iconic. I don't think I would intentionally go to either if not for their zoos.

I like the Tarrant County courthouse:

[drummer]

^^ The Dallas County courthouse is pretty cool also.

And in fairness, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston have some pretty great urban areas now. They're not growing at the same rate as DT Austin, but they've earned more of my respect in recent years as I've visited all of them more and more. I don't want to play the city vs. city thing here either.

However, for our family, the benefit of Austin is the Hill Country more than anything else, aside from the fact that I grew up in the area. The quality of life, the opportunities for hiking/camping, urban trails for running/biking, etc., make Austin and easy choice for us. The live music and cultural aspects of Austin are a plus, of course. The tall, shiny buildings are after all of those other things for me...but I still love 'em.


Edit: Forgot to add jobs and industry growth in the region that are, you know, cool too.

[kingkirbythe....]

Change Is the Only Constant for Austin’s South Congress

Our guide to the ever-evolving neighborhood, where a few old-school favorites endure alongside the trendy newcomers.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/...outh-congress/

When Austinites wring their hands over how their city has changed, South Congress is one of the neighborhoods they point to. Out-of-towners may not be aware of the avenue’s rich history or the hotly debated gentrification the past two decades have ushered in, but they do know that visiting the area is often touted as a must-do for shopping, dining, and people-watching. South Congress is an ever-evolving strip, and the pace of change has been especially brisk over the past few years, as a bevy of new shops, hotels, and restaurants have opened (and a few old-school favorites have disappeared).

Perhaps it’s worth taking a wider view. Starting just south of the Ann Richards Bridge (you know, the one with the bats), the broad thoroughfare has gone from sleepy to skeevy to showy. In the 1850s, it served as a postal route before it became home to a trolley line in the early 1900s; it was the first paved road in Austin. South Congress hosted a fair number of shops and shoppers until the 1960s, when Interstate 35 was built and served as a more efficient route for north–south motor traffic. From the 1970s through the 1990s, the area went through a period when it was frequented mainly by prostitutes and drug addicts, but it was also home to a rising creative class because of its affordability. Hotelier Liz Lambert is often credited with having brought change and gentrification to the avenue in the mid-’90s—whether that is a good or bad thing is often questioned—as she took the run-down San José Motel and turned it into the glittering Hotel San José. Since that time, SoCo, as realtors and marketing types often call it, has been revamped with funky vintage shops, an artisans’ market, music venues, cafes, restaurants, glossy murals, and more hotels. In the last couple of years, it’s seen even more changes with a high-end, commercial feel, thanks to the arrival of the members-only club Soho House, the celeb favorite Equinox gym, and—most shocking of all—a forthcoming Hermès store.

[kingkirbythe....]

Priced out of Austin, artists and musicians are fleeing for small-town Texas life in Elgin

https://www.mysanantonio.com/enterta...P-CP-Spotlight

“As far as Austin itself, I just kind of …” Mann trails off. “Yeah, I'm not talking to it right now.”

Mann joins a recent trend of young artists and musicians defecting from Austin to nearby towns like Elgin, Bastrop, and Lockhart in the wake of rapidly increasing city living costs. A December 2021 report showed that Austin home prices increased 28% year-over-year, compared with a 10% bump nationwide. For a city that bills itself as a place for creatives — the Live Music Capital of the World no less — it’s impossible for those artists to compete with transplants making all-cash offers or invoking bidding wars.

"It's completely unattainable," says Caleb Dawson, who moved to Elgin in 2016 while still drumming in Roky Erickson’s band. "I don’t think for young artists, or even old artists, that it’s possible to own a home in Austin at this point."

...

Elgin has become a refuge for musicians like Mann and Dawson. Twenty years ago they would have happily lived the sleepy Austin dream, now they welcome Elgin's rural landscape and comparatively cheap home prices. Call it Elgin City Limits. The young artists and musicians who live here praise the open space, the slower lifestyle, and the small, close-knit community that for decades made Austin so special.

As for the cultural fabric of America's 11th largest city by population, Dawson says that it hasn't so much changed completely as evolved, leaving behind an echo of what it once was.

"It still has the illusion of old Austin," he says. "Some of that vibe is still there, but it's becoming less of a place that people flock to from your big hubs like L.A., San Francisco, New York ... and it’s just becoming one of those cities."

[hookem]

SIAP, but did any of you catch this in person?

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv...es-1235110882/

I recall having dreams about something like this years ago… very sci fi

[Riverranchdrone]

Originally Posted by hookem

SIAP, but did any of you catch this in person?

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv...es-1235110882/

I recall having dreams about something like this years ago… very sci fi

Its amazing that people in Austin would freak out so much about this. We have seen this before at the superbowls and Olympics. Drones are flying all over downtown every day. WE even have a drone vehicle start up company off of the pennybackerbridge.
http://https://www.bizjournals.com/a...cs-austin.html

[sewaneetigers]

I have a Raku (I believe that's how it's spelled) drone. Does anyone know how to work the camera? I cannot for the life of me figure it out. Their damn email address is a gmail account

[hookem]

Originally Posted by Riverranchdrone

Its amazing that people in Austin would freak out so much about this. We have seen this before at the superbowls and Olympics.

I think the news articles are probably exaggerating the freak out aspect… but still, Olympics (Bejing), Suoerbowl and…. Austin? Pretty impressive.