There seems to be a contradiction in this article - they’re complaining about the property values staying low for a long time and are simultaneously complaining about property values increasing in recent times. Also, the article criticises the creation of multi storey homes, but isn’t high density housing better compared to single home lots?
They Just Moved to Austin. Now They Want to End One of Its Traditions
141–150 of 502 posts
Re: They Just Moved to Austin. Now They Want to End One of Its Traditions
#142There are ways that people talk about gentrification that always makes me slightly uncomfortable. As a non-white person, something always feels like gentrification is something that “good” white people like to blame “bad” white people for doing, when the real problem tends to be wider and more systemic. In this particular instance I find myself asking why it matters that the Weaver residents were originally not from…
This is a wonderful comment. An upvote will not suffice. I need to tell you.
Re: They Just Moved to Austin. Now They Want to End One of Its Traditions
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, the law will be two years old soon. There's one local news article about it where the county's PIO clarified the county's intention [1]. Aside from that, alllllll of these homeowners innocently working on their cars in their own garages and yards around the county and getting hit with hundreds and hundreds of dollars in fines have resulted in... exactly zero other local news coverage that I can find. Every othe…
The idea that giving the authorities the ability to enforce selectively on whom they like is a good thing is honestly bizarre to read. It's the classic preserve of biased prosecution. EDIT for response since I'm rate-limited. I interpreted the following section: > Again, I'm expressly not defending the law as it's written, but if the letter of every bad law was to be applied equally to everyone in the same instant, t…
Yeah, I disagree completely with whoever wrote that this was "a good thing". Who was that, anyway?
Re: They Just Moved to Austin. Now They Want to End One of Its Traditions
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is an asphalt factory 10 miles from where I live, on the access road to a major highway, and in the middle of lots of urban development. The factory has been around since the mid 80s. There is a nearby new housing development with residents complaining about the air pollution (apparently it is really smelly) - and their response is "yeah, we've been here since before you were born, so whatev". It cracked me up.…
must be related to the idiots that build their home next to Laguna Seca.
But those guys won, right? They got to shut down most activities there.
Re: They Just Moved to Austin. Now They Want to End One of Its Traditions
#145At the general level, I doubt anyone is surprised to see this story, and there will likely be more to come as tech flocks to Austin (though it was already a notable tech hub with some of these pressures already before the billionaires decided to give it the seal of approval). To me, the more interesting question here is how does Austin avoid what happened to SF, where tech hollowed out nearly all of its existing cult…
Those traditional black neighborhoods were bought up, demolished and turned into luxury apartments at insane prices. At one point I was on the east side and saw an old black woman rocking on her front porch in front of a 70's shotgun shack, next to an ugly post-modern 2 story house with a lambo and a tesla sitting outside of it. I don't think increasing housing density is the answer. We really don't need more luxury…
> We really don't need more luxury apartments or million dollar condos.
Of course we do. If condos are a million dollars we need more of them so that the price decreases. All housing is "luxury" housing when there isn't enough housing.
Re: They Just Moved to Austin. Now They Want to End One of Its Traditions
#146alas, these Austin locals did not learn the SF lesson, real estate lesson 101 As soon as foreigners invade your shores (er, real estate spaces) move to grandfather a cap property tax that is particularly beneficial for long time real property owners. I understand that at first, this would do nothing to alleviate the attack on the local culture. The same foreigners would still call the cops. Yet, with enough time, the…
But you still need money to afford the increased property taxes, otherwise you'll have to sell and move out. Also, if you own, you only get money when you sell. If you are living there for a couple generations and don't plan on moving, the only thing you get is increased property taxes, and those foreigners complaining about your culture and trying to change it
That's why grandfathering is necessary. For example, you can have residential property taxes determined by most recent sale price.
Re: They Just Moved to Austin. Now They Want to End One of Its Traditions
#147So basically Austin is experiencing today what we San Franciscans have been suffering through since the web 2.0 boom began in 2008. I remember when they built yuppy condos next to the DNA lounge and the new tenants immediately joined the “War on Fun” and began trying to get the DNA shut down.
Before you know it, everyone here on HN will be labeling austinites as “greedy nimby’s”, complaining about being made to feel uncomfortable by acknowledging the homeless problem, and complaining that Austin isn’t exactly like whatever place it is they moved away from to go to Austin while seeking their startup millions.
Re: They Just Moved to Austin. Now They Want to End One of Its Traditions
#148> a non-Hispanic white woman with short blond hair who appeared to be in her fifties
Just as expected.
Re: They Just Moved to Austin. Now They Want to End One of Its Traditions
#149Real estate law has this concept of “Coming to the nuisance” where if you know that there is some kind of “nuisance” nearby and you move next to it anyway, you can’t complain about it later. I’m not a lawyer so I’m probably pedantically wrong about it in some way but that’s my understanding of it. People do this with small local airports all the time. They move in, knowing full well (or should know full well) that th…
There is an asphalt factory 10 miles from where I live, on the access road to a major highway, and in the middle of lots of urban development. The factory has been around since the mid 80s. There is a nearby new housing development with residents complaining about the air pollution (apparently it is really smelly) - and their response is "yeah, we've been here since before you were born, so whatev". It cracked me up.…
Similarly, there are people who moved adjacent to San Jose's Reid-Hillview airport and then complain about airplane noise from civil (small prop plane) aviation.
Reid-Hillview airport opened in 1937 when nothing but farmland surrounded it.
Re: They Just Moved to Austin. Now They Want to End One of Its Traditions
#150When places are full of white people, minorities are brought in in the name of diversity and it's to be celebrated. When places are full of minorities and whites move in, it's gentrification and we need to write articles lamenting it. Cultural mixing happens both ways. Sometimes inclusion means changing long standing traditions.
Have there been any natural experiments where less-wealthy white folk were priced out by more-wealthy non-white? I think the driver of gentrification is economic class not race/ethnicity. Wealthier and whiter show up together but may not be the same thing.
Have there been any natural experiments where less-wealthy white folk were priced out by more-wealthy non-white?