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The Astonishing Transformation of Austin

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Re: The Astonishing Transformation of Austin

#31

Post by fintechjock »

71a54xd wrote: post #22
fintechjock wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Austin and know the author to boot. I haven't had the time to sit down and read this one yet, but knowing him I can pretty well guess his take. He is my pick for the best writer in the state. My read of Austin: - I was born here in 1995. Except for a few years, I've seen double-digit growth in most measurables every year of my life. Growth is the only thing I have ever known so I am comfortable with it, and…

This is basically my exact position as a native austinite - personally the transformation was complete for me when Magnolia's on Lake Austin blvd closed. Now it's all just Tesla's with CA plates

Nothing like Magnolia’s after midnight when you’re a high schooler and have nowhere else to go

And they shut down the wrong Magnolia’s!

Re: The Astonishing Transformation of Austin

#32

Post by agnos »

Maybe just an untimely experience, but I visited Austin once a little over a year ago during the summer, and downtown was basically a ghost town. I assumed it was because UT was on break, but still I couldn't help thinking "where is everybody?" given the Austin hype.

That being said, as a remote worker becoming increasingly disillusioned about Bay Area cost of living and politics, Austin is on my radar. Any Austin transplants here who can shed some light on moving there? How easy is it to establish a social network/sense of community as a newcomer?

Re: The Astonishing Transformation of Austin

#33

Post by hodgesrm »

dpflan wrote: post #3

Anyone who lives Austin able to provide anecdotes?

I don't live in Austin but for me the town died a little when the Armadillo World Headquarters closed. [0] I hitchhiked from Michigan on college spring break to visit. The Police were playing that night. It fully lived up to the legend.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillo_World_Headquarters

Re: The Astonishing Transformation of Austin

#34

Post by renewiltord »

Austin is like any other place in America. There is a dominant cultural and economic class in America: Coastal Californians. And they will transform and take your things with money. So either you can figure out how to comfortably rise with the tide or you can build a sea wall and they will breach it. You will then be left with complaints of prices and this and that.

Everyone has been warned for ages. They all kick up the usual fuss "No Californians", "stop gentrifying", "X is full". But it doesn't matter. You may not want to give in, but your neighbour will. And then the Californians will take everything around you and mould it in the image they desire.

And you will be left, in your intransigence, to rage against the imperialism of money, but you will be unhappy.

Re: The Astonishing Transformation of Austin

#35

Post by elamje »

I'll take a possibly contrarian position that the growth has been mostly awesome!

I've been here since 2013 and as much as people complain, there has been traffic on the 2 main arteries through Austin since I've been here. Austin is getting a lot more attention and interest from the large coastal cities which is bringing in more investment, interesting DTC/Tech companies that wouldn't have considered it otherwise, etc. Plus, if you are a relatively social person there is more fun stuff to do now than 10 years ago imo

Of course it is getting more expensive and crowded. How anyone would expect otherwise is baffling to me - more people entering any city is going to increase prices and congestion.

Re: The Astonishing Transformation of Austin

#36

Post by renewiltord »

agnos wrote: post #32

Maybe just an untimely experience, but I visited Austin once a little over a year ago during the summer, and downtown was basically a ghost town. I assumed it was because UT was on break, but still I couldn't help thinking "where is everybody?" given the Austin hype. That being said, as a remote worker becoming increasingly disillusioned about Bay Area cost of living and politics, Austin is on my radar. Any Austin tr…

Austin is a generally friendly place. I lived there for a bit during the COVID times for fun. It's a cheerful vibe where people will greet you on the street and there's a few fun places to go to. I thought it was quite pleasant for the bit I was there.

I should warn you, though. It is not a city by any measure. More like a small town with a couple of streets of action. And the politics are not dissimilar in Austin proper from the Bay Area (perhaps because of the large number of people who've moved there from here).

However, because of the low cost of land in the associated area you can have things like Wonderspaces, etc. Also, there's things that are hard to do in the Bay like shooting.

Ultimately, I chose not to live there because I wanted a more urban life. And I wanted less extreme weather than the place has.

Re: The Astonishing Transformation of Austin

#37

Post by chrisco255 »

71a54xd wrote: post #25
chrisco255 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Moved there in 2017 from Florida. It's grown tremendously even in that amount of time. So many more high rises than there were 5 years ago even. Austin's been able to attract flagships like the Google Wave building downtown, which is a beautiful building on Lady Bird Lake. Far more of the "east side" has also developed in that time. A lot of old ranch houses and old bars and restaurants that I briefly got to see have…

Glad you've enjoyed it! I lived in NYC for the past eight years and returned during covid / when all my work went remote. It's sad, but I don't really plan on staying. If anything, I'll take irate left wing politics over low IQ pickup truck road rage any day. Austin used to be something special (maybe it's just the way I remember it) and now most of the charm I remember is gone or has been fully commercialized. Havin…

So will you be going back to NYC? I love to visit NYC whenever I can, but it does seem to "churn" a lot of people out, with folks staying for a few years then leaving.

For me, the weather is mainly bad in the peak of summer. 9-10 months of the year or so, it's great. The cedar pollen is pretty bad though, so if you have allergies I can understand.

Re: The Astonishing Transformation of Austin

#38

Post by ngoldbaum »

rossdavidh wrote: post #28

So, I have lived in Austin since the mid-90's, having come here from the midwest via Silicon Valley (back when it was based on actual silicon, i.e. semiconductor companies). You know you have become a true Austinite when you first say "it's not as cool as it was back when I first moved here". I was hearing it in the mid-90's when I moved here, I have heard it continually in the 25+ years since. Sometime in 2050, Aust…

Look at Boulder for an example of what happens when you institute strict limits on growth.

Re: The Astonishing Transformation of Austin

#39

Post by zwkrt »

carpet_wheel wrote: post #29

"Anyone who takes 6 months of paternity leave is a loser" "I had to flee SF, the city literally built in my VC image, because someone said some mean words to me" These people are a parody of themselves. Talent-less rich kids, spending other people's money all day, and so incredibly insecure they have to constantly find ways to belittle anyone who doesn't treat them like a genius. Narcissism run rampant, and spreading…

I think it is individualism more than straight-up narcissism, but the two go closely hand-in-hand. But I do think there is a difference between people who have been enculturated to not need (or think they need) community and people who would only participate in community if they could be the leader.

Re: The Astonishing Transformation of Austin

#40

Post by com2kid »

elamje wrote: post #35

I'll take a possibly contrarian position that the growth has been mostly awesome! I've been here since 2013 and as much as people complain, there has been traffic on the 2 main arteries through Austin since I've been here. Austin is getting a lot more attention and interest from the large coastal cities which is bringing in more investment, interesting DTC/Tech companies that wouldn't have considered it otherwise, et…

> Of course it is getting more expensive and crowded. How anyone would expect otherwise is baffling to me - more people entering any city is going to increase prices and congestion.

Zone everything multi-family, remove set-back restrictions, remove parking requirements, staff up city permitting departments so they can approve within weeks, and house prices don't go up.

People flocked to the coastal cities like NYC and SF because of cheap plentiful housing and lots of job opportunities. Sure the housing sucked, but it got better as people worked those jobs and demanded better.

Housing in cities being a zero sum game (or more like negative sum...) is a new problem that we have invented for ourselves.

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