Keep Austin Weird
There are pictures on the internet that show a pretty good view of the Texas State Capitol as seen looking back toward me from somewhere on this street straight ahead, but it was closed off for what Robin theorized was some sort of film project, and I wasn't going to go down there anyway. This view does manage to capture a very thin slice of Austin life, though.
Austin has a carefully crafted reputation for being "weird," so that it's sort of a version of Portland, Oregon, with cowboy boots. In modern parlance, this means there are lots of quirky bars along streets filled with people making unconventional fashion choices, and the place is more politically and culturally liberal than you'd expect for Texas. Like Portland, I suspect this is mostly hype, but also like Portland, I haven't spent enough time in Austin to really judge for myself. We only stayed long enough to see the capitol. I suspect I'd have liked Austin a lot in my 20s, but that I'm too old for it now.
What I do know about Austin is that it's grown way too fast, probably in part because people my age and younger have dealt with living in a nation built by Boomers by seeking out the kind of Authenticity™ a place like Austin is supposed to offer. In 1990, Austin's population was about 465,000, making it Louisville-sized. The 2016 estimate puts it at slightly more than twice that, at 947,000. About 160,000 of those people, 17% of the total, have gotten to town just since 2010. That works out to a lot of GenXers looking for "something real," with the Millennials pouring in after them hoping to get some of the dregs. Housing in Austin has gotten really expensive.
Robin and I will probably spend a day of a trip on our way someplace else in Austin one of these days, though. We want to see the bats, but this is the wrong time of year.
Keep Austin Weird
There are pictures on the internet that show a pretty good view of the Texas State Capitol as seen looking back toward me from somewhere on this street straight ahead, but it was closed off for what Robin theorized was some sort of film project, and I wasn't going to go down there anyway. This view does manage to capture a very thin slice of Austin life, though.
Austin has a carefully crafted reputation for being "weird," so that it's sort of a version of Portland, Oregon, with cowboy boots. In modern parlance, this means there are lots of quirky bars along streets filled with people making unconventional fashion choices, and the place is more politically and culturally liberal than you'd expect for Texas. Like Portland, I suspect this is mostly hype, but also like Portland, I haven't spent enough time in Austin to really judge for myself. We only stayed long enough to see the capitol. I suspect I'd have liked Austin a lot in my 20s, but that I'm too old for it now.
What I do know about Austin is that it's grown way too fast, probably in part because people my age and younger have dealt with living in a nation built by Boomers by seeking out the kind of Authenticity™ a place like Austin is supposed to offer. In 1990, Austin's population was about 465,000, making it Louisville-sized. The 2016 estimate puts it at slightly more than twice that, at 947,000. About 160,000 of those people, 17% of the total, have gotten to town just since 2010. That works out to a lot of GenXers looking for "something real," with the Millennials pouring in after them hoping to get some of the dregs. Housing in Austin has gotten really expensive.
Robin and I will probably spend a day of a trip on our way someplace else in Austin one of these days, though. We want to see the bats, but this is the wrong time of year.