As far as that goes, neither is Longhorn football.

I was there when the shit-heel decided to call Austin 'home'. Seemed like half of the cycle freaks in the US moved to Austin overnight. They fucked up Mount Bonnell and the lakes with all of their pompous bullshit - hogging lanes, sneering at us like we were hicks, bumpkins.

I was at Eastside Cafe when Armstrong and his buddies came in, were seated and that was it. They never even got water.

Now I am in the Bay Area and it is almost as bad. Levi Leipheimer (major Bay Area cyclist) just got suspended for the same shit. You would not believe the wailing, teeth-gnashing and self-removal of hair going on because of that.

Yeah, I agree with the Longhorn f'ball thing, too.

I was one of the founding council of SXSW. We never intended for it to become what is has become - it is the total antitheses of our original vision.

The "good old days" of Austin were before the high tech boom arrived. McMansions filled the beautiful hills in West Austin, Barton Springs became polluted, traffic horrific. The quaint little shops and antique stores on S. Congress became "SoCo" along with throngs of people with no place to park. West 6th became "West End" with expensive condo highrises. Good things came along with the bad: lots of good restaurants, better selection of retail, Austin finally got a decent symphony hall, a lot of charitable contributions created the Children's Hospital, and the local economy thrived through the several recessions of the nineties, and even the 2008 debacle. I don't know if the "weird" is still there; East 6th is still lively, & at least the Austin Chronicle is still in print! SxSW is a nightmare that is just too big, and most native Austinites avoid at all costs. I was never a fan of Lance Armstrong anyway, so no loss. Willie Nelson still hangs out in the area, he was part of the early music scene, and is beloved. The whole metro area is supposed to continue growing, I won't recognize it in 10 years. I have moved out of Austin to near San Antonio, but I still miss it, it's a special city, STILL.

Austin hasn't been "weird" for at least 12 years or more.

The dotcom boom destroyed anything "weird" and the condo boom, finished off what was left.

After the Liberty Lunch vanished, the rest of what was weird downtown, slid into the trash bin of history.

all the "keep Austin weird" BS is nothing but marketing now.

Leslie is gone, most of the good live venues have since vanished and replace with over priced real estate and what was once cool and funky is now a new marketing strategy for South Congress and any other area they wish to destroy and price inflate.

6th street is nothing more than an extended frat party with no real music. No, I don't consider cover bands music.

there are teeny tiny bastions of old Austin left but they are very few and far between.

I suspect that once the formula 1 race finally runs, even those teeny tiny bastions will be gone.

Who cares? Never really paid attention to what that guy did- I doubt many people here do. I think he's a bigger name outside of Austin, only those who name drop associate the two.
The rest of the article is spot on. I've lived here half my life now (came for college and never left. no, didn't go to ut) and I barely recognize it. I refuse to go to "soco". Continental Club used to be one of favorite places now I can't find parking. The douchey, hipster-ness just oozes from soco.
Agree with a poster above- once Liberty Lunch closed, then Steamboat- hell even Hondo's had something going for it- 6th St became obsolete for music. Is Joe's Generic even open anymore?
And the apt towers...we had such a beautiful small city sky-line, it was perfect. Not anymore....

The article is a vivid reminder of what I liked the least about Austin when I lived there (through most of the 1990's). Mainly a smug self-regard that borders on parody. Yes, Austin is a nice town, with excellent quality of life. And credit should be given to the city's planners, as it has grown in a smart way that takes into account the natural environment and the residents' quality of life.

But it is not a unique city, as the article's author and many of the city's boosters like to claim. It is a city "of a type," akin to Portland, Seattle, Madison, etc - a city that caters to the needs of an educated, largely white upper class, and that has specifically failed to address in any meaningful way the economic and racial segregation that very blatantly splits the city down the middle via the I-35 interstate. In fact, just like in many other cities, Austin is following the path of gentrification that is pushing the city's poorer residents further outside the city limits in order to accommodate higher-income residents. It is also a not an "international trend-setter," as the author notes. Whatever that means (when I lived there, the Chronicle actually - without parody - published an article debating whether Austin was a "world city." Move over, London, New York and Beijing).

I know it sounds overly critical, but hey, it's a discussion board. Yes, the city has great qualities, but the unabashed boosterism papers over the rest.

in the 70's.

Native here, seen many changes. The thing I dislike the most is the higher than hell property taxes and the traffic that seems to be a never ending problem. Oh, and the fucking condos!