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We’reTexas

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by We’reTexas

  1. And get charged for crossing all four quadrants, of course!
  2. Georgetown was the epicenter of nightlife during the Bush administration but has long since fallen out of favor as the city gentrified eastward. I was as much of a Glover Park douchebag as one could be back in the day but even I was eventually trying to bang hipster chicks in the basement of Saint Ex.
  3. I just checked and Lauriol Plaza is somehow still in business? Now that is a blast from the past.
  4. Prices are for sure sustainable but well-functioning communities? Yeah, with you there.
  5. I suppose I misread your post, but I was simply pointing out that VHCOL cities have generic suburbs too, and these burbs are increasingly the only hope for homeownership for families without generational wealth or a liquidity event. Consequently, many choose to move. Hence, the subject of this thread.
  6. Eh, not sure about that. Metropolitan areas include suburbs, and while the suburbs in these areas are more on the old small towns-engulfed-by-growth side of the spectrum, they are still for the most part very much suburbs. Since this has turned into a TX vs CA thread: we’ve always felt that if we couldn’t live in San Francisco proper we’d just move back to Texas or New Orleans. With a few exceptions, the S.F. and SJ metro areas are suburban strip mall sprawl, and often with weather nearly as bad as Texas. NIMBYism has driven homeownership away from the middle class and Prop 13 has starved municipalities of funds to support education and infrastructure. I can’t blame folks wanting to raise kids in decent suburbs with public schools for simply opting for an analogue in Circle C or Plano or wherever.
  7. What in the actual fuck is this about? Was in Austin last week and wine/cocktails at the hipster spots were easily $17+. Same in Houston.
  8. Yes, Bay Area/NYC is highest pay zone. At our company Austin would be a 20% cut, and I’d say that’s standard for FAANGs and other big tech cos.
  9. Yep, it’s just supply and demand. Crackdown on prescription opioids sent prices up and people to heroin, crackdown on heroin sent prices up and dealers cutting with fentanyl. At this point in the crisis addicts buy it as a standalone product.
  10. Same. It’s been the greatest indignity I’ve suffered in my life.
  11. Sure, but I’m talking about open air drug markets like the Tenderloin or Skid Row; no one goes to these places for drugs without an addiction in the first place. What I’m saying is these are now, and have been for a few years, blatant fentanyl markets, and it is a totally fucked situation with a massive overdose crisis.
  12. At this point there’s no pretense, people straight up buy fentanyl.
  13. The value is it’s cheap and valuable. Take a walk down the skid row of any major city and you’ll see the repeat customers.
  14. I think Odd Duck would for sure get a star. One star is kind of the realm of cool kid chefs not into the austerity of the tasting menu. Two star plus is a different world and those places sort of only exist where Michelin reviews to validate the absurd economics of their existences.
  15. Well, the climate is warmer, but it’s mostly a generational thing from the Robert Parker era. All the cool kids are much lower these days.
  16. Sanford and Benedict, imo.
  17. Cool? I, too, lived in other major American cities before living off west 6th in the early 2010s and had a blast all things considered, though it was a far cry from DC and NYC. My argument was that Austin’s downtown development was, and IMO still is, a good example of the downtown revitalization to diversify from commercial use that occurred in many cities beginning in the 2000s. Some cities failed to do this; San Francisco in particular, and I see the contrast every time I come back to Austin.
  18. I guess I still don’t understand what your argument is, besides some generalized aversion to condos. Downtown Austin has been a pretty impressive case of 2000’s mixed-use residential development, along the lines of River North in Chicago, Financial District in NYC, Little Italy in San Diego, etc, that relies on a demographic that seeks to be close to work, entertainment and public amenities such as parks and has a lesser reliance on cars: affluent singles/DINKs and downsizing empty nesters. Pied-à-terres can be annoying, I suppose, but they come with the territory. All of these neighborhood relied on luxury condos for residential development. You can of course argue Austin lags behind peer cities in some respects but it’s a little hyperbolic to suggest it’s a grocery and retail dead zone.
  19. What US downtown meets your vision of “livable”, out of curiosity?
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