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PvilleStang

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Posts posted by PvilleStang

  1. On 2/9/2024 at 2:07 PM, texasdago said:

    I'm on my second round living in Austin.  First round was during my college years... the best time for one to live in Austin.  Yeah, it was kick ass back then for sure but "round two" me will tell you the current Austin while more expensive - definitely more expensive - offers better food than it used to, dare I say more music options than before (the music scene/options are truly ridiculous), more places to go have fun at night (used to just be mostly 6th street and Red River a few places in west campus... now east Austin, west 6th, south Lamar/1st/congress, etc), more outdoor options (just look at the people paddleboarding on Town Lake and having a good time... nobody did that crap when I was in college), breweries, wineries, stuff in the hill country, a more vibrant downtown (I don't miss the surface lots)... I really enjoy it.  I do hope to get the F out of Texas eventually but, for now, I'm making the most of it... even at 109 degrees.

    Every perk of "New Austin" is nothing unique to Austin.  Breweries, wineries, live music, decent restaurants, all these things are popping up in almost every town with a decent sized population.  Breweries are sprouting up left and right, and are currently experience attrition due to oversaturation and people switching from beer to other alternatives or not drinking.  Seems like local restaurants are overtaking the chains left and right, too.  As good as we are locally, we still don't have a ton of great James Beard winners, nor do we boast a single Michelin star in the city.  I would say your experience is more of a post-covid culture shift versus an Austin awakening.

  2. 9 hours ago, royiv said:

    The sentence "Take Airport to 45th to Mopac" should give you enough clues as to which side of the river she's referring to.

    This seems to be a rare occasion where the person included SOME context.  But North I-35 and 290 is MUCH easier to understand.

     

    The fun is when they start throwing in the direction of traffic AND section of 35: Southbound North I-35.

  3. 1 hour ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

    Most people do do this but you should drain your tanks yearly.  I just drained both of mine last weekend that were 12 months old and had a decent amount of sediment already.  Check the anode rods as well.  

    I need to check the anode rods for sure. And considering switching the drain valves to a larger ball valve next go-round to help get all the sediment out during the draining process.  Tanks are old, through, were in the house when we bought it, and likely around 7-10 years old now.  Living on borrowed time.  /hijack

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  4. 1 hour ago, Samson's Wig said:

    Does anyone have evidence that a significant number of people live in those downtown condos?  I'm talking about human beings, not trust fund babies partying on daddy's dime, but actual functional working adults who contribute to our local economy and community and have a primary residence downtown?   We've got some friends who work downtown and have a condo for when they work late and don't want to drive home to the hill country, but I'm not counting that either.  I've lived in the downtown area of a number of major cities, within America and outside of it.  The downtown area is a genuine center of the city in these places, with jobs and the necessities of daily life (laundromats, grocery stores, hardware stores, etc.)   Like KaiserSoze, I used to live just across the river off Congress, but it was at a time when no one lived downtown at all (in the olden times before the birth of the highrises).    As far as residents go, it was a dead zone then, and it still feels like one now.  My wife worked downtown at the time and we liked that she could bike to work, but she seemed like the only one doing it.  We had to drive to actually run any basic errands at all.  Nothing about downtown Austin today seems attractive for a permanent residence unless you're a young person with disposable income, no responsibilities, and enjoy partying at nightclubs. South of the river is a slightly different story, of course. 

    Are these condos being built for anything more than vehicles for money laundering?   I appreciate the notion of a livable downtown and think it's a great thing. I just don't see any evidence that we have one in this city.   We have built many residences but have done little else to make downtown an attractive place to live.  The jobs aren't even there in significant numbers.  Building more condos doesn't seem like a solution to anything other than satisfying more developers, short-term rental investors, and foreign money launderers.  More investment in things like the library appeals to me much more.  Make downtown a place people actually want to live, then build the condos.  We've put the cart way before the horse, and I don't see a single benefit to Austin residents and taxpayers.

    I'm just going to throw this out there, but you could search for homesteads in the 78701 zipcode vs non-homesteads in the same area.  I'd bet you there's not a ton of HS exemptions.

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  5. 7 minutes ago, nnm said:

    Attic water heaters are the stupidest design feature since the short TAMU competition swimming pool or staircase to nowhere.  

    Water heaters are almost guaranteed to fail at about 10 years of age and start leaking, usually when the drain for the drip pan also happens to be clogged. Consequently, every house with an attic water heater will at some point be, at a minimum, repainting a ceiling, and most likely doing a fair amount of drywall work every ten years. All to save 2 square feet of space in a garage.

    Makes me ragey.

    Don't disagree.  And on top of that, they have changed the dimentions of the larger water heaters, so you can't put a 55 gallon tank in the attic since it's squattier than it used to be.  And don't forget, the sediment in the tank that can't be removed easily adds another 50+ lbs of crap you have to haul down from the attic. 

     

    Unfortunately in our case, they put them up there because there was no utility closet in the house, and the garage wasn't an option.

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  6. 16 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

     

    some years back my wife decided we needed to drip a faucet. So she dripped the hot water. 

     

    You're wrong on this one.  We have attic water heaters, and they still need the water flowing through the cold side to prevent them from freezing up, too.  I try to run both if possible, but at least one faucet on either side of the house is running the hot side.

    Granted, we're in central Texas, so our building codes don't require the same amount of forethought in plumbing they use up north (WH in the basement, insulating the supply and feed lines, etc.)

  7. 17 hours ago, honolulu horn said:

    "Damn, I think that guy might've killed himself! I wonder how badly he's hurt!......meh, off to the post office, I've got some letters to mail." 

    I was waiting for the boom at the end.  If I'm that guy, I'm parking my truck a mile away before I try to do anything.

  8. https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/woman-charged-with-impersonating-officer-robbery-theft

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    Quote

    AUSTIN, Texas — A woman has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies including impersonating a public servant, robbery, and theft after allegedly forcibly pulling a car over and pretending to be a cop before robbing the victims of their IDs and other belongings.

    According to court documents, Westlake Hills Police Department officers responded Friday to a call of a robbery in progress in West Austin.

    Evelyn Ibarra Fernandez, 23, allegedly chased the victim's car for a mile on Westlake Drive with her hazards flashing and horn honking before turning and blocking the car in a driveway on Trailview Mesa Drive. She then pulled one woman from the car, falsely identified herself as a police and took the victim's ID, Air Pods, a cell phone, and more than $800 in cash.

    Fernandez then allegedly went through belongings in the backseat of the victim's car taking cash, credit cards, and IDs from a backpack. The affidavit says despite a language barrier, the women resisted Ibarra-Fernandez until the real police showed up.

    As a 20-year veteran of law enforcement, Tyler Owen with the Texas Municipal Police Association says becoming a cop is a real achievement for many like himself.

    "All the men or women out there that are working right now some have you know, that was a lifetime goal for them," Owen said.

    But thanks to the internet, he says instances of cop impersonators are becoming more common.

    "Purchasing emergency lights has become more readily available, you know, and that's just daily," Owen said. "We do see a lot of these cases that are mental disorders. You know, time's going to tell in this investigation, to maybe unveil why this person did what they did."

    Fernandez was detained until Travis County Sheriff's deputies arrived, although documents say she denied stealing anything or ever impersonating a police officer. She also told deputies she was only trying to help the back passenger who she thought was drugged.

    Owen says if you ever find yourself uncomfortable during a suspicious traffic stop, put on your hazards and call 9-1-1. Dispatch will either be able to tell police you're looking for a safe area to pull over, or get help sent to you.

    "Be aware of the officers within your community," Owen said. "And if you're traveling through a community you know, again, just kind of be aware of what you're driving through and who's behind you."

    He says under Texas law, all traffic stops must be done in marked vehicles. So especially at night, pull over in a well-lit area and be vigilant.

    "I think law enforcement is going to be compassionate and they're going to show compassion when the citizens don't feel safe pulling over in not well-lit or dangerous situations," Owen said.

    Fernandez was taken into custody at the scene. She is charged with a third-degree felony count of impersonating a public servant, a second-degree felony count of robbery by assault, and a state jail felony count of theft from a person.

     

  9. 11 hours ago, huge said:

    At the one in Houston I learned that I can buy a 33 foot Cobalt tow boat for $694k.

    That seems like a lot.

    That thing better float, fly, and fu__ for that price.

  10. 8 hours ago, bolverk said:

     

    Cities have to take on debt to pay for new infrastructure of all types to accommodate growth, especially fast-growing ones such as Austin. I haven't looked up when the old library was built, but the thing was way too small and way too old. It was time for a new one. It was put on the ballot, and the voters in Austin collectively agreed through a bond election to take on debt to build a new one.

     

    That said, let's take a look at some of Austin's comps in terms of debt per capita, according to the Texas Comptroller (link provided so you can see for yourself), to see where the City of Austin as a single taxing entity stands:

    Austin             $1,548 
    Houston         $1,476 
    Dallas             $1,447 
    San Antonio   $1,237 
    Fort Worth       $824 

    So, we're pretty much in line with Houston/Dallas and a little above San Antonio, but Austin has also been growing much faster than all of them. I don't know what the heck is going on in Fort Worth, but good for them.

    Now, let's compare Austin to some of our really responsible, fast-growing Central Texas neighbors who are obviously the models of good governance compared to Austin's spend-thrift ways.

    San Marcos     $5,078 
    Georgetown    $2,606 
    Cedar Park      $2,202 
    Leander          $2,058 
    Round Rock    $1,711 

    Wait, hold up a minute. Are you trying to tell me that Austin has the lowest per capita debt burden? I'm so confused...

     

    Okay, well, surely Austinites are paying out the wazoo in taxes to keep the debt so low because we know this City is fucking incompetent (link to rates).

    Dallas             0.73570
    Fort Worth     0.67250
    San Antonio   0.54159
    Houston         0.51919
    Austin             0.44580

     

    Against our neighbors:

    San Marcos    0.603000
    Leander          0.417282
    Georgetown   0.374000
    Cedar Park      0.370000
    Round Rock    0.342000

    "Ha! I told you Austin's taxes were too high!"

    Well, you see, those suburban areas are largely trying to grow themselves out of debt by keeping low taxes to draw development stemming from Austin's growth. They're also taking out bonds that don't really increase the existing tax rates to fund new infrastructure. In essence, they're betting that their growth will pay for itself over the long term. Also, those suburban areas have the added benefit of developers often footing the bill for new infrastructure to new subdivisions. Finally, they don't have a whole lot of aging infrastructure that needs to be replaced (San Marcos might be the exception, and look at their rate). With the debt burden and the tax rates comparisons, it seems to me that we've got a pretty manageable situation.

    Is Austin perfect? Fuck no. Are there some stupid things the City does? Fuck, yes. But sometimes some of y'all get yourselves in way too much of a hissy fit and obsessed over the dumbest shit like a goddamned new library that was sorely needed. Maybe look around at what's going on in other places before you freak the fuck out.  

    Now, break up the spending by department, if you want to get into the weeds here.  Homeless services, Arts and Entertainment, etc.  We spend more money on the icing on the cake rather than the actual cake itself.  We need to ensure the basic necessities of a community are handled properly (Austin Energy and their tree trimming, road maintenance, water infrastructure maintenance, trash service, city sanitation workers, etc.) before we start throwing money at shit like tax payer funded cultural museums, DEI initiatives, investing in climate change, etc.  Hell, even building trains that serve a SLIVER of our population while alienating most the rest is a poor stewardship of our tax dollars.

    The fact that the city has that much debt PER CAPITA, compiled with the county debt per capita, state, and national debt is what's going to drive us into the shitter in a generation or two, and as long as we have this current mindset where we'll just print money or tax everyone, we're doomed.

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  11. 12 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

    You could put a gun to their downy heads and they wouldn’t be able to tell you how much the library cost, how it was financed, or whether/how long they were paying for it. Hell there’s a 60%+ chance they voted for it, if they were even here.

    But they sure are angry about it. 

    Libraries lend out e books. Real popular.

    Now why do you have to beseech the down syndrome folks.  Calling ACC aggy is even an insult to aggy.

    11 hours ago, Deej said:

    I'm starting to believe Bozo is Adler.

    The next few posts sure seem to support your theory:

    11 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

    There’s a housing shortage because we spent 40 years attempting to stop time. Welcome to the party pal!

    11 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

    Successful cities are proud of themselves and rightly so. This city could do with a lot more vanity, if only we aspired to something better than yesterday. I still can’t believe we built the library. We would never do it today. 

     

  12. 23 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

    Fair comparison.   But I drive by this branch on Enfield at opening, sometimes at lunch, sometimes on Fridays at 5, many Saturdays.  And there’s just never anybody there except maybe a car or two in the ATM line.  They shut down all their drive- thru lanes.  It’s a $3mm+ lot that is basically just a cash station and one dude hoping you’ll stumble inside today to rollover an IRA.  They’re dead and they don’t fucking know it yet

    Something something downtown Austin post office?

  13. 26 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

    Never mind the fucking pile of cash we had to send to Bruce last week to keep our house from being seized.  For what?  I have no fucking idea.  I guess so ACC can open up another campus somewhere to host servers with which students can dial in remotely for course instruction?  Or Austin city services I never see except when they contract out to meter reader third-party services to charge me for waste-water averaging when somebody forgets to flip a switch.  

    He says thanks!  Gotta keep his living room stocked with the latest in model train accessories.


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  14. 8 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

    Yeah, I get it.  But when I think of your words, 'Talent Pool", i don't really think of paper pushers at the Texas Workforce Commission or GLO.  I get they need to a few days every 2 years walk over to the Capitol, but last I checked they're still allowed to drive over and park for free.  I have business in the Capitol regularly and I somehow make it work without having 500 square feet of office space and a reserved spot costing taxpayers $15,000/year just in overhead.  I mean, it's cooler now with that plaza and all between UT and the Dome, but it's just 10,000 workers taking up valuable space that could just as easily do their job in another part of town or remotely and hoof it in a couple times in odd-numbered years to deal with their overseers.  

    There's a certain kind of person / mindset that works for the state.  Having worked for several agencies, I can attest that there is actual talent working for most agencies, but the some of the front end workers are the ones that give the rest a bad name.  That said, most state agencies want(ed) to have all their employees working in the same building and close to the capitol, but I think those sentiments are a few years past their prime.  You might also notice that most the agencies that are in close proximity to the capitol are the more high maintenance agencies, if you will.  And I know there's still some tunnels from the capitol to a few of the buildings north of 15th, so I have a feeling those agencies will be the last to give up their office buildings. 

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  15. 1 hour ago, YGIFS said:

    What bugs the fuck outta me is the continued Capitol Plaza complex north of the Dome.  Their argument continues to be that they needed all that land and money for new builds to provide services for Texans.  When we all know goddamned well none of us goes in person to any of those buildings, even those of us who do business with the State.  It's bullshit.  Those employees hate the fucking commute because they can't afford to live anywhere near it, it's hundreds of millions in new buildings that we all have to front in taxes, parking sucks, and we can access almost any state service online.  It looks nice, don't get me wrong.  But it would have better served by private development or UT campus expansion.  For every head-scratcher on City Hall, there's a dozen buildings in that Capitol/State complex that could just as easily been moved out to far North or far East Austin and not a single fucking citizen would have batted an eye.  And the government employees would actually have a better quality of life.  Big part of the reason cost of real estate is so damn expensive in Austin is because our government owns way too much of the fucking land (at all three levels).  /rant  

    You do realize why all these state agencies work in close proximity to the capital? The three or four most overpaid figure heads of each agency has to spend like 4 days every biennium answering to the state leg as to where the money went, and why they want so much more in their next 10 year financial forecasting.  
     

    For what it's worth, TRS did it right and moved away from 10th and Red River to Mueller.  Sold the premium real estate for some slightly cheaper and larger digs.  I think you have to take in consideration that any place you work that's pulling in the middle class, you can't just move to the outskirts without alienating your staff.  Take for instance if you moved from downtown to off 130 on the far east side.  Anyone coming from Leander or Cedar Park or Oak Hill just got pissed.  You move from Downtown to the Domain, all your people from Buda and Kyle just took a big commute hit.  I think the appeal of downtown is you can pull from talent pools in all directions fairly equally.

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