What the fuck is wrong with you, Austin?

[Samson's Wig 3167]

On 10/17/2023 at 9:18 PM, dcar00 said:

why not just tear down the old as shit apartment complexes off far west and mopac(or anywhere in Austin for that matter) and build 10- or 12 story complexes? better yet use the huge parking lots on said apartment complexes and build over the parking lot while having covered parking on the bottom.  4 or 5 of those solves the housing problem if people are just looking for a small place to live.  you could have 1000s of extra "places to live".

The streets in residential neighborhoods can't handle the traffic or number of cars that will be parked there. none of these people that will live in 6 units on a single family lot are not going to have cars.  In fact there will probably 12 cars for each.  no one is riding the rail/train.  the whole thing is idiotic,  just make more housing where there is already multiunit housing.

I agree completely with what you're saying.  I think the mistake is thinking that any of these attempts to change the zoning and code regs have anything to do with actually helping with housing in Austin.  It's about lining the pockets of a handful of folks, and they make more money building 2 and 3 unit properties in central Austin that can be quickly sold to investors for use as short-term rentals than they do with an apartment/condo building (and thereby making the housing situation worse, not better).  If they actually wanted to add affordable housing, then of course apartment buildings are the answer, but that's not how the grift is set up.  Developers want to build cheaply and sell quickly, not maintain a building.  Supposedly we have a bunch of new apartments coming onto the market soon.  I have no idea where and haven't noticed significant amounts of construction, but I keep hearing that they're coming. I don't know if they'll be real apartments or those money laundering bullshit condo buildings we have downtown that no actual working humans live in. Any significant apartment development should be scattered throughout town, though, and not crammed into one area.  I agree that using existing multi-unit locations is the smart move.  The problem is the lack of interest in developing such properties.  Just like banning short-term rentals, this obvious solution isn't one the crooked assholes in charge have any interest in because it's not how their bread is buttered.

 

[Bozo_Casanova 26170]

57 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

I agree completely with what you're saying.  I think the mistake is thinking that any of these attempts to change the zoning and code regs have anything to do with actually helping with housing in Austin.  It's about lining the pockets of a handful of folks, and they make more money building 2 and 3 unit properties in central Austin that can be quickly sold to investors for use as short-term rentals than they do with an apartment/condo building (and thereby making the housing situation worse, not better). 

Interesting.  How about jump on the phone and call Greg Anderson and ask him why Habitat for Humanity spent the last 15 years banging their heads against this wall? They must be rolling in dough. 

57 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

If they actually wanted to add affordable housing, then of course apartment buildings are the answer, but that's not how the grift is set up.

My brother the grift is now. The "grift" is creating a system where the only housing construction that makes sense in the central city is scraping middle class housing and building luxury. That's NOW. We have not made any major changes to the fundamental structure of the land use code in 39 years and counting, and you want to blame the people are on the losing end?! That's rich.
Where would you build apartments? Not much opportunity. Take a look at this map and the tiny flecks of orange in there. Apartments are essentially illegal everywhere but orange, and they are already built in those places. And if you tear the old ones down and build new ones, they will have to be expensive or the projects won't pencil out.

Who do you think is trying to change the code to make more orange? Of course it's the GRIFTERS, most of them sinister unpaid regular citizen-grifters who are so evil, they don't get anything out of it but maybe the opportunity to stay in the city where they were born.
 

57 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

  Supposedly we have a bunch of new apartments coming onto the market soon.  I have no idea where and haven't noticed significant amounts of construction, but I keep hearing that they're coming.  I have no idea where and haven't noticed significant amounts of construction, but I keep hearing that they're coming. I don't know if they'll be real apartments or those money laundering bullshit condo buildings we have downtown that no actual working humans live in. Any significant apartment development should be scattered throughout town, though, and not crammed into one area. 

Indeed you do not know, and the reason why you have not seen them is that they are in BFE, many in or near Hays and Wilco, on highway or major arterial frontage. Great place for a kid to grow up, huh? But why make space for families by building 4 unit buildings and the occasional duplex in pleasant neighborhoods? That's all a grift and the people trying to make that happen are grifters. And to your point about how it should be scattered throughout the city, I agree. That's a pretty concise summary of 80% of what the people you call grifters have been trying to accomplish for the last two decades. 

57 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

I agree that using existing multi-unit locations is the smart move.  The problem is the lack of interest in developing such properties.  Just like banning short-term rentals, this obvious solution isn't one the crooked assholes in charge have any interest in because it's not how their bread is buttered.

So in response to this exceptionally uninformed and deeply ironic post, I'm going to suggest that rather than blame and insult the people working for what you say you want, i.e. "real apartments;" where "actual working humans" can live, I'm going to suggest you develop a working knowledge of the topic and maybe put a little sweat into the process. 

Zoning commissions meet very Tuesday at City Hall. Come on down. You might catch a grifter in the act.

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2023 by Bozo_Casanova

[Texas Jeff 1930]

5 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Where would you build apartments? Not much opportunity. 

Start with a conditional overlay between Lamar and Guadalupe, between 38th st and the University Neighborhood Overlay, which I believe ends at 29th st.  Enable construction of really tall buildings in this area, especially close to the rail stations at 38th and Guadalupe and 29th and Guad.  Create a special tax for this zone to pay to extend the rail from 38th to the Triangle, and create a rail stop there.

Redevelop the older parts of the triangle area as tall tower housing and create a walkable community around the new rail stop.  Extend the special tax to that zone to help pay for the rail and the stop.  Not all of the area is ready for redevelopment, but the state owns a bunch of property around there and a ginormous surface parking lot at 51st and Lamar.  Go tall where possible.

In between, decide how much area is really needed for the mental health centers and create a plan to build that.  Redevelop the rest of the area as towers than are walkable to the 38th and Guad rail station, along Guad.  Redevelop whatever is possible on the other side of the street.  Hyde Park can't be redeveloped but the edges can.

Redevelop what you can up and down Duval, mid rise or higher.  The #7 bus is a damn good route.  Make it easy to get farther north on that bus to the Highland Mall area and redevelop the crap out of the ACC campus area up there.  Add a rail stop on the Red Line at about 55th and Duval and redevelop everything east of there between the rail and Airport, using tall towers.  That area would have #7 bus access to downtown plus a two stop ride to the downtown convention center.

Work with TxDot to implement the cap where the Red Line crosses IH35 and plan an overlay for that area, primarily to redevelop the HEB area (Hancock Center).  Keep the HEB.  Nuke the Sears.  Create a walkable community across the cap with tall density close to the rail station.  This could go all the way down to Fiesta Mart.

Start talking with the state about moving DPS HQ somewhere else, or rebuilding it elsewhere.  You could create a walkable community all the way from Lamar to ACC Highland Mall with lots of transit.

Consider taxes on all of this new development to fund expansion of the rail line, so that it can get to the airport and go farther up Lamar.  Once that rail is built, remove the new taxes, or reduce them to just enough to maintain that part of the system in good repair.

I'm going to stop there, but that's just north central Austin.  A few citizens could think about this for an hour and come up with many more opportunities like this that do not involve tearing down family housing and trees in interior neighborhoods.  Most of my proposals allow people to commute downtown on transit, with an easy walk to a train or bus.

[ztejas 43189]

[LCHorn 2570]

Good posts @Bozo_Casanova and @Texas Jeff.

It's interesting how some of our conspiracy minded complainers mirror the reddit Austin board whenever there's a discussion on building ANYTHING and I previously didn't realize how big a faction this might comprise. 

I presumed it was just anti-growth versus pro-development, but to read reddit and @Samson's Wig is to see a purity test requiring any current property owner to abstain from doing anything because they might stand to take some benefit from it. 

 

[CooterBrown 17851]

So if I understand you correctly, you are saying that rather than create opportunities for home ownership for middle and upper middle class families in the neighborhoods they are being priced out of, you would you would create opportunities for them to rent apartments in large complexes on corridors.  Is that right? 

I have some bad news for you
Spoiler

you're Mayor Steve Adler

 
 

Why does home ownership have to mean single family residential? Condos are a viable option. Terraced townhomes with backyards are a great option if they would be allowed.

[We’reTexas 1467]

2 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

I agree completely with what you're saying.  I think the mistake is thinking that any of these attempts to change the zoning and code regs have anything to do with actually helping with housing in Austin.  It's about lining the pockets of a handful of folks, and they make more money building 2 and 3 unit properties in central Austin that can be quickly sold to investors for use as short-term rentals than they do with an apartment/condo building (and thereby making the housing situation worse, not better).  If they actually wanted to add affordable housing, then of course apartment buildings are the answer, but that's not how the grift is set up.  Developers want to build cheaply and sell quickly, not maintain a building.  Supposedly we have a bunch of new apartments coming onto the market soon.  I have no idea where and haven't noticed significant amounts of construction, but I keep hearing that they're coming. I don't know if they'll be real apartments or those money laundering bullshit condo buildings we have downtown that no actual working humans live in. Any significant apartment development should be scattered throughout town, though, and not crammed into one area.  I agree that using existing multi-unit locations is the smart move.  The problem is the lack of interest in developing such properties.  Just like banning short-term rentals, this obvious solution isn't one the crooked assholes in charge have any interest in because it's not how their bread is buttered.

 

 

[Bozo_Casanova 26170]

2 hours ago, Texas Jeff said:

I'm going to stop there, but that's just north central Austin.  A few citizens could think about this for an hour and come up with many more opportunities like this that do not involve tearing down family housing and trees in interior neighborhoods.  Most of my proposals allow people to commute downtown on transit, with an easy walk to a train or bus.

This is a good post made in good faith, but a couple of things - 
1) CodeNext was in the spirit of that kind of targeted rezoning (like what you said about the edges of Hyde Park, and that got the "death panel" treatment in the form of scare tactics about tearing down houses with literal pictures of bulldozers on yard signs. So having been through a couple of decades my opinion is that half measure proposals aren't worth the spilt liquor.
2) Second, even if what you propose was politically viable, half measures can't come close to meeting the unmet demand for housing, because the it's not really a capital A affordable housing problem. It's a general shortage of supply across the entire income spectrum, and the impact is greater for those at the bottom half, because they simply can't compete with the top half.  We have lack of housing diversity, because essentially everything between single family and giant-plex apartments is illegal or doesn't pencil out, AKA, the missing middle.  

BTW- you mentioned that the interior of Hyde Park "can't be redeveloped." That's false. It's constantly in the process of being redeveloped, as is every central city neighborhood, with duplexes being converted into single family homes, vacant lots are being developed with SF homes, big houses cut into small apartment buildings are being coverted into single family homes, and existing single family homes are being torn down and new SH homes are being built in their place, to the maximum size allowed by the McMansion envelope, because the McMansion ordinance's primary effect is to disincentivize everything but McMansions. 
So really there are two choices:
1) Either, we allow housing diversity of the type that already exists in Hyde Park but is non-compliant and slowly being redeveloped out of existence. or
2) Single Family neighborhoods in cenral Austin are redeveloped into much richer and less diverse single family neighborhoods. 

I choose #1, because I would rather see Hyde Park be the kind of community of people that it has been.

[Bozo_Casanova 26170]

1 hour ago, CooterBrown said:

Why does home ownership have to mean single family residential? Condos are a viable option. Terraced townhomes with backyards are a great option if they would be allowed.

Completely agree.

[Bozo_Casanova 26170]

2 hours ago, LCHorn said:

I presumed it was just anti-growth versus pro-development, but to read reddit and @Samson's Wig is to see a purity test requiring any current property owner to abstain from doing anything because they might stand to take some benefit from it. 

My favorite thing is the tankies who absolutely oppose everything but social and public housing based on need and incumbency, because fixing the code is less practical than overthrowing capitalism. 

Edited October 21, 2023 by Bozo_Casanova

[We’reTexas 1467]

7 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

My favorite thing is the tankies who absolutely oppose everything but social and public housing based on need and incumbency, because fixing the code is less practical than overthrowing capitalism. 

Left-NIMBYism is the weirdest of all. 

[Bozo_Casanova 26170]

11 minutes ago, We’reTexas said:

Left-NIMBYism is the weirdest of all. 

a tangent, but I don't use the term NIMBY. There's nothing irrational about not wanting something in your backyard that you might be fine with otherwise. But more importantly, it's imprecise. Sometimes we call people NIMBYs when they are really BANANAs or CAVE people:

Build
Abolutely 
Nothing
Anywhere
Near
Anything

CItizens
Against
Virtually
Everything

Edited October 21, 2023 by Bozo_Casanova

[Bevo 13468]

That would be me. Austin is too big, has too many people, lacks infrastructure such as water, roads, and transportation, lacks green space, has diminishing beauty and uniqueness and is quickly working towards becoming Houston without theater and shopping.

[Bozo_Casanova 26170]

11 minutes ago, Bevo said:

That would be me. Austin is too big, has too many people, lacks infrastructure such as water, roads, and transportation, lacks green space, has diminishing beauty and uniqueness and is quickly working towards becoming Houston without theater and shopping.

Look I'm with you. But there's no time machine option. If we build it they will come. They will also come if we don't build it. 

[Bevo 13468]

47 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Look I'm with you. But there's no time machine option. If we build it they will come. They will also come if we don't build it. 

 

 

[Bozo_Casanova 26170]

53 minutes ago, Bevo said:

 

 

Ironically one of the things people in this city who advocate for more housing also advocate for is to eliminate parking requirements.  

[TKthunder2 4973]

Looks I’m generally pro-density. My neighborhood has some duplex and apartments nearby and other than waiting 20 minutes for a school to load/unload at the apartment it doesn’t hurt my family or neighbors.

That being said, I also don’t fully agree that everyone should be able to live Central because they want to. After I graduated, I had to move out to the suburbs and commute nearly an hour twice a day in order to find something affordable. After living there for a decade and saving up the wife and I were eventually able to move within the city but still not what anyone would consider Central Austin.

Even if you build high density housing, most of those will just be bought up by investors and the people they were designed to help will quickly be priced out.

While we can want a city full of mixed housing that ship has likely sailed. Texas Jeff’s suggestions are a good start. Finding specific areas of opportunity is really where the city’s focus should be along with providing better access to/around the Central corridor. The train was supposed to be the solution (not a great one but it would have helped) but absent some miracle turnaround that doesn’t seem to be in the cards.

[Guest]

15 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Look I'm with you. But there's no time machine option. If we build it they will come. They will also come if we don't build it. 

 

7 hours ago, TKthunder2 said:

Looks I’m generally pro-density. My neighborhood has some duplex and apartments nearby and other than waiting 20 minutes for a school to load/unload at the apartment it doesn’t hurt my family or neighbors.

That being said, I also don’t fully agree that everyone should be able to live Central because they want to. After I graduated, I had to move out to the suburbs and commute nearly an hour twice a day in order to find something affordable. After living there for a decade and saving up the wife and I were eventually able to move within the city but still not what anyone would consider Central Austin.

Even if you build high density housing, most of those will just be bought up by investors and the people they were designed to help will quickly be priced out.

While we can want a city full of mixed housing that ship has likely sailed. Texas Jeff’s suggestions are a good start. Finding specific areas of opportunity is really where the city’s focus should be along with providing better access to/around the Central corridor. The train was supposed to be the solution (not a great one but it would have helped) but absent some miracle turnaround that doesn’t seem to be in the cards.

This. When I see the code changes, I think it's trying to build a time machine. You can't reasonably go back and shoe-horn in three houses where there was one. The impact on the housing supply and prices is nil. At worst, you've now got three houses and six cars where there was one house and two cars and the spot is owned by an out of state investor who doesn't give a shit about the day-to-day issues.

Density works best when it can be planned out over a larger scale. I think Mueller seems to be an obvious winner in that department (even though it's not for everyone). Trying to build that sort of density with 1,000 different property owners in a neighborhood seems like a disaster.

[PvilleStang 2824]

I mean, does she not have someone proof reading her posts?!

[After irth 1242]

1 hour ago, PvilleStang said:

I mean, does she not have someone proof reading her posts?!

He assists her with her forehead?  I have many questions.

 

[Deej 76396]

They have service dogs who can keep you from live streaming sex acts at inappropriate times? 

[Bozo_Casanova 26170]

Interesting…

 

[PvilleStang 2824]

I mean, honestly, what kind of mickey mouse crap is that?  You want to be taken seriously in politics, don't post reasons why you're unfit for office on social media.

[Deej 76396]

The peanut butter is not going to lick itself. 

[YGIFS 19447]

So the self-professed "Lone Conservative" on that council dais has a catalogue of sex tapes, mitigates disasters with the power of positive meditation, and now has an unnecessary service dog to help with her emotions?  I have that right?

Well $50 and her right lump and says she's Lt. Gov. of Texas before the next decade is out.

[PvilleStang 2824]

3 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

So the self-professed "Lone Conservative" on that council dais has a catalogue of sex tapes, mitigates disasters with the power of positive meditation, and now has an unnecessary service dog to help with her emotions?  I have that right?

Well $50 and her right lump and says she's Lt. Gov. of Texas before the next decade is out.

All this, and she's still the most competent person sitting up there.  Says a lot about the other clowns behind the dais.  

[BabaYaga 15190]

On 10/21/2023 at 2:44 PM, Bozo_Casanova said:

Completely agree.

Yep.  To further exacerbate things, developers that own the apartment units are soliciting the cities (not just Austin) for condo maps to rezone them and they're getting shot down left and right.  It's a gold mine for a developer to buy an apartment, rezone the property, and sell off the units as individual condos, but with rates so high, the affordability concerns of the tenants who would be forced out and causing these to fall through almost every time.  

[High Plains Drifter 10961]

On 10/5/2023 at 8:26 PM, Steel Shank said:

Back on the 80s, I watched an APD officer cold cock a hand-cuffed 15 year old buddy of mine. 

Austin Police being assholes ain't nothing recent.

 

 

Back in hs in the 80s me and some friends were pulled over, told to get out of the car, and spread em. After being cuffed and searched, they told me to kneel down. I started to ask why and the cop hit me across the back of the thighs with a billy club. "I said kneel down." Completely unnecessary. Car was stopped because we were "acting suspicious."

Ended up no arrests, no tickets issued. We weren't drunk, had no drugs, were driving home from some school thing I believe.

Hurt like a mother fucker. Left huge bruises. I told my dad they were from football.

 

[Bateshorn 9853]

2 minutes ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

Back in hs in the 80s me and some friends were pulled over, told to get out of the car, and spread em. After being cuffed and searched, they told me to kneel down. I started to ask why and the cop hit me across the back of the thighs with a billy club. "I said kneel down." Completely unnecessary. Car was stopped because we were "acting suspicious."

Ended up no arrests, no tickets issued. We weren't drunk, had no drugs, were driving home from some school thing I believe.

Hurt like a mother fucker. Left huge bruises. I told my dad they were from football.

 

When I was in HS in the early 90s, some friends and I were headed to a HS soccer game.  One of my buddies was drinking a 40.  The rest of us sober, including myself as driver. 

The Westlake PD must have seen us chilling in the parking lot before the game, and decided to hassle us.  Cuffed, leaning on the cruiser after the initial "How's it going, Boys, why don't you step out of the vehicle."  When they started to search the car, I objected, like any teenage dickhead, and the officer's partner promptly bounced my head off the hood.  Saw stars/slumped to the ground, etc.  

Eventually, they figure out they don't have much more than Minor in Possession for my buddy and some sort of ticket for me, so they call our parents.  My other friend's dad, a prominent attorney at Brown McCarroll, shows up at the station to pick us up, takes one look at the huge bruise starting to emerge on the side of my face as I'm sitting on a bench in cuffs, and asks to see the shift leader quietly.  I heard yelling for about 10 minutes, another more senior office comes running in, the next thing I know, I'm being apologized to by the head of the Westlake PD. 

My mom still grounded me for most of the rest of my senior year. 

[Brisketexan 104224]

3 hours ago, YGIFS said:

So the self-professed "Lone Conservative" on that council dais has a catalogue of sex tapes, mitigates disasters with the power of positive meditation, and now has an unnecessary service dog to help with her emotions?  I have that right?

Well $50 and her right lump and says she's Lt. Gov. of Texas before the next decade is out.

 

3 hours ago, PvilleStang said:

All this, and she's still the most competent person sitting up there.  Says a lot about the other clowns behind the dais.  

These two posts are quite the one-two punch....and both are dead-on.

She is bound for much bigger things.  She's perfectly suited for this timeline.

[YGIFS 19447]

Yep.  I’m honestly glad she’s on this council as a check/balance.  Plus she’s a hoot to hang out with at TCRP holiday parties.  
 

Paige Ellis has the ability to be mayor after Watson.  She’s non controversial but she’s also representing in absentia.  I’m sitting behind the guy who is married to the councilwoman who will most likely run after Watson though, Alter

[Armybrat 40648]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

 

These two posts are quite the one-two punch....and both are dead-on.

She is bound for much bigger things.  She's perfectly suited for this timeline.

Secretary of State…. In DC.

[PvilleStang 2824]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

She is bound for much bigger things.

Going to go up a few cup sizes already?!  I feel like it was last year she just got the current set.

[crash_davis 23076]

Didn't realize that UTexas and CoA implemented this program. My daughter hasn't complained about her safety in awhile so I guess it's working.

 

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/is-west-campus-safety-cleanup-pilot-program-working/

AUSTIN (KXAN) — In August, the University of Texas announced a new pilot program to improve campus safety and keep the area clean.

The West Campus Ambassadors program includes two teams of ambassadors: safety ambassadors and cleaning ambassadors who operate on foot, bicycle and by truck.

Since the program started, both safety and cleaning ambassadors have been busy.

In just over two months, the safety ambassadors have escorted more than 130 residents home. Students who feel unsafe or want someone to walk with can request an ambassador.

Cleaning ambassadors patrol West Campus as well, looking for any trash or graffiti. So far they have hauled away more than 5,000 pounds of trash and removed about 2,600 pieces of graffiti.

The safety ambassadors will be in West Campus between 3:30 p.m. and 3 a.m. Their job will be sharing safety resources and tips, escorting residents to their destinations in the late evening, monitoring the region for unwanted activity, discouraging panhandling, working with local law enforcement to address other problematic situations, and serving as another set of eyes in the area.

The cleaning ambassadors will provide daily cleaning services, including litter and trash collection, weed abatement, graffiti and sticker removal, pressure washing and cleaning benches. In addition, the cleaning ambassadors will provide hospitality functions such as greeting visitors, providing directions and homeless outreach and de-escalation.

[Ghost of LL 15327]

2 hours ago, crash_davis said:

Didn't realize that UTexas and CoA implemented this program. My daughter hasn't complained about her safety in awhile so I guess it's working.

 

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/is-west-campus-safety-cleanup-pilot-program-working/

AUSTIN (KXAN) — In August, the University of Texas announced a new pilot program to improve campus safety and keep the area clean.

The West Campus Ambassadors program includes two teams of ambassadors: safety ambassadors and cleaning ambassadors who operate on foot, bicycle and by truck.

Since the program started, both safety and cleaning ambassadors have been busy.

In just over two months, the safety ambassadors have escorted more than 130 residents home. Students who feel unsafe or want someone to walk with can request an ambassador.

Cleaning ambassadors patrol West Campus as well, looking for any trash or graffiti. So far they have hauled away more than 5,000 pounds of trash and removed about 2,600 pieces of graffiti.

The safety ambassadors will be in West Campus between 3:30 p.m. and 3 a.m. Their job will be sharing safety resources and tips, escorting residents to their destinations in the late evening, monitoring the region for unwanted activity, discouraging panhandling, working with local law enforcement to address other problematic situations, and serving as another set of eyes in the area.

The cleaning ambassadors will provide daily cleaning services, including litter and trash collection, weed abatement, graffiti and sticker removal, pressure washing and cleaning benches. In addition, the cleaning ambassadors will provide hospitality functions such as greeting visitors, providing directions and homeless outreach and de-escalation.

The last time I drove up Guadalupe, I commented to @Brisketexan that it looked like it might be the safest street in town with the unexpected absence of drag worms.  It's just not the Drag I'm familiar and comfortable with.

[MissingInAction 24746]

The parasites haven't returned to my area, even with the relatively great weather. 

I think the weekly bulldozing of their filth sent a clear message.

[PvilleStang 2824]

Saw the first homeless man I can remember pushing a Target cart down the road yesterday on Bee Cave Rd in Bee Cave.  Causing quite the stir on the ol' Bookface.

Guess they're migrating west...

[gsoda3 3214]

i've seen more up north in wells branch. they're definitely not cleaning up trash here.

[crash_davis 23076]

This is Gerg Casar's gift to central Texas. 

Fuck him!

[Modessit 5586]

  The third (the one inside 360) was very recent and not many details are available, but someone murdered a woman and dropped her body in the neighborhood, then lit it on fire.  About as grisly as it gets.

https://www.kxan.com/news/crime/man-charged-in-investigation-after-womans-body-found-in-northwest-austin-fire-affidavit-says/

[PvilleStang 2824]

On 10/28/2023 at 5:29 AM, Modessit said:

 

 

https://www.kxan.com/news/crime/man-charged-in-investigation-after-womans-body-found-in-northwest-austin-fire-affidavit-says/

 

Whole new meaning to gas-lighting...  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12620607/Mystery-Texas-woman-33-FIRE-suspect-doused-gas-set-alight-leaving-die-road-luxury-suburb-Cops-hunt-killer.html

[Guest]

On 10/29/2023 at 7:22 AM, PvilleStang said:

Whole new meaning to gas-lighting...  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12620607/Mystery-Texas-woman-33-FIRE-suspect-doused-gas-set-alight-leaving-die-road-luxury-suburb-Cops-hunt-killer.html

Is Mesa Dr. a "luxury suburb?"

[YGIFS 19447]

Yeah, that threw me off too.  Very nice houses there that I'm sure cost more than mine.  But "luxury suburb"?  It's miles inside the Austin city limits. 

Reads like something a realtor wrote.  "Woman's body burned as she enjoyed great views just minutes from downtown!"  

Edited October 30, 2023 by YGIFS

[PvilleStang 2824]

Clearly used the Realtor Algo on ChatGPT to write the article, not the media outlet one.

[Samson's Wig 3167]

The luxury isn't in the houses, it's in the people.

[YGIFS 19447]

 Who the fuck is behind this story from Austin Realtor?  What a fucking insensitive asshole.  the whole article turns from tragedy to bullshit puff piece from a trade magazine.  And theres not 26,000 residents in Cat Mountain.  And the houses don't start at 300,000$.  The expression is, "If it bleeds, it leads."  Not, "If it bleeds, get some leads."  

[Samson's Wig 3167]

Likely a British expat living in Mueller who hasn't ventured west of Mopac other than that one trip to Fredericksburg for wine tasting with the gals.  She's got dreams, though.  We all do.

[texasdago 7544]

he average cost of a home in that area is about $675,000, according to AustinRealEstate.com.  

Can someone hook me up with some of those average homes?  

[hornian 5186]

6 hours ago, texasdago said:

he average cost of a home in that area is about $675,000, according to AustinRealEstate.com.  

Can someone hook me up with some of those average homes?  

Right?

I live in the area and I haven't seen a house sell for under a million since mid 2020. 

(of note, I bought ,y place in early 2020 and consider myself lucky). 

[Biff Tannen 45439]

My parents bought the house I grew up in there for like $200k in 1986. I hear tales of when Mesa was a dirt road back in the 50s.