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Downtown Projects


Longhorn Al

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25 years ago... 1999.

image.png.4aa81b25f10664716ba73d44de3bcf93.png

 

people don't believe me when i say downtown Austin used to be a barren wasteland.

  • I see Liberty Lunch down there!
  • 2nd street has come a long way.
  • lots of surface parking
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People have a REALLY strong attachment to Spaghetti Warehouse.  I probably walked through those doors like 3x and I don't think I ever ate there, but so many people mention it first when talking about that warehouse district area.  Not Mezzaluna or Sullivan's or Bitter End or Cedar Street or a dozen other memorable spots within 100 yards.  Was it actually decent food, or just the only "fancy" Italian place around in the 90's?

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That wasn't directed specifically at you.  I spent the better part of 15 years working within a block of 4th and Colorado, so whenever the topic of a changing downtown comes up, that's where my focus goes, and an easy 50% of the time, whoever I'm talking to immediately brings up Spaghetti Warehouse.  Literally happened just last week.

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, yoladu said:

25 years ago... 1999.

image.png.4aa81b25f10664716ba73d44de3bcf93.png

 

people don't believe me when i say downtown Austin used to be a barren wasteland.

  • I see Liberty Lunch down there!
  • 2nd street has come a long way.
  • lots of surface parking

And an earlier look (1897/1900) at that area….

https://www.austinchronicle.com/features/2001-01-26/80321/

 

 

IMG_2640.jpeg

Edited by Armybrat
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26 minutes ago, Mittens said:

People have a REALLY strong attachment to Spaghetti Warehouse.  I probably walked through those doors like 3x and I don't think I ever ate there, but so many people mention it first when talking about that warehouse district area.  Not Mezzaluna or Sullivan's or Bitter End or Cedar Street or a dozen other memorable spots within 100 yards.  Was it actually decent food, or just the only "fancy" Italian place around in the 90's?

I used to love Mezzaluna. In my mid/late 20s, that was a fancy night out.

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1 hour ago, Mittens said:

People have a REALLY strong attachment to Spaghetti Warehouse.  I probably walked through those doors like 3x and I don't think I ever ate there, but so many people mention it first when talking about that warehouse district area.  Not Mezzaluna or Sullivan's or Bitter End or Cedar Street or a dozen other memorable spots within 100 yards.  Was it actually decent food, or just the only "fancy" Italian place around in the 90's?

I think of Spaghetti Warehouse as more of an 80’s thing and like you I’m not sure I ever even ate there. Mezzaluna (which I loved) opened in what ‘89 or so? There was also a good older Italian place near the Back 40 bar. City Grill was another good downtown restaurant. Man looking back it’s amazing how limited the options were.

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5 hours ago, yoladu said:

25 years ago... 1999.

image.png.4aa81b25f10664716ba73d44de3bcf93.png

 

people don't believe me when i say downtown Austin used to be a barren wasteland.

  • I see Liberty Lunch down there!
  • 2nd street has come a long way.
  • lots of surface parking

It's so beautiful. I'm not crying, I just got something in my eye.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/2/2024 at 10:45 AM, Mittens said:

People have a REALLY strong attachment to Spaghetti Warehouse.  I probably walked through those doors like 3x and I don't think I ever ate there, but so many people mention it first when talking about that warehouse district area.  Not Mezzaluna or Sullivan's or Bitter End or Cedar Street or a dozen other memorable spots within 100 yards.  Was it actually decent food, or just the only "fancy" Italian place around in the 90's?

I remember going to Spaghetti Warehouse for my mom's (no pics) 40th bday and then they went to Maggie Mae's afterwards apparently.  That's one of my earliest memories of downtown.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Old Austin sucked. People confuse a nostalgia for their youth with a notion that "things were better", but the food choices were awful, the facilities were second-rate, and the state office buildings and banks looked planned by a Soviet committee who then stole the money. The live music sucked, just as it does now. People smoked everywhere, and television was literally a form of torture. 

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On 1/23/2024 at 12:28 PM, Deej said:

Flo's is still open on 35th on the West Side of Mopac. 

 

...and Flo's does good business.  Go at the wrong time and you're going to be waiting for a table.  The only other wine bar in that area was the tasting room for Wine for the People that was housed in the Spread & Co. location.  Always felt very temporary.  Oh... and Spread > Kerbey Lane all day long.  

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17 hours ago, TreatyOak said:

Old Austin sucked. People confuse a nostalgia for their youth with a notion that "things were better", but the food choices were awful, the facilities were second-rate, and the state office buildings and banks looked planned by a Soviet committee who then stole the money. The live music sucked, just as it does now. People smoked everywhere, and television was literally a form of torture. 

The live music did not suck.

BUT

Old Austin downtown had a ton of ugly ass surface parking and aside from Liberty Lunch, I remember the only areas you wanted to be were 6th street and the Red River area.  Now there's tons of places to go enjoy being downtown.  The food choices were great if you were on a budget or didn't have much taste but I feel like Paggi House and Ruth's Chris was about as elevated as you could get... and yeah, Paggi house was where we took our fancy dates but, c'mon... wasn't it like a stuffy old person's place?

Old Austin is the Austin you remember when you were young and free.  College students today will tell stories of 2024 Old Austin before it was ruined.

3 minutes ago, Deej said:

Pretty low bar. 

yes but, you know, Kerbey Lane "Old Austin" and such.

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2 minutes ago, texasdago said:

The live music did not suck.

BUT

Old Austin downtown had a ton of ugly ass surface parking and aside from Liberty Lunch, I remember the only areas you wanted to be were 6th street and the Red River area.  Now there's tons of places to go enjoy being downtown.  The food choices were great if you were on a budget or didn't have much taste but I feel like Paggi House and Ruth's Chris was about as elevated as you could get... and yeah, Paggi house was where we took our fancy dates but, c'mon... wasn't it like a stuffy old person's place?

Old Austin is the Austin you remember when you were young and free.  College students today will tell stories of 2024 Old Austin before it was ruined.

yes but, you know, Kerbey Lane "Old Austin" and such.

I'm simply not of fan of live music, so I'm biased. I went to ACL this year for a half-a-day to cover the event, (all I could take, haha) and as usual, I was amazed at how poor live music actually sounds, at least to me. There's tons of distortion, etc. And the vast majority of the fans always make my head spin. Get off of my lawn!      

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The live music is better these days, but the quantity isn't what it used to be.  It's gotten way more expensive (well above regular inflation), and the accessibility is a fucking shit-show now.  Even if was a mediocre band, I miss being able to roll up to Steamboat for $2 in parking a block away and listen to some music with friends and meet girls.  Now it's $15 and a half hour just for parking.  And then the tickets, expensive drinks, etc.  Hell, even the proper "college town" I went to in a Florida has gotten sprawl and pricey.  But I romanticize it not because it was particularly great, but I was just 19 and everything was cool and different to me after leaving home.  

There are some cool pockets of Old Austin neighborhoods that really are different now, for the worse.  And that's a shame.  But downtown?  It's light years better than it used to be.  We all remember a handful of favorite bars, venues, and restaurants.  But we conveniently overlook that it was 50% surface lots, government buildings, vacant structures, and warehouses.  The entire CBD will be completely developed within a decade.  What Stream has planned, if the renderings their drunken VPs have shown me hold to even 75% of their vision, even old farts like us will look back at the current Dirty Sixth Shitshow and think, "Yeah, Austin's changed man."  

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26 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

The live music is better these days, but the quantity isn't what it used to be.  It's gotten way more expensive (well above regular inflation), and the accessibility is a fucking shit-show now.  Even if was a mediocre band, I miss being able to roll up to Steamboat for $2 in parking a block away and listen to some music with friends and meet girls.  Now it's $15 and a half hour just for parking.  And then the tickets, expensive drinks, etc.  Hell, even the proper "college town" I went to in a Florida has gotten sprawl and pricey.  But I romanticize it not because it was particularly great, but I was just 19 and everything was cool and different to me after leaving home.  

There are some cool pockets of Old Austin neighborhoods that really are different now, for the worse.  And that's a shame.  But downtown?  It's light years better than it used to be.  We all remember a handful of favorite bars, venues, and restaurants.  But we conveniently overlook that it was 50% surface lots, government buildings, vacant structures, and warehouses.  The entire CBD will be completely developed within a decade.  What Stream has planned, if the renderings their drunken VPs have shown me hold to even 75% of their vision, even old farts like us will look back at the current Dirty Sixth Shitshow and think, "Yeah, Austin's changed man."  

Yeah, I think the live music is better, too... the quality... honestly, it depends what you like.  If someone is really into one style of music, then you get what you get.  I like all types of music cutting across all genres and I think Austin offers a really great blend of different bands and it spread all over the city so that you have great venues all over town.  Man, I was just watching a video of Kurt Cobain talking about ticket prices... its not just Austin, its everywhere.

https://www.threads.net/@philclifton/post/CxbhHL9IlSW

But yeah, drinks have gotten absurd.  My concert beverage of choice is now Lone Star.  Cheap and easy.

On the government buildings... yeah, between DT and campus was a bunch of garbage like this... 

image.png.dfbfd3496b4f9ad3b5e857cd142f1ea6.png 

image.thumb.png.cbdef467dfc0f0c160e3ffa006b8cc77.png

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