from Hacker News

The Astonishing Transformation of Austin

by aloukissas on 2/10/23, 7:27 PM with 73 comments

  • by vngzs on 2/10/23, 8:03 PM

  • by rossdavidh on 2/10/23, 8:33 PM

    So, I have lived in Austin since the mid-90's, having come here from the midwest via Silicon Valley (back when it was based on actual silicon, i.e. semiconductor companies).

    You know you have become a true Austinite when you first say "it's not as cool as it was back when I first moved here". I was hearing it in the mid-90's when I moved here, I have heard it continually in the 25+ years since. Sometime in 2050, Austinites will be talking about how it is no longer as cool as it was in 2022, back when they moved here.

    The thing is, Austin's vibe comes in part from the large number of newcomers. Newcomers to a city add energy, because they are still out and about looking for things to do and new friendships to make. A town of the same size, with the same industries, etc. which had been that size for a while, would not have the same vibe. Cities are vectors, not scalars; what gives Austin it's cool vibe is in part that there is a lot happening, and a big part of that is that new people are constantly showing up.

    Sure, Austin has problems from this, because building enough housing to keep the prices down is hard, and keeping the infrastructure up is also hard, and Austin needs to do better on both. But, if you could somehow freeze Austin's size where it is, or where it was in a few decades back, you would not get the same feel. Rather, it would feel stultifying, full of people who already have their close circle of friends and don't feel a need to go out much, or if they do go only to the same things they went to last year. You can't freeze a candleflame, and a growing city is more like a candleflame (reacting and changing) than it is like an ice sculpture.

  • by carpet_wheel on 2/10/23, 8:33 PM

    "Anyone who takes 6 months of paternity leave is a loser"

    "I had to flee SF, the city literally built in my VC image, because someone said some mean words to me"

    These people are a parody of themselves. Talent-less rich kids, spending other people's money all day, and so incredibly insecure they have to constantly find ways to belittle anyone who doesn't treat them like a genius. Narcissism run rampant, and spreading everywhere they decide to touch down on their endless journey away from the consequences of their own behavior.

  • by orange_joe on 2/10/23, 8:07 PM

    I understand the nostalgia for a youth and place that is gone, but it’s interesting to point out in one sentence — “Austin was beset by racial divisions” and in the next paragraph discuss the hope that the city would institute strict zoning to keep out newcomers or as the writing says “if we won’t build it, they won’t come”. So much of this piece is dedicated to the problem of housing, but ignored is the problem in its infancy. If you want artists, creatives and musicians you need to build them cheap places to live.

  • by halfmatthalfcat on 2/10/23, 7:59 PM

    I spent 8 months on a death march of a project that colored Austin for me but that aside, infrastructurally, Austin sucked getting around and didn't have a ton to offer that didn't revolve around UT (6th primarily) or Rainey. The public transit (what is that streetcar thing even?) is horribly underdeveloped and heavily car dependent. Downtown is "bridge and tunnel"-y. Maybe if I had ventured out to the burbs more, I would have found more? But it was pretty underwhelming.

  • by elamje on 2/10/23, 8:37 PM

    I'll take a possibly contrarian position that the growth has been mostly awesome!

    I've been here since 2013 and as much as people complain, there has been traffic on the 2 main arteries through Austin since I've been here. Austin is getting a lot more attention and interest from the large coastal cities which is bringing in more investment, interesting DTC/Tech companies that wouldn't have considered it otherwise, etc. Plus, if you are a relatively social person there is more fun stuff to do now than 10 years ago imo

    Of course it is getting more expensive and crowded. How anyone would expect otherwise is baffling to me - more people entering any city is going to increase prices and congestion.

  • by jcapaus on 2/14/23, 4:38 AM

    1967: arrived in Austin as a UT freshman. It was Nirvana. 1971: graduated and left for 8 years. 1979: returned to Austin where I have been ever since. Yep, more than half a century - I'm older than dirt, and older than Lawrence Wright. His article depressed me, but weird here died a slow and painful death some time ago. I am grateful to have experienced Austin as it was, and sad that all who are young will never have had that opportunity. That Austin will not return, and we can only hope that the massive city Austin is becoming will redefine itself as a very different but still vibrant and desirable place to be.

  • by renewiltord on 2/10/23, 8:36 PM

    Austin is like any other place in America. There is a dominant cultural and economic class in America: Coastal Californians. And they will transform and take your things with money. So either you can figure out how to comfortably rise with the tide or you can build a sea wall and they will breach it. You will then be left with complaints of prices and this and that.

    Everyone has been warned for ages. They all kick up the usual fuss "No Californians", "stop gentrifying", "X is full". But it doesn't matter. You may not want to give in, but your neighbour will. And then the Californians will take everything around you and mould it in the image they desire.

    And you will be left, in your intransigence, to rage against the imperialism of money, but you will be unhappy.

  • by agnos on 2/10/23, 8:35 PM

    Maybe just an untimely experience, but I visited Austin once a little over a year ago during the summer, and downtown was basically a ghost town. I assumed it was because UT was on break, but still I couldn't help thinking "where is everybody?" given the Austin hype.

    That being said, as a remote worker becoming increasingly disillusioned about Bay Area cost of living and politics, Austin is on my radar. Any Austin transplants here who can shed some light on moving there? How easy is it to establish a social network/sense of community as a newcomer?

  • by fumar on 2/10/23, 7:55 PM

    Interesting take on tech and Austin over a long period. I was one signature away from moving there in 2019. I had visited Austin on behalf of clients for fours years prior. It has it charms and a Texas-like version of Denver in a way. I passed on Austin because of its subtropical humid climate. My allergies coupled with high humidity made it an unbearable place to be for long periods of time. I put Miami in the same bucket. After years of traveling and experiencing multiple major US cities, I am sticking with Mediterranean climates.

  • by DanCarvajal on 2/10/23, 8:43 PM

    Speaking as an Oklahoman, Texas is too Texas for its own good.

  • by dpflan on 2/10/23, 7:56 PM

    Anyone who lives Austin able to provide anecdotes?

  • by fratur79 on 2/10/23, 11:15 PM

    It's bizarre when people only move to a city AFTER it's been deemed the new "It" city - then complain about how unlivable it is. The point is to find a city you like before it gets saturated. My bet is on Chicago next.