If you build it they will come. Then they will try
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10/9/2009
People want to live in Austin because of what it was. An intelligently planned grid city that made laws to protect its natural beauty and placed the needs of the city above that of the whims of developers.
So the people move into town because of what it was. But the irony of all these people moving in is that in this modern world the town rapidly moves away from what it was.
In bringing all these people here it becomes less like Austin and more like the modern cities these people tried to escape in the first place.
Kind of a tragic irony.
One that could have been avoided if the City politicians were committed to smart growth rather than paying it lip service. Of course the ability to influence polticians with money, commonly called bribery in many places, means that smart growth is a losing battle in Austin.
They dont want to build the highways and road infrastructure to support corporate sprawl to appease the old guard of Austin. Yet on the other hand they gradually cave into the money and demands of the developers and allow them to build their big box stores and fast food restaurants piecemeal on roads not designed to support them.
What you get is the worst of both worlds. All the sprawl with no infrastructure to support it. I have the scars of sitting in possibly the worst traffic in the US to prove it.
If you want to see sprawl done right go to Round Rock. I dislike sprawl but RR actually makes more sense to me than Austin. They have embraced their ugliness.
Is there a lot of things to like about parts of Austin? Sure. But I'm afraid the city is rapidly becoming a contradiction and has replaced high ideals for a quick buck.
Orbius | Austin, TX