Growing economy brings many changes
-
1/16/2008
The news portrays Austin as one of the most vibrant & growing cities in the nation. As I look around from my vantage point I'm debating if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I know that the economy impacts the vibe of a city, but the explosive growth of Austin over the past years has really challenged the city and most of what I loved about Austin 10 years ago when I moved here has disappeared.
The downtown is a hustle and bustle of new development. Many of the places that were fun and full of character have been replaced with squeeky clean corporate hotels, giant condo buildings and mixed use buildings that have retail on the bottom and apartments above. Some of it is attractive but most of it looks like the "McMansion" style apartments found all over the country. Build them fast and sell them before anyone knows the better is that I think the downtown development montra is going for.
David | Austin, TX