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fragmaster01Jun 26, 2011
Well, compared to the rest of the state, I guess. For those of you who've never been there, it's like a piece of California plopped down in Texas. And yeah, it's not the greenest place in the country, unless you were talking about trees rather than sustainability. Given the article title, we'll assume not.
driftwoodtexJun 25, 2011
Greenest?? Really?? Guess it takes a visitor to see what a local doesn't. This Austin resident has the impression that there just HAS to be more sustainable places (Portland comes to mind).
Some advice for other visitors to Austin -- if you want the Salt Lick experience, go to the original in Driftwood rather than the Round Rock location.
rblancarteJun 26, 2011
Here is other advice from an Austin resident - the Salt Lick is EASILY the most overrated place in and around Austin. I agree, if you want the experience, Driftwood is the place, but IMHO, there is better BBQ and experience to be found.
Head to Lockhart, where 3 of the best places in Texas reside, in no particular order: Black's, Kreuz (pronounce Krites), and Smitty's. If you ask nicely, someone might let you in on the secret trailer in town that is better than them all.
timtimesJun 26, 2011
Suprise: Austin has one of the best publicists on the net.
Enjoy.
timtimesJun 26, 2011
Cumbaya.
Enjoy.
rblancarteJun 26, 2011
I will tell you what, in some ways, this guy does hit some of the high points of Austin. But he is certainly only seeing the good stuff. Live here a while, you will see a lot of the bad.
I have to call a few things out:
Bicycles, motorcycles and cars coexist here in harmony - WRONG. And not even close. He is right that drivers don't bat an eye at cyclist, because they don't see them. I ride, a lot here, and we are just 1 tier up from road kill to most drivers. Worse, bicycle "advocate" (a term used loosely) groups like Critical Mass have done more to hurt the driver-cyclist relationship than help it. And he talks about the Lance Armstrong Bikeway - unfortunately, like CritMass, has brought more animosity toward bikers than it has helped. I wish I could say otherwise, but Austin isn't nearly as bike friendly as his makes it out to be.
And just one more thing - traffic here is TERRIBLE. The infrastructure was never established with the growth that has happened in mind, so a city like Austin has been stuck with a terrible highway system.
SXSW/ACL - man, he got these wrong, wrong, wrong. SXSW has found ways to remain super local while still bringing in a ton of corporate acts. The live music venues that he touted in another part - the ones that don't take part in SXSW directly see huge benefits by bringing anyone in they can. ACL FEST on the other hand is super corporate. IMHO, it has little to do with real Austin City Limits other than the name. Now if he wants to talk the Friday show on the other hand ....
Dallas - who cares? The whole point of Austin is that it isn't the rest of the state. So why would you go visit the rest of the state?
I will just say this - from the outside it is really easy to see the beauty that is Austin. But there is a lot of BLAH that comes with Austin too, blah you don't see until you live here.
One big thing - you are in a political wasteland. A silent and almost powerless city that can't affect change on the state that it resides in (heavily rural and red). Hell, the legislature here has gerrymandered away the national voice of Austin. While other major cities have 2, 3 or more Congressmen serving their needs, Austin has had the local Congressional districts cut up into 1/4ths and then shot outward pulling in major right wing areas in and outnumbering the Austinites. The result is that nearly all of, a very liberal, Austin are represented by Republicans, while our needs are not heard at all.
I think most Austinites agree, we are a nice place to visit, just make sure your ticket is round trip.
gkiltzJun 26, 2011
One of the largest state capitols?
100,000 college Students within 100 miles?
The whole live music scene?
A major university of 40,000 students?
The "Silicon Prairie" technology corridor?
One of the most "liveable" Climates in the country?
And they have the audacity to call this "Surprising?"
This is more of that "Northeast bias" that there is "Nothing west of that thar Hudson besides savages, and not even that south of the Potomac!"
Why don't people writing this s**t actually GO TO the places they are writing about? They wouldn't have to refer to these things as "Surprising!"