Who lives here?


Tell me about it.

3/4/2011 7:40:30 PM

I have lived here for four years and would summarize it as:

Hipsters and white suburbia, and more of an "outdoors" type of place than you would think.

Hardly any black people, and hardly any country types.

Just kind of a ritzy community with a rockin, large gay population.

Some positives:

Lots of awesome local businesses and a GREAT outdoor scene. It has some of the best running trails that you will ever see in your life. Also a wonderful dog-friendly community with amazing dog parks.

Some Negatives:

Again, hard to get past the "whiteness" of it all. There is very little racial and demographic diversity. This impacts the food selection (which is poor in my opinion) and the overall beauty of the city. There is not that much in the way of landmark architecture and museums.

Lots of Yankees move here, too.

Overall I have liked it.



[Edited on March 4, 2011 at 8:06 PM. Reason : a]

3/4/2011 7:58:49 PM

I only spent a weekend there, and it is the only part of Texas that I felt should exist based on my experience there and in other parts of the state.

3/4/2011 8:56:21 PM

^ Go to Houston next time.

Aside from all of the traffic woes that people complain about, it's a nice place.

3/4/2011 9:51:17 PM

When I got off the plane, the stewardess encouraged my to "keep it weird".

Apparently that's their slogan.

I was worried about butt stuff the entire time.

3/4/2011 10:17:40 PM

Quote :

"Hipsters"

Perfect.

Quote :

"large gay population"

And perfect.

3/4/2011 10:18:51 PM

love the food trailers.

3/4/2011 10:23:28 PM

^^ yep, more single women for me, less competition



gonna take that city by storm

3/4/2011 10:37:40 PM

Touche

3/4/2011 10:39:27 PM

Quote :

""keep it weird". Apparently that's their slogan."

Correct. I spent about 10 days there a few years ago and came home with an obligatory t-shirt:



But I enjoyed it while I was there. Lots of recreational things to do, met some nice people. The weather was awesome, because it would be dry heat and then BAM, badass afternoon thunderstorm, which I love. They had some nasty ones while I was there.

3/4/2011 11:17:34 PM

i will be in Austin from Thursday until Weds.

3/5/2011 12:08:48 AM

Oh No, a random TWW sighting in ATX perhaps?

Quote :

"^^ yep, more single women for me, less competition gonna take that city by storm"

If you like upity white chicks



[Edited on March 5, 2011 at 12:34 AM. Reason : f]

3/5/2011 12:33:08 AM

^ Well, I'm interviewing for a job there next week. If I get it, there will be two TWWers in Austin.

3/5/2011 12:27:45 PM

Quote :

"I only spent a weekend there, and it is the only part of Texas that I felt should exist based on my experience there and in other parts of the state."

fully agree with this

If I ever move away from New Orleans, it's on the very short list of U.S. cities I'd go

[Edited on March 5, 2011 at 2:50 PM. Reason : 0]

3/5/2011 2:50:13 PM

Going to Austin next Tuesday. Staying till Friday afternoon in a hotel in downtown. Will be at a conference during most of each day, but looking for suggestions on stuff to see/eat/drink. Won't have a car to get around.

1/16/2018 9:49:38 PM

what hotel are you staying at? (helps with an idea of the area if youre trying to stay walkable). I live in Dallas but I get to Austin for weekend trips a few times a year.

[Edited on January 17, 2018 at 9:41 AM. Reason : ]

1/17/2018 9:41:22 AM

Heading there weekend after next - staying at the Driskill I think ?

1/17/2018 10:05:52 PM

Quote :

"what hotel are you staying at?"

Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol

1/18/2018 11:47:15 AM

Quote :

"Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol"

You can walk by Franklin's BBQ (2 blocks) just so you can say you did....and then catch a Lyft to Black's Guadelupe street location so you can get some good BBQ without wasting your time waiting in line for hours.

You're going to be a bit of a walk from a lot of the nearby "cool" spots (15-20 minutes) except for the all the stuff on dirty 6th, if you're into that.

There's a lot of highly rated food, live music, etc. in East Austin(15 minute walk)
Places I can recommend
1) Takoba for Mexican;
2) Beunos Ares cafe for South American/empanadas type food.
3) White Horse (if you're into the honky-tonk/country music thing)

Rainey Street is a little further (20 minutes) -- there's a number of restaurants and bars with live music down here but a lot of the cool spots are heavy on the outdoor/patio seating, so I'd only bother if its a warmish night.
Places I can recommend:
1) Banger's Sausage House and Beer Garden.

Other food places (all at least 30+ minute walks so I'd just Lyft):
1) Torchy's Tacos on 1st street <-- this is the one Obama went to when he visited; I mean, if you care.
2) Lucky Robot (Japanese-ish) on South Congress
3) Polvos (Mexican) on 1st Street <-- this was our go to Mexican spot when we lived there (partially b/c we'd get stuck in traffic going home and it was on the way)

Non-food things:
1) If you're there on the weekend, Dirty Sixth is probably worth at least walking down for the people watching.
2) If you have some time you can catch a Lyft out to Barton Springs and hike along the trails a bit.
3) If you have a whole lot of time you can Lyft out to the Pennybacker Bridge(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennybacker_Bridge) and climb the trail that overlooks the bridge and the golf course.

[Edited on January 18, 2018 at 4:42 PM. Reason : I don't know why I still say Uber -- use Lyft :-D]

1/18/2018 4:40:58 PM

just got back - downtown is fairly walkable. Wife and I were able to walk from 6th street to south congress and up to UT campus and over to Rainey. Rainey street is a complete scene. Such a strange little corner tucked away off the center of downtown. The outdoor stuff looked cool but didn't really fit our vibe, probably would have loved it 5 years ago.

First night ate at Fixe which was pretty decent. Managed to score a reservation at chefs counter at Emmer & Rye lastnight which I would highly recommend.

1/28/2018 10:37:41 PM