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zoux
Apr 28, 2006

We could forcibly expel every emigre from California and solve all of our traffic problems.

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Shear Modulus
Jun 9, 2010



zoux posted:

We could forcibly expel every emigre from California and solve all of our traffic problems.

What about if I emigrated from Austin to California? Would I be allowed back?

e_angst
Sep 20, 2001

by exmarx

Shifty Pony posted:

Especially when any attempt to build anything not SFH outside of the CBD is met with screams of Neighborhood Character!

A Georgetown - San Marcos commuter rail setup similar to MARC or Caltrain would be a great first step. A Liberty Hill - Bastrop or Driftwood - Elgin alignment would be amazing. And while I'm absolutely dreaming of completely politically infeasible solutions let's go ahead and annex Rollingwood and West Lake Hills.

I'd rather wall off those white flight assholes. Make the only way to get in and out of those lovely tax shelters and into Austin would be to take 2244 out to Lakeway and then get on 71 and through the gauntlet of the triangle. They aren't paying for anything in our city, so why bother accommodating their ability to get here.


zoux posted:

We could forcibly expel every emigre from California and solve all of our traffic problems.


Californians are boogeymen of our population growth. Hate to say it, but most of our growth is people moving here from DFW and Houston.

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Fine kick out every person that's lived here less than 10 years.

ReidRansom
Oct 25, 2004


e_angst posted:


Californians are boogeymen of our population growth. Hate to say it, but most of our growth is people moving here from DFW and Houston.

In 2013 Austin, Houston, and Dallas were the fastest growing cities in the US, in that order. No way the bulk of Austin's growth is from DFW and Houston people when all three are growing such as they are. It's not all Californians or anything, but don't go blaming Houston. You can still blame Dallas, because they probably did something else to deserve it.

computer parts
Nov 18, 2010

PLEASE CLAP
Here's a cool map about migration for various areas. There's some California migration but the vast majority to Austin is from elsewhere in Texas (albeit not DFW or Houston specifically).

Trabisnikof
Dec 24, 2005

Shifty Pony posted:

Especially when any attempt to build anything not SFH outside of the CBD is met with screams of Neighborhood Character!

A Georgetown - San Marcos commuter rail setup similar to MARC or Caltrain would be a great first step. A Liberty Hill - Bastrop or Driftwood - Elgin alignment would be amazing. And while I'm absolutely dreaming of completely politically infeasible solutions let's go ahead and annex Rollingwood and West Lake Hills.

I mean, I don't think building condos in hyde park is exactly decentralization.

But, when we get the money to buy MOPAC from UP, the commuter rail you want is going to happen: http://www.lonestarrail.com


Also, Austin originally was going to have a way better freeway system, but those darn NIMBY "freeways destroy communities crowd" stopped it.



(red lines are proposed freeways)


Imagine how much better Austin would be if Cesar Chavez was a freeway! Or if there'd been a freeway just west of Lamar from the Capitol to 183!

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Or if there were lanes instead of a train track running down the middle of Mopac?

Trabisnikof
Dec 24, 2005

zoux posted:

Or if there were lanes instead of a train track running down the middle of Mopac?

That train was there long before the freeway, mister. And the UP is more than happy to trade it to anyone who will build them a replacement outside of town. We just need the money.

But if we bought the track we'd use it for commuter rail not *moar lanes*

Nonsense
Jan 26, 2007

Commuter rail ain't going to do dog poo poo, and everywhere they will decide to build it in Austin will serve like 10 people.

While your at it make it warrant capital punishment to drive under the speed limit.

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Nonsense posted:

Commuter rail ain't going to do dog poo poo, and everywhere they will decide to build it in Austin will serve like 10 people.

While your at it make it warrant capital punishment to drive under the speed limit.

MetroRail is apparently killing it right now.

Trabisnikof
Dec 24, 2005

Nonsense posted:

Commuter rail ain't going to do dog poo poo, and everywhere they will decide to build it in Austin will serve like 10 people.

While your at it make it warrant capital punishment to drive under the speed limit.

You're wrong about where Lone Star Rail's (which would be the Mopac commuter rail) proposed stations would be (hint, pretty close to Mopac):




35th/Mopac would be pretty great. And the developments at Seaholm are leaving space for the future downtown station there (next to the Amtrak station).

The Domain station, Mcneil station, and downtown Round Rock station would be great for park-and-ride commuting. Don't get me wrong the LSR isn't happening soon, but its going to happen eventually.

Nonsense
Jan 26, 2007

I'm glad to be wrong, but I'm far away from central texas, and as such it is my birth right to fling inflammatory claims!

blackguy32
Oct 1, 2005

Say, do you know how to do the walk?

zoux posted:

Fine kick out every person that's lived here less than 10 years.

That's ok, I would rather move to San Antonio than move to Austin anyhow.

Trabisnikof
Dec 24, 2005

Nonsense posted:

I'm glad to be wrong, but I'm far away from central texas, and as such it is my birth right to fling inflammatory claims!

I'm all in favor of executing anyone going below the speed limit in the left lane.


So Austin-San Antonio thinks they're so cool with their theoretical rail line, but Houston-DFW wants to have a word:

quote:

During a trip to Asia next week, Gov. Rick Perry will meet with the president of a bullet train operator involved in an effort to develop a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston, his office confirmed Friday.
Perry is scheduled to meet with Central Japan Railway Company President Koei Tsugi on Monday in Tokyo. Spokesman Felix Browne described the meeting as one of several “business recruitment meetings” he has planned during a weeklong trip, which also includes a visit to China.

Japan Railway Company, also known as J.R. Central, has been working with Texas Central High-Speed Railway on a privately funded high-speed rail line between Houston and Dallas for several years. Texas Central officials have said they hope to begin operations by 2021. The project is in the middle of a federal review that is expected to take more than a year. A separate federal review of a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Fort Worth that local officials have said they intend to be an extension of the Texas Central project officially kicked off on Friday.

Nothing says Texas like private funding!

Ronwayne
Nov 20, 2007

That warm and fuzzy feeling.
I am Ozymandias, realtor of realtors, call now, floor space limited.


Its reaaaaly awkward when the neuvo almost-riche try to get their Sun-King on in a city desperately trying to avoid having a past. It means Dallas is littered with these office block projects that were never completed. But hey, gotta put something next to those tollway exits besides another Target and a Red Robin.

Ronwayne fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Sep 12, 2014

Badger of Basra
Jul 26, 2007

Trabisnikof posted:

I mean, I don't think building condos in hyde park is exactly decentralization.

But, when we get the money to buy MOPAC from UP, the commuter rail you want is going to happen: http://www.lonestarrail.com


Also, Austin originally was going to have a way better freeway system, but those darn NIMBY "freeways destroy communities crowd" stopped it.



(red lines are proposed freeways)


Imagine how much better Austin would be if Cesar Chavez was a freeway! Or if there'd been a freeway just west of Lamar from the Capitol to 183!

That is a thing that freeways do, though.

Vahakyla
May 3, 2013
As a non-texan, I say: build trains, trams and buslines everywhere. Hth.

Sardonik
Jul 1, 2005

if you like my dumb posts, you'll love my dumb youtube channel

Vahakyla posted:

As a non-texan, I say: build trains, trams and buslines everywhere. Hth.

But but but, I have it on good authority that Ford is the best in Texas. :suicide:

Seriously though I am so goddamn happy living barely a mile from where I work. Can't imagine having to deal with the ridiculous commutes my coworkers do, one all the way from Pflugerville.

Shifty Pony
Dec 28, 2004

Up ta somethin'


^^^^^^^
Work from home is the best commute. One mile is pretty swank too, do you walk in?



Vahakyla posted:

As a non-texan, I say: build trains, trams and buslines everywhere. Hth.

But the average Austin voter will say no unless there is a train stop comfortably close to their house and work, but not so close as to possibly cause inconvenience in any conceivable way.

The decade of construction would suck pretty badly as well but that's just the way it goes with such things.

And there is little funding which will be forthcoming from the state government as TXDOT is already running on empty and everyone in the lege loves beating up on Austin for brownie points in their home districts. Federal funding is not going to happen either.

Yngwie Mangosteen
Aug 23, 2007

Ronwayne posted:

*The lovely Dallas-only phenomenoa of "60mph bumper-to-bumper" notwithstanding. I mean if anyone sneezes we'll all die, but at least we're getting somewhere.

From the last page but I wanted to interrupt trainchat to say, as a native of DFW who now lives in Houston? I miss the everloving gently caress out of going that fast despite it being bumper to bumper. I want to give the finger to every piece of poo poo in Houston with a Beamer that rides the goddamned break and makes everyone else's commute take for loving ever.

For gods sakes, learn to drive Houston. The only place worse than here for traffic is Austin and Bangkok.

Femur
Jan 10, 2004
I REALLY NEED TO SHUT THE FUCK UP
Yeah, traffic is slow for no freaken reason; I believe it's assholes who want to cut the exit ramps, chaining into assholes who want to get pass the first one, and all the breaking this sets off. Our choke points suck also.

That's why Dallas's highway system can enjoy high speeds, trapped together forever.

Femur fucked around with this message at 06:29 on Sep 12, 2014

Swan Oat
Oct 9, 2012

I was selected for my skill.
Living one mile from my office has done wonders for my quality of life in the last six months, it is unbelievable. Everyone should be able to do that, or, ride a train or some poo poo. Commuting hours every day is soul crushing.

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

I used to commute to downtown from Georgetown.

Alkydere
Jun 7, 2010
Capitol: A building or complex of buildings in which any legislature meets.
Capital: A city designated as a legislative seat by the government or some other authority, often the city in which the government is located; otherwise the most important city within a country or a subdivision of it.



zoux posted:

I used to commute to downtown from Georgetown.

Ouch. Just Ouch.

Badger of Basra
Jul 26, 2007

zoux posted:

I used to commute to downtown from Georgetown.

jfc.

I commuted from Hyde Park to downtown and that was too much for me.

Dameius
Apr 3, 2006

Badger of Basra posted:

jfc.

I commuted from Hyde Park to downtown and that was too much for me.

My dad would commute from the west end of Sealy to downtown Houston three times a week, to Sugar Land on other days. It boggled my mind. On an empty freeway that is like 45 minutes to an hour.

Vahakyla
May 3, 2013

Swan Oat posted:

Living one mile from my office has done wonders for my quality of life in the last six months, it is unbelievable. Everyone should be able to do that, or, ride a train or some poo poo. Commuting hours every day is soul crushing.

Being able to hop on a train from the front of your neighborhood, not worrying about timetables since it runs every ten minutes, and riding 15 minutes downtown to hop off and walk two minutes to your office is like some advanced form of Nirvana.

Rabble
Dec 3, 2005

Pillbug

Vahakyla posted:

Being able to hop on a train from the front of your neighborhood, not worrying about timetables since it runs every ten minutes, and riding 15 minutes downtown to hop off and walk two minutes to your office is like some advanced form of Nirvana.

Right but the Austin Rail stops running at about midnight. I'd love to take the train downtown get drunk as poo poo and take the train back home. Austin isn't some bastion of liberal hipster ideology anymore, that died about 10-15 years ago. It's time to grow up and build some infrastructure but no, we have to "keep austin weird"...

Randandal
Feb 26, 2009

The last time I was in Austin I did all the research on your transit system, missed 3 scheduled busses that were not where they said they'd be or going where they said they'd go when they said they would, eventually I said gently caress it and met up with friends on Sixth Street 3 hours late and drove back to my hotel at 3 am drunk as a skunk, because gently caress you Austin. I'm amazed your encouragement of drunk driving doesn't result in more calamity.

E
edit because this was before Uber existed

Randandal fucked around with this message at 16:25 on Sep 12, 2014

ReidRansom
Oct 25, 2004


Rabble posted:

Austin isn't some bastion of liberal hipster ideology anymore, that died about 10-15 years ago. It's time to grow up and build some infrastructure but no, we have to "keep austin weird"...

Hell, probably closer to 20 or more years ago. Now it's like someone well into middle age desperately trying to hang onto their youth; pathetic and sad, not contributing to their 401k or making sure they're well-insured because those are grim reminders of the passage of time. And whatever weird people still try to pretend exists is sterile and forced, canned and lined up on shelves to sell to the next suckers fool enough to buy it. You're not "weird" and your neighborhoods have no discernible character anymore. Just grow up and act your size, Austin.

karlor
Apr 15, 2014

:911::ussr::911::ussr:
:ussr::911::ussr::911:
:911::ussr::911::ussr:
:ussr::911::ussr::911:
College Slice

Randandal posted:

I'm amazed your encouragement of drunk driving doesn't result in more calamity.

Next time take a look at the median on I-35 through downtown. It is the most beat up section of highway median I've ever seen and I think it's pretty obvious why.

computer parts
Nov 18, 2010

PLEASE CLAP
Austin is a clear example of a place that was exaggerated in stories and then had people come from afar to try to make it real.

When in reality, it's been troubling/racist/etc for a while now.

Nonsense
Jan 26, 2007

Austin has a yellow brick road in the minds of hundreds of thousands, but it's backed up for miles, and also it is inconvenient how few big box stores there are. Assimilate Austin.

Ronwayne
Nov 20, 2007

That warm and fuzzy feeling.
Whereas Dallas has functional highways, and is completely open about being troubling and racist. The bright future of Texas.

Dante Logos
Dec 31, 2010

Ronwayne posted:

Whereas Dallas has functional highways, and is completely open about being troubling and racist. The bright future of Texas.

Considering the construction going on 635 and soon on 35, we are having congestion issues. Still terrible and racist though.

Ronwayne
Nov 20, 2007

That warm and fuzzy feeling.
For some reason I find that vaguely comforting. Austin seemed highly inauthentic, with dallas/houston-style mammonist immigrants mixing freely with the urban hillbillies in the poets shirts and flat caps. Jesus.

Yes, dallas is pretty terrible, but I found midnight gunfire to be a great aid in getting to sleep, since it is comforting to know someone is having a far worse night than you are.

Rabble
Dec 3, 2005

Pillbug
Houston probably has more character and culture than Austin ever had. Houston has actual museums and a whole theater district, plus the growth of montrose and the heights. Austin is the college graduate that got a job in town and still hangs out in west campus ten years later. If the city grows up then they have to confront the reality that they aren't young anymore.

Of course it really doesn't matter because all the houses, apartments, and small dormitories that gave west campus its character were torn down to build 10 story "luxury" apartment complexes. South Congress' one defining feature, the food trailer park, was sold to developers to make a hotel. Why do we need a hotel on South Congress when the only thing around it is a bunch of tiny overpriced hipster shops and houses...who knows? But god forbid we build a drat freeway system, that would ruin the whole city.

(also food trailers are a bunch of bullshit anyway, let me pay $12 for a burger and fries so I can eat it on a waterlogged picnic table and get harassed by homeless people)

e_angst
Sep 20, 2001

by exmarx

computer parts posted:

Austin is a clear example of a place that was exaggerated in stories and then had people come from afar to try to make it real.

When in reality, it's been troubling/racist/etc for a while now.

Austin was never not racist (see the "gentlemen's agreement"), and it's still liberal for being in Texas. The problem is there are all these kids who move here from deep-red suburbs and have their first experience with being in an liberal urban environment can lead them into a full Garzorpazorp meltdown ("God is dead! The government's lame! Thanksgiving is about killing Indians! Jesus wasn't born on Christmas! They moved the date!") and turning into Alex Jones acolytes.

Honestly, though, I've lived here since 1998 and Austin has been slowly, steadily getting better the entire time. Granted, 1998-2001 was pretty much the city's nadir. The last vestiges of the slacker era (back when you could, as some of my friends did, work as a seasonal employee for the IRS from January to April and have enough money to pay your $100/month rent for the entire year) went away as Dell took off and the dot-com boom happened. Then that went bust and suddenly things were real poo poo (I remember the job fair for the Target that was opening at I-35 & 290 drawing hundreds of people because it was the only jobs that were around at the time.)

Now Austin's a lot different, and while a lot of old-timers may not accept how different it is, it's a great place to be. If you're looking for work there are plenty of jobs (and if you can code you basically get to write your own ticket), if you are starting a business it's a good place to get things off the ground, and there's still a lot more interesting things going on in the arts and live performance (music, comedy, etc) scenes than anywhere else in the state.

Now if we could just vote in some goddamn rail there'd be nothing left for Dallas to lord over us.

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BrutalistMcDonalds
Oct 4, 2012


Lipstick Apathy
Hotels are going up everywhere in Austin because of the conferences and festivals. There's simply not enough accommodation to meet demand. (Hey, what's new?) I ended up taking someone in during the last SXSW (the interactive part!) because the hotels were booked across town and the few available Airbnbs were left to a bidding war between some very, very rich people.

I get the feeling I won't stay here due to the rising cost of housing. It really started accelerating right when I started being able to afford it. But being able to afford it means working a lot, which means I don't have time to do any of the "cool" things the city has to offer. I've made it! (At least for now.) But I'm also paying a premium for the privilege of not doing these exciting things.

Better to live in a city like Dallas or Houston where there's more money left in my pocket. But then I hear rent is rising sharply in those cities too...

Edit: The discussion about "authentic" urban areas makes me feel old. I simply can't care that much. And I'm in my late twenties!

BrutalistMcDonalds fucked around with this message at 18:40 on Sep 12, 2014

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