Austin is a unique city, it tries to be a unique city, I was impressed by places such as the Alamo Drafthouse, a movie theatre that serves hamburgers and cold draft beers inside the theaters, interactive movie, themed viewings, and other events that keep the cinema interesting and competitive in this age of video rental and general ambivalence.
I rode their bus system from the exurbs in the North to downtown expecting the worst and it really is quite the opposite. Austin's buses are clean, comfortable, and nice. Best of all, Google Maps has a 'take public transit' mode in the directions feature that has yet to make it into bigger cities such as Philadelphia and New York.
Austin's unofficial motto is Keep Austin Wierd. Perhaps I didn't stay long enough, but Austin was not nearly as weird as I expected it to be. The city has a lot of hype and a lot of 'indie-cred', it has a lot of independent shops like the ones pictured below, but it's a lot less dense and the downtown is a little less busy than I thought it would be, particularly for a city that calls itself the Live Music Capital of the World and wins sustainability and urban planning awards. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and I always thought about transferring/going to grad school/getting another degree at University of Texas. Austin looks like a great city and a lot of fun.
Wheatsville co-op
I rode their bus system from the exurbs in the North to downtown expecting the worst and it really is quite the opposite. Austin's buses are clean, comfortable, and nice. Best of all, Google Maps has a 'take public transit' mode in the directions feature that has yet to make it into bigger cities such as Philadelphia and New York.
Austin's unofficial motto is Keep Austin Wierd. Perhaps I didn't stay long enough, but Austin was not nearly as weird as I expected it to be. The city has a lot of hype and a lot of 'indie-cred', it has a lot of independent shops like the ones pictured below, but it's a lot less dense and the downtown is a little less busy than I thought it would be, particularly for a city that calls itself the Live Music Capital of the World and wins sustainability and urban planning awards. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and I always thought about transferring/going to grad school/getting another degree at University of Texas. Austin looks like a great city and a lot of fun.
Wheatsville co-op
An environmentally-friendly laundro-mat and a video store
Even major national banks try to be cool with their retail branches in Austin
Texadelphia, I suppose that means "brother of Texas", which is next to "Pipes Plus"
Austin: rating - B+
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2 comments:
Yeah, is it ironic when a regional chain restaurant uses "Keep Austin Weird" to mean "come here instead of going to a country-wide chain"
I don't think it's that ironic.
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