Welcome Gentry

This pic helped me understand the connection between "gentrification" and "gentry". Affluent folks replacing working people's neighborhoods because they have the money. If you actually see the old homes in parts of Austin that are being gentrified then you would likely think they need to be replaced. Many of them are run down. Or it costs too much too fix them than to replace them. Still, the beneficiaries of economic growth are not working people.

Underpass

It's kind of the opposite of the old tales of going over a bridge with a troll. I was a little hesitant to venture into this unkown area. There's enough evidence of human habitation in these parks and paths to be wary. I wonder if that's why the old tales came about centuries ago when they told the troll stories. Bridges must have been a little dangerous in the past. Its easy for criminals to hide or escape and you are vulnerable.

Tweetsie Trail

A fun bike trail from Johnson City to the edges of Elizbethton. Some run down in between, like the abandoned factory. Rural America doesnt have to keep these sites of production but they need good jobs. The wealth these communities helped create was taken by the owners and used to buy political capital to weaken workers over time. And they weren't held to account for abandoning the people who gave them the wealth and power. On the positive side at least we have the public hike and bike trails on old railroad property. I'm not sure how the public acquired the tracks but I think we should do the same kind of thing with other abandoned or run down property. We should take it and and develop it. Sell it or give it away to make something positive happen.

More Sign Vandals

One letter makes a big difference. I agree. I would add that Austinites should also stop voting for Democratic politicians who keep taking us to war.

Canoe Sculpture

I feel like this a lot. The sculpture is on the UT campus and it fits with my experience there.

Sign Vandals

This graffiti shows up in a neighborhood in a West Austin and then gets erased. But then it comes back. I love it. The message fits well in places like Austin where people attack Republicans for being warmongers yet continue to vote for Democrats who keep the wars going.

Liers

Grammar Nazis calm down. The graffiti artists were right. The development they opposed was the usual lies and manipulation campaign. It's happening kiddy corner to the view you see. I biked by there again recently and the development is being done and the protesters voice lost out. We need better alternatives to the usual Austin development plans. Most of the new homes are too expensive for working people. Or we need better and more sustainable transportation options so people can live and work in many places. We got none of the above. But Austin is great and everybody loves Austin!

Turkey Vultures

You see the vultures scoping out the landscape and then going in for a meal. I missed pics of them flying. Even with long wings they can maneuver among the branches and chase each other around.

My house

It looks like a home in the woods to me with that beautiful oak tree over top. I'm in the city but surrounded by trees. The Texas Oaks are basically evergreens with leaves throughout the year. They drop and regrow them within a few weeks when spring starts.

Austin Skyline 2015

Gray view of Austin in winter. You can see about six cranes so I'm sure the skyline includes those buildings today. Its like looking at the pyramids of Giza. You're in awe of the power and skill it takes to make these buildings. But you also realize the only way to make such monstrosities in the modern world is because some people have enormous wealth and others dont. With this level of dense building you'd think that there would be less driving but actually it seems to coincide with more people driving into town. Austin is not creating mass transit or any other greener transportation infrastructure consistent with its wealth and population and supposed values. Perhaps excepting the scooters.

Old Plantation - McKinney Falls Sate Park

The remnants of an old rich slaveholder house near Austin, now a state park. Black folks built and worked the plantation and house in the 1800s. The McKinney family were big players in the Texas Revolution. The Civil War ruined the McKinneys and they sold the property. I wonder if the McKinney family supported the war? I think the house burned down. What's the story there? If rich people lived in this kind of house today they wouldnt seem rich. A two-story house is normal for middle class folks today. Whats that tell us about the world today compared to today? 

Slaughter Creek Ranch

This is the burned out ruins of some ranch building. Its now within a green space hike and bike set of trails. It's right next to Slaughter Creek. I don't know how it wouldnt have been flooded regularly. Maybe it was. Buildings burn down for a number of reasons, I guess. I don't know if I've seen an intact building in a public park like this. Theyre all run down. I'm trying to imagine what the buildings would have looked like and the people who would have worked and lived here.

City Goats

Domesticated animals in Hyde Park include goats. They look healthy so someone must be feeding them because they can't be grazing in town. Goats in the city seem out of place to me. What kind of live can it be? But I feel the same way with dogs. Doesnt seem right to keep them penned up.

No Pasar Sticky

Frowny face sticky on the train right of way sign. Denton, TX. I get the attitude not liking people being told to keep out. But this time it makes sense. Dont get run over, yo! Even more concerning is all the idiot drivers who dont respect bikers and pedestrians.

Distillery in Jonestown TN

Love this reclamation of the space. Taking over old spaces is great. We should be building for long term takeovers. Slow down America. Take a drink and appreciate what came before you and who built it.

Old TSTA Building

The old TSTA building and lot at 12th and Lavaca St. Its being redeveloped by its new owner. The union leadership was dumb enough to give up a property right to prime real estate to guarantee short term income. When the union eventually goes bankrupt and is decimated who will remember their selfish incompetence? I wished that union leaders would be more like entrepreneurs, just not dumb ones.

Bumper Sticker

It says "macho shithead mother fucking bastard". Could be many Austinites. Take one term away and its almost anyone in the central Austin area.

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Best BBQ in Austin?

If the line wasn't so long at Franklin's BBQ I'd probably be as dumb as these folks to pay lots of money for good BBQ. I just don't have the discipline to wake up early or the patience to stand around for hours. When Austinites tell you to do something think about doing something else. It's funny, Im not opposed to paying too much as much as I am to standing in line. Go down the street to Blacks or Terry Blacks or a dozen other BBQ places in Austin and you don't have to wait so long. You wont be as cool but youll be more satisfied.

Suffragist House

Let me summarize the placard if you can't read it. A politically influential woman once lived in this dumpy apartment house. The owner is getting tax breaks because this property is supposedly historical, yet they don't maintain its historical quality. Overcharging tenants in the UT area and ripping off the public. Lots of tax dollars get eaten by these tax breaks which shortchanges the schools and the city services. I'm so glad we have historical markers in liberal Austin.

Business Growth in Trinidad

Vibrant new businesses are popping up in Trinidad in the old run down parts of town. I saw four marijuana shops in a row in one part of town and the same in another. I read online that there are 27 shops in the area which means one shop for every 400 or so residents. I think most of the sales are from out of towners, though, and 420 tax dollars are a bug chunk of the government revenues of that town.

Trinidad Neighbors

Which one of these homes does not belong in the neighborhood? None, they're right next to each other. I think the property values are going up again recently but still the prices are fairly cheap, at least compared to Austin. These neighborhoods must be great places to buy and rebuild if you have a middle class income. I started wondering what it would be like to come home to a run down place like the last two pics and then I started imagining that happening to me one day because I spent too much money on property taxes to fix up my place.

Motel Door

I didn't notice this when I entered the room but when I left for dinner I saw the damage to the door. I realized there was no dead bolt and a crowbar or a strong kick could open this door without a key, both of which has probably happened before. Makes me think of that scene in Trains, Plains, And Automobiles when the guys got robbed. I still used the key to get in and out. And nothing was missing when I returned and no one broke in either. I took all my IDs and keys. Would locking my computer and anything of value left in the room in the car have been safer than leaving it in the room? Maybe the damage is just from people who lost their keys because they're so stoned and the crowbar was easier than calling a locksmith.

Trinidad Downtown Motel Decor

First hotel I've been in with this kind of décor. Its in the Downtown Motel in Trinidad. The image that struck me most was Marcus Garvey who represents political independence to me. Had to look up Haile Selassie to see if I had identified him correctly. I wondered, do the pics fit a stereotype of what a 420 friendly motel would display? The guy managing the place was a really nice white guy with a little daughter in the office apartment. The images evoke a memory of African heritage and culture. And its a do-it-yourself politics. Take control of your life and circumstances, embrace your families past, and dont worry about integrating into the larger cultural or political context that you live in.

Denton Downtown Redo

I lived in Denton in the 1990s. A lot has changed since then. Interesting to see the new pubs and restaurants in the old downtown buildings near the courthouse square. My Mom and Dad live only a few miles from this little Mecca of good food, beer, and people and we've been venturing there regularly when I visit from Austin. You can go to the chains near the interstate but the bad traffic there and the lack of character in those places make the local restaurants and bars way more appealing. My parents talk of moving out of Denton more toward the Austin area, probably because there's a bunch of family in the area. My instinct is the reverse, to go back to Denton and buy one of the cool old little houses near downtown. I wonder if Denton will start to condoize and gentrify and the culture will go down hill like in Austin?

West Austin Alley Home

This is in an alley between 5th and 6th Street in West Austin. A dude working in the area exclaimed incredulity about someone living there. I walked by later in the evening and saw the lights were on. I envied the dude inside. I wonder what the neighborhood was like when this house would not seem incongruous with its surroundings.

West Sixth Street Business in a House

You see these all over Central and West Austin. What used to be a home is now a business. When I see them I always wish it was a home again. I think lots of people would love to live in a home like that. They would end up having to fix it up a bit. Down the alley you can see the home in the West Austin Alley Home post. It seems like businesses should be concentrated in modern, multi-story buildings and people should be living in the old homes. Some of them are big and could be turned into coop houses. Most of these old homes will slowly be torn down and bigger concentrations of businesses and condos will replace them anyway. Its a runaway corporate culture in Austin. At least the city council will get the low wage workers caught up in the business takeover of Austin some sick days to make up for the high cost of living and loss of power.