Lucy's Fried Chicken in Austin

I know I've seen this pin-up sign for years biking past it on South Congress. I wondered what kind of place it was. Some of those dives are gone forever but Lucy's is still around. Interesting mural or wall art in the first pic in the background. South Congress is gentrifying and condifying but Lucy's stands out as a remnant of the past and Im glad my Mom and Dad and I got there before its gone. The fried chicken and atmosphere were awesome. Btw, are pin-ups sexist? Ive heard of protests against street names and public schools being named after racist Confederates but nothing against old Lucy. I find the increasingly bougie culture of South Austin more problematic than a pin-up. Lots of the new bougy folks in Austin go to places like Lucy's and they'll kill 'em with kindness, I suppose.

County Line BBQ in Austin

Look at the paintings on the wall and guess what they sell here. Its a great atmosphere to eat good BBQ. The inside rustic look makes you feel at home in Texas. The outside can barely be seen through the glare of the sun but the hill country views are a sweet part of this joint. Its at the beginning of the hill country west of Austin. They have photos in the entrance of folks who owned and worked the farms and ranches in the area decades ago. Im guessing those kinds of folks are the origins of the bbq food style that the County Line profits from. Back then folks simply wanted to make the most of the animal they butchered. And poor folks made the best of the bbq meats.

Zilker Park Disc Golf Course - Picnic Tables and Trees

Central Texas has lived through drought for many of the last 15 years. The Austin political leadership had two responses to disc golf parks where trees were dying at the time. First was to blame the disc golfers and shut down the course in the case of Pease park course. Second was to keep people out of certain spaces. So in Zilker Park they put heavy chain fences around valuable existing trees. In the pics below you wouldve seen that 5 or more years ago. I saw those valuable and expensive chains slowly disappear. thieves stole the chains and the plan didn't keep folks away from trees. The latest strategy is to sculpt the land to entice people into walkable areas away from trees. I like it better than the chains. And the disc golfers arnt killing the trees.

Remnants of Homes in Downtown Austin

You can see the big skyscrapers in the first pic that have increasingly crept up recently in downtown Austin. Then you see a bunch of old houses. Some have been turned into restaurants and office buildings. Some still look like residences. Yo no se. Its all on the same block as I walked and circumnavigated it. The house with the red paint and old wood siding is the most mysterious to me. See the rocks holding it up? They're right next to the AC unit. Stain glass in one window and old curtains in another. The other side in the old alley has doors and windows that are boarded up. How long before those vines overtake the whole damn structure?

Airbnb in Austin

For a few days I had the experience of living in central Austin a block away from South Congress. Not the street full of bars, gun shops and hookers of Austin lore. The modern cool South Congress with shops and pedestrians and those pesky scooters. My brother visited with his family and they got an Airbnb. Someone told them they wouldnt like the location but I loved it. The pics below show the house and the real estate nearby including the school for the deaf. That house looks rebuilt inside and on the exterior. We all agreed the foundation was the same. This neighborhood has all kinds of redos. Also lots of houses are old and classic. This seemed like a much better place to rent than a hotel. In Austin they call them STRs - Short Term Rentals. This one was a permanent STR. Other people do it part time. If STRs and help preserve a neighborhood feel and opportunities for regular folks like me and my family to enjoy places like central Austin then I like them.

Iron Works Barbecue Downtown

The look inside and out points to a previous incarnation of a real industrial workplace that literally made iron. Great barbecue is not hard to find in Austin. You don't have to wait a couple of hours starting in the early morning hours. Wake up late. Stay up drinking and sucking down the CBD and sleep in. Go biking around and develop a hunger for the bbq. Do whatever you want to have fun but don't stand in line for bbq. Go to places like the Iron Works Barbecue and you'll get great smoked meat. I can't imagine its still there in five or so years. Like Gus's Chicken place its a relic of the past with amazing food produced and delivered by ordinary people. But it doesnt fit into the current Austin urban geography. I hope Im wrong or that IWB moves to South Austin closer to me.

Grey Space

I'm guessing the fencing is to keep people out and the owners of the property less likely to face legal action when some idiot hurts themselves on this desolate and dangerous lot. Its located between the Austin Convention Center and other downtown buildings and the Rainey Street bars. Whats happening hear? The landowner is waiting for a higher price sale? The city of Austin is delaying approvals for construction which every developer claims? It's a brownfield full of dangerous materials? Im calling it grey space. Its rundown glory.

Turning A Neighborhood Into a Bar

Look at the houses and imagine families living there. Think about those folks coming back to the neighborhood they grew up in and lived in. And they see it has become a drunken tribute to Bacchanalia. I lived in Austin when this transformation happened but Im still surprised by how quickly things change. I start to imagine how family after family moved on and sold out and it began to change forever. It probably will change again in 5 or 10 or 15 years. These little house bars will be gone for some other housing and commercial venture like the other high rises you see around Rainey Street. Then well forget families ever lived there.

Mexican American Neighborhood in Austin

This used to be a real Mexican American neighborhood and theres still a few folks sticking around. But look at the corporate image of most of the Rainey Street area. And this is a cool place in Austin? The Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC) you see in the last pic is a repository of cultural knowledge and experience, but its also a poor replacement for a real Mexican neighborhood. Shifting people around with gentrification and segregation rules didnt support Mexican Americans. Pushing hard working people of color out of their traditional neighborhoods didnt help Mexican Americans. Do institutions like the MACC help? In the fourth picture down you see two well-dressed folks we overheard talking. And they're talking politics. About who would be a better candidate for some political office. These kinds of conversations have been happening for decades in Austin among Mexican Americans and progressives. The development of downtown to the detriment of working people and black and Latino folks is obvious from the scenes around Rainey Street and downtown and East Austin. What progress has been made and what social justice has arisen from the progressives in Austin?