AUSTIN News Thread

[drummer]

Anyone know how the rains over the last week in the Austin area (and Hill Country) affected Lake Buchanan? Is it above 50% now or is that figure from the recent rains?

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by drummer

Anyone know how the rains over the last week in the Austin area (and Hill Country) affected Lake Buchanan? Is it above 50% now or is that figure from the recent rains?

50% (okay 51%) is the updated figure from today.

http://hydromet.lcra.org/riverreport/

I'm not sure if they're expecting more runoff and to fill a bit more.

[drummer]

Cool, thanks.

[JoninATX]

To much rain at Lake Belton. Reporting that's it 16ft above flood stage.

[The ATX]

We had some heated discussion on here about this several months ago. The story is in the link below the photo:


http://austin.blog.statesman.com/201...ds-eye-photos/

[IluvATX]

Originally Posted by The ATX

We had some heated discussion on here about this several months ago. The story is in the link below the photo:

http://austin.blog.statesman.com/201...ds-eye-photos/

For the record that isn't me.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by IluvATX

For the record that isn't me.

Of course it isn't. It's obviously Batman.

[pscajunguy]

Originally Posted by The ATX

Of course it isn't. It's obviously Batman.

Batman sure has nice tits!

[the Genral]

Why is she acting like a cat in a batman suit?

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by the Genral

Why is she acting like a cat in a batman suit?

Catwoman has gnawed Batman to death and is wearing his suit.

[KevinFromTexas]

I haven't read it yet, but CNN has an article on Austin's shrinking African-American population.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/30/living...y11pVODtopLink

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

I haven't read it yet, but CNN has an article on Austin's shrinking African-American population.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/30/living...y11pVODtopLink

This is racist B.S. The Black population is growing, just not as fast as the Hispanic and White population. If Blacks don't move here at the same rate that Hispanics, Whites and Asians do, of course their overall percentage of the population will decrease. This is no different than the population increases/decreases of any racial group in any city in the U.S. Nothing is the same everywhere, and human population is always in flux.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by The ATX

This is racist B.S. The Black population is growing, just not as fast as the Hispanic and White population. If Blacks don't move here at the same rate that Hispanics, Whites and Asians do, of course their overall percentage of the population will decrease. This is no different than the population increases/decreases of any racial group in any city in the U.S. Nothing is the same everywhere, and human population is always in flux.

I let this slide, given that these articles are always framed in "relative" terms. And because the black population is growing slower than both the Hispanic and Anglo populations, they're shrinking relatively, so it isn't that the article is wrong: it's that it is thinking fundamentally in a different way than you do.

[austlar1]

In raw numbers Austin's black population actually lost about 4,000 people between 2000 and 2010. There has been a slow increase in black population in the metro area, but it has not kept pace with overall population growth, specifically Hispanic and Asian population growth. I could not locate any current black population estimates for Austin although we have added over 125,000 residents since 2010 according to estimates.

https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/de...ofile_2010.pdf

[MightyYoda]

Honestly, reading the article I thought it wasn't sensationalist. It said that Austin is ethnically diverse and that majority of the shrinking population is due to migration of other races. It discussed potential initiatives, etc... but I don't think the gentrification of East Austin can be stopped unless the city steps in. I think social media/tech is a great idea to encourage more culture/community and to convince others to move here.

I feel economic segregation of Austin has a lot to do with topography. West Austin is gorgeous and up there anywhere in the country of scenic places to live. East of 35 is mostly old farmland with no trees and flat. It is hard to convince people to choose otherwise. More parkland on the east side or if more had been preserved such as McKinney Falls would help.

[_Matt]

Great point on the topography. That drives so much of Austin culture as you mentioned and even traffic issues (e.g. no loop expressway).

Growing up here, I always saw the west hills as the best place to live, but after experiencing urban life and density, I'd be hard-pressed to live so far out.. and so instead have moved East where the principles are taking root.

A cool example of this is community solar. It is a way for residents to participate in solar, and local generation in general, without the upfront capital costs or financing. In this case, Austin Energy is building a solar farm to serve the residents that use electricity from a specific substation. Residents pay to lease panel capacity each month. The solar is being built adjacent to the substation and so it is even cheaper to maintain (no transmission lines). The neighborhood becomes an island of power (with capacity for power storage) in the event of grid outages. I just don't see this happening in West Austin.

https://austinenergy.com/wps/portal/...0C7IdFQG80XLY/

[paul78701]

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...ess+Journal%29

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by paul78701

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...ess+Journal%29

Sounds a lot like a well known "businessman" running for high office... Just sayin....


Honestly either he should hand over World Class Capital to someone more competent, sell or end it because the company already has a bad reputation and this is only making things worse.

I don't think we should expect anything from WCC in terms of large scale projects nor should we trust them to do a high profile project. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[Tech House]

Originally Posted by The ATX

This is racist B.S. The Black population is growing, just not as fast as the Hispanic and White population. If Blacks don't move here at the same rate that Hispanics, Whites and Asians do, of course their overall percentage of the population will decrease. This is no different than the population increases/decreases of any racial group in any city in the U.S. Nothing is the same everywhere, and human population is always in flux.

What is your definition of racism? I don't see anything remotely "racist" about the article or anything it discusses. Austin is clearly a white-dominated and white-oriented city, something I have always been aware of since moving here from California. The overt and subtle forms of racism I've encountered here are a constant reminder that I'm living in a Confederate state. If you're from the South then maybe you're too accustomed to it to notice. For me, it was kind of a shock during my first year here, but I got used to it after a while.

I don't think there's anything bad about Austin being the way it is racially. Our economy is fueled by tech, an industry that has a very low African-American participation rate. So it's just how it is. But having said that, my personal preference would be for there to be a much more cohesive and vibrant A-A community. It's been dispersed to far-flung suburbs as East Austin has gentrified. Again, I'm not saying any of this is bad or that anyone is doing something wrong, but I can see the value in having a wide variety of healthy, cohesive communities of diverse cultures, so that we don't end up with large numbers of people feeling alienated and isolated. The article frames the issue in a similar way, in terms of preserving and building on a positive vision for the community, rather than being a hit piece on the city. Seems like you were reading something into it that I'm not seeing, or perhaps you're a white conservative who is fed up with the never-ending topic of race in America. It's a subject that's not going to go away in any of the next few decades, so it might be more fruitful to find out why it's still so pertinent, rather than just reacting defensively.

[Jdawgboy]

Not sure if this was posted in the update thread but I came across this article. Norway, specifically Oslo is opening up an innovation embassy in Austin. You'll need to use the crude but useful Google Translate to read it but even with the disjointed wording it's pretty interesting. It shows that Austin continues to be on the international radar and it also brings up a fascinating trend that cities are in essence becoming more like city-states and are creating their own independent international relations with other cities.



http://www.cw.no/artikkel/utvikling/...-ambassade-usa