AUSTIN | Misc. Discussions - No Politics

[We vs us]

https://www.governing.com/community/...Downtowns.html

Here's an interesting op-ed by an urbanist I've followed off and on for years -- laying out some of the reasons the coronavirus is a make or break moment for downtowns across the country.

Generally, the collapse of tourism and hospitality collapses other downtown amenities (bars, restaurants, nightlife); and the new surge in remote work, coupled with social distance, will completely upend what downtown office work will look like . . . and will further collapse downtown amenities. And it was those amenities in the first place that drew people back to downtowns to live and work.

This is a worry I've had specifically about Austin -- so much of what makes us attractive is our culture; how do you keep that up when everyone's on lockdown?

[urbancore]

Originally Posted by We vs us

https://www.governing.com/community/...Downtowns.html


This is a worry I've had specifically about Austin -- so much of what makes us attractive is our culture; how do you keep that up when everyone's on lockdown?

We won't be able to keep it up.....but we will return, probably cautiously/slowly, but we will.

The entire country will be changed to be certain, but it will be the young...probably currently in their teen years, who will lead us back, they have the least to lose.

[zrx299]

Nonsense. Just look at the recent re-closure of bars for all you need to know.
Majority of the 21-49 aged crowd (sans kids) will snap back to pre-covid life literally overnight, if allowed. 20s & 30-somethings that make up a large chunk of downtown residents because they want to be near entertainment options... yeah, that's not going anywhere.
There's just far too many people in the prime of their lives who simply haven't been affected by this, and many wont be. If anything, you'll see a fresh influx of new residents who were otherwise priced out. I'd much rather have that than a bunch of 90% empty (actual occupancy, not unsold) condo towers with empty sidewalks because the only people who can afford to buy the units are rich elderly people and hot international money.

That piece reads like it was written by someone in their 50's, who is obviously in a different phase of life, hunkered down in their suburban home wondering if downtowns will revert to "scary" times.

[StoOgE]

Originally Posted by We vs us

https://www.governing.com/community/...Downtowns.html

Here's an interesting op-ed by an urbanist I've followed off and on for years -- laying out some of the reasons the coronavirus is a make or break moment for downtowns across the country.

Generally, the collapse of tourism and hospitality collapses other downtown amenities (bars, restaurants, nightlife); and the new surge in remote work, coupled with social distance, will completely upend what downtown office work will look like . . . and will further collapse downtown amenities. And it was those amenities in the first place that drew people back to downtowns to live and work.

This is a worry I've had specifically about Austin -- so much of what makes us attractive is our culture; how do you keep that up when everyone's on lockdown?

If people were enjoying their new imposed socially distant life, maybe. But people want to be back downtown and whatever effeciency gains people were experiencing 60 days ago are long-gone.

This is anecdotal but I think most of our staff is working about 3 hours a day at this point. Large companies are going to want offices back and humans are desperate for bars and restaurants to reopen.

Now, I think the realities of this thing are going to force a lot of businesses to permanently close and it may take us 2-3 years to be back to where we were, but the moment I am allowed out at bars safely I intend to not return home for at least 3 weeks while I get 9 months worth of cabin fever out of my system at once.

[We vs us]

No real surprise, but ACL Fest has officially cancelled for this year.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/aust...eled-for-2020/

I'd say this ups the pressure on F1 considerably.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by We vs us

...I'd say this ups the pressure on F1 considerably.

Why? ACL and F1 are quite different animals.

There is no more pressure on F1 as there is on NASCAR, PGA, and the NFL.

[StoOgE]

Originally Posted by We vs us

No real surprise, but ACL Fest has officially cancelled for this year.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/aust...eled-for-2020/

I'd say this ups the pressure on F1 considerably.

F1 can run without fans or extremely limited numbers. It feels more doable than ACL.

I expect most sports are going to see breakouts of infections though. WWE supposedly has like 30+ staff and wrestlers infected so far. They were only doing temp checks and asking people who didn't feel good to stay home.

AEW has had 2 wrestlers exposed that distanced but they both came back fine. They are actually testing everyone though.

So there is some precedent for how to sport smart-ish.

[Tyrone Shoes]

Thanks to the Chive for this

[the Genral]

I don't know....it could be fenced in ill gotten booty land that belonged to native Americans. That one post depicted from the hundreds or thousands of other posts could be a symbol of repressive withholding of access to conquered land belonging to native Americans. I think all such posts should be removed immediately.

[hookem]

That post leans a little too far to the right for my liking.

[corvairkeith]

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by hookem

That post leans a little too far to the right for my liking.

Dammit! I wish I thought of this instead.

[Geographer]

Texas reported 10,351 new cases of COVID-19 on July 11. Travis County has an estimated 2,913 active cases.

What changes are you all seeing in your daily routines? What should be done about the skyrocketing infections?

[zrx299]

Originally Posted by Geographer

Texas reported 10,351 new cases of COVID-19 on July 11. Travis County has an estimated 2,913 active cases.

What changes are you all seeing in your daily routines? What should be done about the skyrocketing infections?

A fresh wave of hysteria focusing on the wrong numbers and zero mention of the flat or falling ultra low mortality rate from any of the media.
2,913 active cases in Travis County, with a population of 1.275 million... that's 0.0023% of the population infected. That hardly qualifies as "skyrocketing" in my opinion.
The Statesman and other Doom & Gloom media outlets continue to frame their headlines as if this is the Black Plague part 2.

The other half is "crisis fatigue" where we're all just sick and tired of everything. The fear and hysteria surrounding "testing positive" needs to stop.

We're not getting a vaccine, and this crap isn't going away for a very long time. Trying to slow or stop it is a futile effort that's just going to continue to piss everyone off with a series of starts & stops & shutdowns & flareups, to say nothing of the economic damage its inflicting.

There needs to be self accountability on all sides here. If you're at-risk, then take whatever precautions you need. Stay home and abstain from things if necessary. Likewise for otherwise healthy people not at risk but who frequently are in contact others who are. Everyone else needs to just get on with life. The faster herd immunity sets in, the faster we can put all this garbage behind all of us.

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by Geographer

Texas reported 10,351 new cases of COVID-19 on July 11. Travis County has an estimated 2,913 active cases.

What changes are you all seeing in your daily routines? What should be done about the skyrocketing infections?

Well I for one have been dealing with COVID-19. Been in quarantine since June 24th. I know I caught it at work from people who either didn't properly wear their face masks or simply didn't take wearing a mask seriously. When it came to physical distancing, there simply wasn't enough floorspace even with a customer limit to really physically distance. It was a horrible experience. There were times I didn't think I could stand anymore of the pain, barely able to sleep because I kept having to sit up to take breaths because the pressure on my chest was so heavy. You do not know how this virus will affect you. Don't just assume you will either have light symptoms or no symptoms. There have been healthy young people who are dead now who probably thought they could ride it out without too much trouble.

One thing I will say about Travis County numbers, seems awfully low considering I know several people who are dealing with symptoms. There are a hell of a lot more people than we know of that are carriers and there are people who are having a hard time even getting tested.

I am glad to report that I am recovering but it has affected my household and so, for the time being, we continue to be in quarantine.

[Jdawgboy]

On another subject. Will be interested on what everyone thinks of this article.


https://www.theguardian.com/artandde...tall-buildings

[Armybrat]

Sorry to hear that Jdawg, but best wishes for a complete recovery.
Maybe if 299 had the same experience, they wouldn’t be so dismissive.

And us old folks have just as much right to live our lives too. EVERYBODY should take precautions, no matter what age or status..... as we get on with our lives.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by Armybrat

Sorry to hear that Jdawg, but best wishes for a complete recovery.
Maybe if 299 had the same experience, they wouldn’t be so dismissive.

And us old folks have just as much right to live our lives too. EVERYBODY should take precautions, no matter what age or status..... as we get on with our lives.

Well said. What many of us have a hard time understanding is that what we all do now effects all of us. It's collective action, basic human community stuff. One of the things that's really been mind-blowing during this time is finding out exactly how many of my fellow Americans have either forgotten or never knew how to be in a community with one another. I have a lot of suspicions why that is, but suffice to say it's imperative that we rediscover how to cooperate again, and stat.

For me, I'm wrestling with whether to send my 7 and 11 yr olds back to school next month. Actually, the wrestling part is mostly done -- my wife and I have decided to keep them home at least for the first grading period, which ends in October.

Reopening schools is going to be a clusterf*ck of the highest order, and will end up a meat grinder for kids and teachers and parents alike. And we're only focused on public schools; reopening UT and higher ed in general is going to be another completely awful event. We've had the luxury so far of not having to deal with some of the worst choices during pandemic -- I can't imagine the folks (like teachers, or foreign students, etc) who are in between the rockiest rocks and the hardest hard places.

[zrx299]

I don't know what the answers are, but shutting down the world for 2 or 3 years for this to run its course is a nonstarter. You can only print so much money before the whole system collapses.

The K-12 schools are going to be a disaster either way. Kids don't get this illness, but teachers might. The disparity in school districts, parental involvement, and socioeconomics nationwide is massive, and will intellectually cripple some kids for years if we go back to online-only. It was a total disaster in the spring. Even "good parents" are ill-equipped to continue on this route. So what do you do?

It's not about being "dismissive", it's about simple math at a certain point. We all can tell sad stories about the one person at work, or the one family or family member we know who have been hit hard by this, or even ourselves personally. That's not minimizing their pain and suffering at all. But until that becomes a much higher % of expected outcome instead of anecdotal exceptions, it's going to continue to be an extremely tough sell to the general public. This is exactly what we're seeing now. Especially the 18 to 40 crowd.

[Geographer]

A fresh wave of hysteria focusing on the wrong numbers and zero mention of the flat or falling ultra low mortality rate from any of the media.
2,913 active cases in Travis County, with a population of 1.275 million... that's 0.0023% of the population infected. That hardly qualifies as "skyrocketing" in my opinion.
The Statesman and other Doom & Gloom media outlets continue to frame their headlines as if this is the Black Plague part 2.

The other half is "crisis fatigue" where we're all just sick and tired of everything. The fear and hysteria surrounding "testing positive" needs to stop.

We're not getting a vaccine, and this crap isn't going away for a very long time. Trying to slow or stop it is a futile effort that's just going to continue to piss everyone off with a series of starts & stops & shutdowns & flareups, to say nothing of the economic damage its inflicting.

There needs to be self accountability on all sides here. If you're at-risk, then take whatever precautions you need. Stay home and abstain from things if necessary. Likewise for otherwise healthy people not at risk but who frequently are in contact others who are. Everyone else needs to just get on with life. The faster herd immunity sets in, the faster we can put all this garbage behind all of us.
Reply With Quote

I'm surprised that after 130,000 dead from COVID there is still serious denialism about its severity. If Americans ever want to attend a sporting event, concert, political rally, visit their parents in a nursing home, take a cruise, or travel abroad then Americans need to make an effort to end the pandemic, not live with it. Italy, Spain, France, and the UK took the necessary steps to end their pandemics and they're now returning to normal. America hasn't. If American ever wants to get back to normal it needs to reduce new daily COVID cases by 99% from what we're seeing now.