Plus, Austin is Halfway to Halloween.
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Austin’s been a boomtown 🌇

Austinites have been complaining about the city ‘losing its weird’ since 1884
On the left, a very grainy photo of the Texas Capitol in 1925. On the right, a modern, black-and-white photo of the Capitol building.
The Texas Capitol pictured side-by-side published in 1925 and in modern time. | Photo via the Austin History Center and Creative Commons. Graphic by ATXtoday.
If you live in Austin, you’ve probably heard it before: “Austin has lost its weird.”

Longtime residents might tell you Austin died along with the closure of the Armadillo World Headquarters, or the end of the pseudo red-light district that used to be South Congress.

People have been complaining about Austin changing for more than a hundred years. An Austinite living in 1884 might tell you that construction on the new Driskill hotel has left the old town behind. The truth is, Austin has never stopped changing.

Let’s start with the block on the old Pecan and Brazos streets. Although described as “ragged-looking” in 1884, it was full of landmarks and fond memories. On top of 30-to-40-year-old houses in the city center, the Driskill hotel was erected where it still stands today.

Decades later when the business sector was booming downtown, a 1910 report from the Austin American-Statesman archives remarked that housing prices were rising, likely due to Congress Avenue recently being paved.

“There is no boom,” the 1910 report said. “There has been nothing the least sporadic in all the revival.” By 1911, Austin had a public library to match the literacy spreading in the South.

A view of the Capitol from Congress Avenue, which is wider than today, in 1916.

A view of the Capitol from Congress Avenue in 1916.

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Photo by the Austin History Center via Austonia

By 1926, Austin had 55,000 residents who were reeling at living in “a much bigger town than we realize.”

Fast forward 10 years, and Austin had grown so much, “Rip Van Winkle would have rubbed his eyes in amazement as he observed the changes that have taken place.” With infrastructure rivaling “cities many times larger than Austin,” the buildings in the center of town, at this point around 20 years old, had been “modernized.”

Two women, with their backs to the camera, operating phone lines at Motorola in 1979.

Motorola workers in 1979.

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Photo by the Austin History Center via Austonia

As a 1999 report put it, “the only thing that can come out of this worship of the past is disappointment.” Besides, “the perfect Austin has always been a fictional creation.”
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Events
Tuesday, May 9
Wednesday, May 10
  • Round Rock Express vs Oklahoma City | Wednesday, May 10-Sunday, May 14 | Times vary | Dell Diamond, 3400 E. Palm Valley Blvd., Round Rock | $15-$78 | Cheer on the Round Rock Express from their home field.
Thursday, May 11
  • No Lights No Lycra | Thursday, May 11 | 8-9:30 p.m. | West China Tea, 4706 N. Interstate Hwy. 35, Austin | $10 | Dance to your heart’s content at this completely dark venue.
Friday, May 12
  • May Flower Candle Pouring Workshop | Friday, May 12 | 7-8 p.m. | Blue Owl Brewing, 2400 E. Cesar Chavez St., Austin | $42 | Try a beginner’s guided tutorial to pouring a floral soy wax candle.
  • “The Sandlot” | Friday, May 12 | 7:30-10:30 p.m. | Community Cinema, 9301 Hog Eye Rd., Austin | Free | Grab chairs, a blanket, family, and friends, and enjoy this special screening.
  • Best Night Ever: Taylor’s Version | Friday, May 12 | 9-11:59 p.m. | Empire Control Room & Garage, 606 E. 7th St., Austin | $15 | Sing along with all of T-Swift’s hits + deep cuts.
Events calendar here
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News Notes
Real Estate
  • The Austin Board of Realtor’s first full-time economist, Dr. Clare Losey, says Austin’s housing market is holding strong despite elevated interest rates. With sustained population and job growth, Dr. Losey expects the market to dip just a bit more before reverting back to high demand. (KXAN)
Opening
  • Korean-American restaurant and wine bar Underdog will open its doors at 1600 S. 1st St. in the Bouldin Creek neighborhood on Wednesday, May 10. Expect dishes like mentaiko and uni noodles, smoked eel terrine, and miso stroopwafels. (Austin American-Statesman)
  • Dim sum restaurant Wu Chow has a second location opening Friday, May 19, taking over the former Rosedale Kitchen and Bar at 3800 N. Lamar Blvd. The new location will have yet-to-be-named exclusive dishes, three patios, and a private dining room. (Eater Austin)
Community
  • New nonprofit We Luv Video will bring back the nostalgic movie rental model after I Luv Video’s September 2020 closure. After raising $112,000 in donations, We Luv Video will rent out the business’ video collection starting with a soft opening at 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 13. (KXAN)
Event
  • The 2023 Austin City Limits Festival lineup will be announced at 9 a.m. today and tickets go on sale at noon. Get updates for the October festival.
Biz
  • South Lamar tapas restaurant Barlata has been sold to former Eberly chef Laila Bazahm, effective Friday, May 12. The 1500 S. Lamar Blvd. spot’s name will be changed to El Raval and undergo a menu change themed after the diversity of El Raval, Spain. (Eater Austin)
Ranked
  • It’s commencement season, and Austin was named the sixth best city in the US for the class of 2023. The Capital City gained the title due to a high amount of jobs geared toward those just starting their careers, low unemployment rate, and healthy median income for new graduates.
Kids
  • Two words: free bowling. Sign up for Kids Bowl Free to connect with local bowling alleys where kids can receive two free games of bowling everyday this summer. Plus, grab a Family Pass + up to four adults can join in on the fun.
Events

Scary season came early 👻

It is Halfway to Halloween in Austin
A crowd of people wait in line to get into the House of Torment
The House of Torment offers three terrifying attractions. | Photo via House of Torment
Call Austin the creepy capital, because here, scary season is twice per year.

Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group — the producers behind the House of Torment, one of the scariest haunted houses in the nation — is bringing Halloween to town early with Halfway to Halloween this Friday, May 12-Saturday, May 13.

Ticket-holders will be able to try their hands at mini escape rooms, brave their way through the Hades Zombie Simulation, show their scares off at the Selfie Museum, see an alternate ending with the Respawn pass, or enjoy a creepy cocktail at the Neon Coffin Secret Bar.

Do you have what it takes to make it through? Get tickets.
The Wrap
 
Laura Figi.jpg

Today’s edition by:
Figi
From the editor
I’m mostly joking, but to me, Austin lost its weird when Torchy’s Tacos stopped carrying Maine Root sodas. I know you can still get them at H-E-B, but I haven’t been able to enjoy that world-famous queso the same way since.
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