Originally Posted By: sleddriver
I visited Seattle while on my 1993 long road-trip. Loved the scenery, very different from my locale. I picked up this very odd, weird vibe though from some of the places and people. Trying to navigate was also frustrating: Some streets just end in a staircase, and the street continues on, but 100' up! Of course, the road map doesn't show that.
I was glad to have left. Unfortunately, that same weird, odd vibe has now infested Austin. They so much want to be the Seattle-of-the-South....proudly proclaiming themselves as "weird".
Go figure....
Hasn't "Keep Austin Weird" been the motto for a few decades now?? I remember seeing that bumper sticker many years ago. Now that the techies have grown to rival a lot of the bigger cities it's just more generically urban ( socially and economically ) and less "Texas" than it was in years past. They need more 24 hour drive thru zoos like they used to have in Pecos TX.
Personally, I find Seattle and Portland just variations on San Francisco in a lot of ways...just with a lot better traffic grid and infrastructure and more rain.
I visited Seattle while on my 1993 long road-trip. Loved the scenery, very different from my locale. I picked up this very odd, weird vibe though from some of the places and people. Trying to navigate was also frustrating: Some streets just end in a staircase, and the street continues on, but 100' up! Of course, the road map doesn't show that.
I was glad to have left. Unfortunately, that same weird, odd vibe has now infested Austin. They so much want to be the Seattle-of-the-South....proudly proclaiming themselves as "weird".
Go figure....
Hasn't "Keep Austin Weird" been the motto for a few decades now?? I remember seeing that bumper sticker many years ago. Now that the techies have grown to rival a lot of the bigger cities it's just more generically urban ( socially and economically ) and less "Texas" than it was in years past. They need more 24 hour drive thru zoos like they used to have in Pecos TX.
Personally, I find Seattle and Portland just variations on San Francisco in a lot of ways...just with a lot better traffic grid and infrastructure and more rain.