Austintatious: Change is storming Texas' low-key capital of cool
From Trading Markets.com:
A W Hotel is under construction as part of the $260 million Block 21 development. New high-rise condos and cranes dot the skyline. In the city's northwest, the outdoor mall The Domain _ which feels like Southlake Town Center, or NorthPark with the lid off _ opened in March sporting Austin's first full-line Neiman Marcus (it already had a Last Call), as well as Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren stores. A second phase of The Domain is set to open in 2009.
Longtime Austinites and newcomers alike debate among themselves whether there are enough people in the metro area of 1.5 million to support such a market over the long haul. "Fifteen years ago, I would have said that Starbucks would not have been successful, that Austin isn't going to pay $5 for a cup of coffee. I would have told you that ice hockey would never play in Austin," says Jim Nolen, a senior lecturer in the University of Texas at Austin's finance department. "But it is successful, and that tells you how many people have migrated to Austin."
"There are so many transplants coming in with all the growth," says Johanna Flink, general manager of Qua, a 25-and-over bottle-service lounge _ with a controversial shark tank in the middle of the floor _ that opened in October within a Cristal spritz of Pangaea. "It's great to meet people from New York and London. I just met two Australians who moved here. I'm like, `How did you hear about Austin?'"
Boasting such annual events as the South by Southwest music/film/interactive festival and the Austin City Limits music festival, and home to the state's most vibrant movie industry, the self-proclaimed "live music capital of the world" has long been on the hipster radar. But now that Austin is showing up on "best cities" lists _ ranked in the Top 10 in Money, Travel & Leisure, Kiplinger, Hispanic Magazine and Men's Journal in recent years _ it's attracting interest from a broader spectrum of the population, says Beth Krauss of the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau.
A W Hotel is under construction as part of the $260 million Block 21 development. New high-rise condos and cranes dot the skyline. In the city's northwest, the outdoor mall The Domain _ which feels like Southlake Town Center, or NorthPark with the lid off _ opened in March sporting Austin's first full-line Neiman Marcus (it already had a Last Call), as well as Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren stores. A second phase of The Domain is set to open in 2009.
Longtime Austinites and newcomers alike debate among themselves whether there are enough people in the metro area of 1.5 million to support such a market over the long haul. "Fifteen years ago, I would have said that Starbucks would not have been successful, that Austin isn't going to pay $5 for a cup of coffee. I would have told you that ice hockey would never play in Austin," says Jim Nolen, a senior lecturer in the University of Texas at Austin's finance department. "But it is successful, and that tells you how many people have migrated to Austin."
"There are so many transplants coming in with all the growth," says Johanna Flink, general manager of Qua, a 25-and-over bottle-service lounge _ with a controversial shark tank in the middle of the floor _ that opened in October within a Cristal spritz of Pangaea. "It's great to meet people from New York and London. I just met two Australians who moved here. I'm like, `How did you hear about Austin?'"
Boasting such annual events as the South by Southwest music/film/interactive festival and the Austin City Limits music festival, and home to the state's most vibrant movie industry, the self-proclaimed "live music capital of the world" has long been on the hipster radar. But now that Austin is showing up on "best cities" lists _ ranked in the Top 10 in Money, Travel & Leisure, Kiplinger, Hispanic Magazine and Men's Journal in recent years _ it's attracting interest from a broader spectrum of the population, says Beth Krauss of the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau.
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11:26 AM
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