"Keep Austin Wierd" might seem like a hippy manifesto, but just as The Windy City is more about the 'bluster' of Chicago's politicians than the wind that comes off Lake Michigan, so Austin's slogan comes from a much more conservative source, namely its Independent Business Alliance. So it's more to do with grocery stores and beauty salons than it is about this small Texan city's need to let it's freak flag fly.
And thus it is witnessed; there's no hedonism oozing from the hot concrete sidewalks, no peace:love culture blossoming in the hair of any hippy residents. For all intents and purposes, Austin is a tidy, well mannered town inhabited plentifully by young talent working in the Silicon Hills. Indeed, the only thing in Austin that's shooting up are the many high rises on the edge of midtown tat will accomadate the entrepreneurs and technocrats that call the city home. They will cycle and jog in abundance, but will drive to a bar in chinos or plain grey pinafore dresses and of course expect valet parking. The only thing around here that seems to be fueled by performance enhancing pharmacopeia is the construction industry, although there is, alarmingly a bike path dedicated to the venal Lance Armstrong.
It was 2nd on the FBI's list of the safest cities to live in in the USA in 2012, and the people are friendly and straightforward from what I experienced. There is a lot of vagrancy and pan-handling is a bit of a chore, but otherwise it is a fine example of Texan cities and one I enjoyed shooting over two days, despite tornado warnings and flash floods.
