I'm back in the 78704 after a two-year absence, and I admit at first I was skeptical. The past three years has seen exponential gentrification as well as a DIY neighborhood party mutate into a humongous people-crawl (i.e., First Thursday). I liked the street-cred that came from living in East Austin, and it was a pretty self-sufficient little area. But, goddamn, living off of S. Congress has some serious perks. This morning we biked up the street to the new Farm to Market grocery, a little mom and pop independent grocery that sells locally-grown organic produce, and got a few items we needed for the day. Then we toodled down to Jo's for some coffee, where I must say they know how to consistently pour a good shot unlike many cafes around town who either under-or over-extract. We literally live around the corner from these places and it is unbelieveably pleasant to be able to walk or bike to everything (groceries, restaurants/cafes, Continental Club, pet supply store, shopping, post office, thrift store, etc.).
Austin doesn't have many self-sufficient urban neighborhoods - upon moving here from Seattle I was dismayed at the prospect of driving everywhere. I'm happy to have found an affordable spot in 78704, though I admit I'm benefitting from the gentrification (Gah!). But it's happening as we speak in East Austin as well, so pick your poison. It's getting harder and harder to think of reasons to travel north of downtown...maybe to go to Room Service and to feed my embarassing addiction to Crate and Barrel, but that's about it.
3 comments:
and visit me, that's a reason to go north. I'm crushed!
hee hee. i was thinking of commercial/material reasons to go north. but of course i will visit northern climes to see you and my other buddies, all of whom live north of downtown.
us northies are ahead of the curve...north is the new south! we're just here before it's gentrified. and we live closer to crate and barrel.
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