Talk:Austin, Texas/Archive 2

Demographics Info

The racial breakdown of the population of Austin, TX on the Demographics Page does not add up. It adds up to over 120%. I don't know where to go to get the proper information to fix this. I just thought someone should know.

Someone merged the Hispanic / Latino statistics in with the rest. That's not how the Census does it: this is a separate notion from race. I'm sure that some disagree with this way of calculating things, but that's how they did it, so that's how it should be reported. Deh 14:10, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

• Yes, the Census Bureau considers Hispanic persons to be an ethnic group, not a race. At first this seems wrong, but when you consider that there are both Black and White Hispanics (for example, people from Haiti and other Caribbean islands are often Black Hispanics), their logic makes more sense. TheMindsEye 15:54, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Addition to Culture Section: Volunteerism & Nonprofits

It would be informative to mention Austin's altruistic culture. The city has more nonprofit orgs per capita than most US cities (ranking 4th) and ranks 3rd (behind Minneapolis and Salt Lake City) in the nation for per capita volunteer hours given. Here are some references: http://www.dailytexanonline.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=541326f6-cef6-433a-b881-5566c1d5d84a http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/volunteering/cities.asp http://www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/VIA_CITIES/VIA_cities_austin.pdf Thanks! 70.124.64.228 18:12, 21 July 2007 (UTC)leftymama

Comparison to the Twin Cities

This analogy are rather daft. My hometown is Minneapolis but I've lived in Austin for quite awhile and Minneapolis:St. Paul IS NOT San Antonio:Austin or anywhere close. While Austin and San Antonio are very different cities separated by some areas with very little population (all the spaces between Buda, San Marcos, and New Braunfels), the Twin CIties are connected by relatively dense suburbs like Crystal. Also, the economies of the Twin Cities are highly interconnected, while the economies of Austin and San Antonio aren't integrated to any remarkable extent.

Agreed. Why not fix it? Also, please sign your comments by typing four tildes ~~~~. adamrice 14:23, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

My read of that sentence was simply that the combined population of Austin and San Antonio is similar to that of the Twin Cities, not that the cities were similar. To avoid confusion, however, I fixed the sentence. TheMindsEye 14:54, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

"An Island of Blue in a Sea of Red"

Austin is often referred to as "An Island of Blue in a Sea of Red" with regards to the 2004 presidential race.

I am removing this sentence -- there are 174 hits on google for "An Island of Blue in a Sea of Red", and of those only 8 mention Austin (one of which is this page). Jkraybill 04:07, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. I was going to slap it with a fact tag, but since you did the research and found that the phrase was mostly original research then deleting it was the right thing to do. Dabomb87 13:33, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

If you search for "liberal oasis of Texas" on Google, however, all of the hits refer to Austin. I'm pretty sure the phrase was even used in National Geographic’s cover story some years ago, so it's even quotable to a reliable source if anyone wants to dig through the back issues to find it. —Angr/talk 16:55, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Name that building

I've uploaded the Flickr image to Commons now. No idea if it's useful for anything in this article, though

Can anyone identify this building for me? I'd like to upload the photo to Commons, but I need to know what I'm uploading a picture of. It looks very familiar, but I haven't lived in Austin in 17 years, so I can't remember what it's called or even where it is. Thanks! —Angr/talk 00:18, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Its the historic John Bremond, Jr. home. It currently houses the Texas Classroom Teachers Association. Their webpage with a photo tour of the house is at [1]. TheMindsEye 01:23, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! It isn't the house I was thinking it was though -- I was thinking it was the Littlefield House, but the name wasn't coming to me last night. I have a second question about buildings in Austin. There used to be a skyscraper in downtown Austin made of reflective gold glass. When I look at recent photos of the Austin skyline, I don't see it. What was it called? Did it stand where the Frost Bank Tower now is? —Angr/talk 09:47, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

No, the Frost bldg is on Congress. The former gold building still stands, but it is now silver and is 5 or 6 blocks west of Congress. I think the story is that the reflectivity of the glass was causing problems, so they scrapped the gold off and put on a darker silver. Its also a bank. I think the building's name is Banc One. TheMindsEye 15:19, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Is this the one? If so, it's much more attractive now. I always thought that gold thing was an eyesore. —Angr/talk 16:20, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, thats it. Curiously, they didn't change the window film on the lower, attached garage building - it still has 3-5 floors of offices with gold tint. I visited one of the offices and everything you see out the window has a goulhish green tint. TheMindsEye 16:33, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Maybe the gold tint isn't bad on shorter buildings. There is (or used to be, as I said I haven't lived there in 17 years) a medical building somewhere near Seton in the Shoal Creek/38th Street/Medical Parkway vicinity that was also gold-tinted but not nearly as tall as the Bank One Tower. My orthodontist when I was a kid had his office in that building, so I was there a lot, but I can't say I remember a ghoulish green tint looking out the window. —Angr/talk 16:45, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

"Basically, anyone who wants a job can get one".

I'll see your unsourced generalization and raise you some anecdotal evidence... my brother-in-law, MBA from Duke, went without a job for two years before finally taking a job in San Antonio. Myself, a long-time software developer, jobless for nine months (and lucky to be hired) and then relocated to another city. People in a similar situation -- an IT manager, two other professional programmers -- whom I met while temping. Lots of people were laid off during the dot-com bust, and a lot of them had to leave Austin. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.111.197.14 (talk) 04:48, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

POV/unsourced issues ahoy

There are lots and lots and lots of jobs for people with degrees and without them. Basically, anyone who wants a job can get one in Austin.

Austin is a safe, free, freedom-loving, young, active, creative, cultural haven.

For better or worse, marijuana is widespread in Austin and many people have a relaxed attitude about it.

Amongst others... CryptoDerk 09:21, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

Si. There seems to have been a rather massive set of pov, uncited additions by 66.68.118.72 (talk · contribs) a few days ago. They all have a sort of essay feel to them. I'm thinking of simply removing them all until it can be referenced. Any objections? Kuru ^talk 14:03, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

You've got my support. jareha ^(comments) 05:11, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Mine too. I noticed the same issues. Aldango 01:10, 30 September 2007 (UTC)