damn…we’re not in new york anymore

for the past couple of days i have really been missing new york city, probably even more so now than when i got back to texas in january. there are some aspects i love about austin, primarily the ‘outdoorsy’ nature and character… the good mountain biking and rock climbing that i definitely could not get in nyc proper. although there’s plenty of that near nyc but the problem is actually getting there without a vehicle…renting a car would work perhaps. austin is really just too laid back for me… everyone walks around like ‘ho-hum’… off in a daze and never in a hurry. i am driven by the hyperactivity that arises from life in manhattan… everyone going (and going quickly!). people here in austin overall don’t seem very ambitious and has a highly monotonous feel… all the music venues are the same with much of the same types of music, people are either very liberal or very conservative and rarely exist within the more logical middle ground. even the city itself is highly contradictory. austin gives the impression that its very forward thinking, innovative in its development and growth, and responsive to environmental intrusion. however, if you look at the developments under construction now and and soon to be the reality is quite the contrary… much of the same box structures that neglect the needs of the users. why are we so against mixed use here?! it’s sad when you walk downtown in the middle of the day during the workweek and the area feels deserted, quiet and actually erie. there’s no pedestrian culture. why? lack of hybridization of program. even the more desolate areas of manhattan were more active than the more active parts of austin. there are people driving everywhere here, but it’s still desolate as if people are afraid to go outside… walk a couple of blocks or several hundred feet. we have people that will wait five minutes for a parking spot that is ten parking spaces closer to the entrance (while blocking traffic) rather than just parking in the slightly farther one immediately. that’s probably the primary reason why southern and some western cities lack a true identity and character… there’s no pedestrian culture. if you experience and/or exist in a place from within your car at all times, does identity really matter?