Suggestion for Building the Signature Tower (Austin: floors, mall, aquarium)

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Well, to be fair, tower building does (and used to in America) symbolize a certain status of prominence. There are reasons across the globe nations like China and places like Dubai are racing to the sky. It’s a status symbol. America was very much apart of this race in the early century as seen by the Empire State, John Hancock, Sears Tower, ect… when we were trying to portray our influence to the rest of the world, but that largely died off in America when racing to the skies became cost prohibitive and also when America’s symbol was no longer represented by the glory of its buildings but rather its economic presence. Austin as well as many southern cities were largely omitted from said race as they did not incur much of their growth during that period.

I personally am indifferent about the presence of a super tall. I like Austin’s skyline as it is, would be nice to have a restaurant in the sky to overlook the city though… but actual attractions where people can actually interact would do Austin a lot better IMHO.

the irony would be that seeking status is the antithesis of austin culture..

Ill be bummed when we have dress codes to go out and eat.

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by Austin97

the irony would be that seeking status is the antithesis of austin culture..

Ill be bummed when we have dress codes to go out and eat.

No kidding.
Dress-up for me is wearing a matching untucked polo shirt with my shorts.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

Same with the Stratosphere in Las Vegas and the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio, although the overpriced Chart House in the latter tower should be a cut above the average.

I actually wasnt super impressed with Stratosphere.. I will say, that building gives you a much larger impression that you're really high off the ground than many of the sky restraunts I've been too.. ..it managed to trigger my heights phobia.. ..I couldn't sit near the windows.

[ScoPro]

Chips & salsa and the margaritas are better at the Oasis than the Stratosphere.
But that’s not saying much. Lol

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by Austin97

the irony would be that seeking status is the antithesis of austin culture..

Ill be bummed when we have dress codes to go out and eat.

Yes, this. To me, one of the things that epitomized Austin back in the day was that there could be a line out the door at Jeffrey's consisting of people in fancy opera attire and people in jeans and cowboy boots and no one really cared. And Liz Carpenter would have hot tub parties at her house with everyone from Lady Bird to the cashier at the local grocery that she met that day buying her own supplies for the party and saw a kindred spirit in. And no one thought anything about it. And celebrities came here BECAUSE they could go out and have a good time and if they were recognized, no one cared - they got to be "real people" here. (As Sandra Bullock once said, she loved living in Austin because she could go to the coffee shop and everyone there knew here - she was Sandy, the regular who always ordered X and that was it.) Status seeking (which, sadly, seems to have befouled the city) is indeed the antithesis of Austin culture.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

I actually wasnt super impressed with Stratosphere.. I will say, that building gives you a much larger impression that you're really high off the ground than many of the sky restraunts I've been too.. ..it managed to trigger my heights phobia.. ..I couldn't sit near the windows.

Yeah, that is a neat tower. Plus, it’s old school Vegas, I saw it when it was under construction… At the time the building codes were um, not always observed on the Strip. So you get that extra excitement. I like the view, like the observation deck, but there is no way I’d ever ride the rides at the top. And I will ride pretty much any roller coaster.

When my wife and I were first dating, we went there and I won big in roulette at their casino… so I stopped gambling and turned the winnings into something real — lobster and steak in the revolving restaurant!

[ATX Wahine]

I rode the Big Shot ride on top of the Stratosphere once on a dare.

I had shaky knees for about an hour afterward. Honestly. Never been so scared in my life.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by ATX Wahine

I rode the Big Shot ride on top of the Stratosphere once on a dare.

I had shaky knees for about an hour afterward. Honestly. Never been so scared in my life.

Yeah I saw that ride, you could promise to make me richer than Bill Gates and I still wouldn't touch that thing with a 100 yard stick...

[ATX Wahine]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Yeah I saw that ride, you could promise to make me richer than Bill Gates and I still wouldn't touch that thing with a 100 yard stick...

It was the most frightening experience. We flew up so high, so fast … then went down and back up, again and again. For that nightmare I had shaky knees for an hour and won a bet of $25.00.

[ScoPro]

The Strat took most of those rides off years ago. I think they have some kind of free fall jump off the deck now.