Think Austin is weird?

[veloman777]

I do my part, carrying abnormal things on my bike.

[dbsteel]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Weird Car

Cathedral of Junk

Bat statue (Austin's official animal is the bat.)

Leslie of blessed memory.

Eeyore's Birthday Party.

Polka Dot Lawn (in one of the more expensive neighborhoods in Central Austin)

I could keep going on and on and on but you get the picture. Then there's all the people, but they're harder to link to - part of the point is not being on everyone's radar but going your own way.

You realize every somewhat large city in America can probably put a list like this together without promoting how weird they are??

[petro]

- The guy that goes everywhere in Austin with his cat on his shoulders, including riding his bike 1, 2, 3, 4
- Random topless woman that walk around downtown Austin when it's hot and nobody thinks it's a big deal (Not adding a link here, but y'all have google!)
- The fact that people in Austin generally do not take themselves seriously, that in itself is weird
- Pretty much no dress code anywhere you go—jeans, shorts, flip-flops are all welcomed
- Music festivals where you can see Snoop Dog perform, then 10 minutes later see Slayer perform, then go watch some live wrestling 1
- Home of the original headquarters of the American Atheists foundation in 1963 1
- Independently owned everything—restaurants, bars, food trucks, shops 1

If you haven't noticed that Austin is weird, I feel like you're not doing it right. That or you've been here so long that all the weird things & people that make Austin so great have become normal to you.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by Komeht

The only thing that's weird about Austin is that it considers fairly normal stuff you seen in EVERY MAJOR CITY IN THE WORLD to be out of the ordinary.

The usual evidence of such weirdness put up - petanque, cricket, dead cross dressing sometimes homeless ex-hippies, graffiti, diver bars, sketch comedy shows, yard art, art cars, public art - none of this is would be thought of making a city weird any other place in the universe. Calling it so, building a campaign around it (complete with really weird tie-dye inspired signage with wacky lettering) and marketing the city as such makes Austinites seem like a bunch of parochial rubes.

I hate this campaign even more than I hated the Live Music Capital of the World campaign - and I really hated that one.

Originally Posted by Komeht

I hate the campaign because it makes Austinites seem like self-proclaiming hucksters who sell snake oil, at best, or naive rubes at worst. Again, nothing about food trucks, yard art, art cars, public art, graffiti, dead sometimes homeless thong wearing dudes, sports and games such as cricket and petanque is unique to Austin (unless your perspective is from Jarrell) - you can find all of this in nearby cities such as Houston, Dallas and even San Antonio - hell you can practically find all of that in Omaha! And you can find far far stranger things in virtually any city on either coast. And if you truly want weird, New Orleans and The Conch Republic fit the bill.

I'd have to agree.
What sets Austin apart from these other places? It's much better at marketing that it has these things and focusing on them.

[ScoPro]

Whatever it takes to discourage more "outsiders" from moving to Austin.....