Help - how to make friends in Austin? (friendly, place)

[OneJackson]

Originally Posted by artsyguy

. I noticed the cold introverted attitude everywhere in Austin. It really is bizarre.

Are you sure you were't still in the Dallas city limits?

[artsyguy]

Nope. I agree with 8080. Austin is more introverted and group and sameness focused.

Originally Posted by OneJackson

Are you sure you were't still in the Dallas city limits?

[OneJackson]

Originally Posted by artsyguy

Nope. I agree with 8080. Austin is more introverted and group and sameness focused.

If you mean "keepin' it weird" then I agree, but that's what's cool about Austin. I've never met such a Bohemian bunch of people in my life and I don't know what took me so long to get here. You have your "homers" but that's every city. but one thing I like most is they support the local activities in a local way. which is what all cities should do but don't. maybe that's why Austin feels recession-proof right now. And I don't know of many cities where celebrities like to "get away" to. so it must be something if the elite want to hang out here on their down time and make movies here.

[artsyguy]

Who are you talking about? What bohemian bunches are you speaking of? Where are they? There weren't any bohemian bunches that lived in Austin when I was there. Everybody there is the same.
You know. College football, 6th street, bats under a bridge, cycling, kickball tournaments, do I need to go on? Because that is not bohemian. And there is nothing wrong with having those basic Texas interests either. The only bohemian is Alex Jones, if you can call him that. And I don't know of an abundance of movies being filmed in Austin,Texas.

I just want to keep everyone real but I think all the bohemians moved to Dallas.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJl-tceNKtc



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9svWQ3X7MU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUoNCgd6_0o

Originally Posted by OneJackson

If you mean "keepin' it weird" then I agree, but that's what's cool about Austin. I've never met such a Bohemian bunch of people in my life and I don't know what took me so long to get here. You have your "homers" but that's every city. but one thing I like most is they support the local activities in a local way. which is what all cities should do but don't. maybe that's why Austin feels recession-proof right now. And I don't know of many cities where celebrities like to "get away" to. so it must be something if the elite want to hang out here on their down time and make movies here.

[OneJackson]

Main Entry: Bo·he·mi·an
Pronunciation: \-mē-ən\
Function: noun
Date: 1555
1 a : a native or inhabitant of Bohemia b : the group of Czech dialects used in Bohemia
2 often not capitalized a : vagabond, wanderer; especially : gypsy b : a person (as a writer or an artist) living an unconventional life usually in a colony with others

artsyguy, The fact that you say everybody is the same applies to definition #2 of the word Bohemian. so many writers and artists live here. the culture, to me, is Bohemian is that regard because there's that vibe you get whenever you attend a concert or event. It's a care free INDEPENDENT existence. I've met more independent thinkers in Austin than I have anywhere in the USA.

Let me ask you, where did you go when you were here to meet people?

[Paulmmm]

Originally Posted by OneJackson

...Let me ask you, where did you go when you were here to meet people?

Fair question. Also, Artsyguy, how long did you live here, if you did? Or how long and when did you go to school here? That way we can tell how much exposure you had to certain areas of the city. If you were only visiting for a couple of weekends, for example, maybe you just had the bad luck of having a few isolated incidents that didn't sit right with you. As opposed to someone who lived here for years and has more experience to draw from in forming their opinions.

[Scitats]

A certain someone trolls this board so hard you would think they spent a great part of their life there. But no, 10X the number of posts degrading Austin than actually days lived in the city. Constantly confusing their opinion for cold hard facts and when someone disagrees with them, they are called a liar. Ignored.

[8080a]

You'll find pockets of eclectic, struggling art and intellect types just about anywhere you go. From the most redneck little towns to the snootiest glistening cities. Being a major college town and music hub, there is indeed a healthy population of them in Austin, though I don't think Austin has more relative to its overall population than most other cities. The main difference is that Austin has a marketing slogan that promotes the bohemian or "weird" aspect of Austin, thus setting up some perceptions or expectations. That's what marketing is all about, really. If you're either inclined towards that lifestyle yourself, or totally averse and perplexed by it, you'll be more likely to notice it through attraction or repulsion. If neither is the case, you might very well not even notice that it exists—or that it's supposed to exist—if not for a marketing slogan.

The true "bohemian" element of Austin isn't always as visible as you might expect. As much as Austin appreciates and embraces the idea of the struggling artist, the core of Austin is becoming too expensive for that type to survive in. Those who are surviving in it seem to be more the older crowd that bought in or inherited property a long, long time ago. If they can scrape together the staggering property taxes to keep things going, they're able to stay. Otherwise, you aren't actually going to see that crowd in the SoCo shopping area. They pop in to drop off things they make to be sold in the shops, but then most of them head back to wherever they live—which more times than not, is not the type of area that fits in with Austin's marketing. Some of Austin's bohemians live in Elgin, Buda, San Marcos, etc.—some of the only places that struggling crafts people, writers, and musicians can actually afford to live. They sure can't afford to live around SoCo, the university, downtown, or even the gentrified areas on the east side anymore. And yes, it's true, some of them—personal acquaintances—have moved to the Dallas area where they can actually afford to "be weird". In Dallas, you can buy a $40,000 to $50,000* 50 year old pier and beam with at least a tiny bit of character in a diverse neighborhood with $1,500/yr property taxes and actually survive on a waiter or part-time children's librarian salary so that you can continue to pursue your art. So yes, there is an aspect of Dallas that is welcoming to that crowd and holds an appeal—the appeal of the possibility of remaining bohemian.

(Hey! I forgot, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians was formed in Dallas. Not truly substantial, but very mildly amusing—to me. They were part of the Deep Ellum scene and Edie was there for the arts magnet school.)

None of this really explains why people are not as friendly here as you might expect though. Although I do think that the "keep Austin weird" slogan has set unrealistic expectations of friendly eccentrics, welcoming toked up hippies, and endlessly witty cowboy poets hanging around and waving hello from every park bench—all of which do exist but in much smaller quantities than that which the slogan might inspire a visitor to imagine, it's that inspiration, however, that does seem to draw a lot of people who fancy themselves to be of the more individual type. (I count myself among those drawn for those reasons. I drank the Kool-aid myself for a long time—right up until I got my first property tax bill.) The strong individual type just seems to look more inward—is more introverted. That's just their nature in many cases. Don't get me wrong, I married an extremely extroverted eccentric, so I know they exist, but it was the fact that the combination was so unusual that made me take notice of her in the first place.

This is why I don't really get too upset by the fact that people aren't very friendly here. It took me a while to form a theory on why, but it's not really all that personal, I don't think. I think it's just the nature of the type of person that Austin seems to attract due to its reputation for "keeping it weird"—whether the slogan is really that credible anymore or not. I enjoy and appreciate what these creatives and sensitive introverted geniuses bring to Austin. But, having grown up in Texas and being the type of person who never really learned not to talk to strangers, it does frustrate me sometimes to see people act like I just flashed them when I say "hi" while walking the dogs.

As I think about the people that I know who are actually rooted in Austin and have grown up here—and note how friendly they've actually been, though they're the minority, I grow more and more confident in my theory. These people weren't attracted to Austin because it is "weird" or whatever, they are just here. They have no expectation, they aren't drawn because they're of a certain mindset—they're just here and have always been here.

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Oh, and while I'm qualifying statements, let me qualify everything above by saying that yes, all of this is a very, very broad generality. I realize that and am glad of it. There are certainly exceptions.

[Jennibc]

Wow. This certainly seems a matter of perspective. We moved here from the Northeast the first time and then back after eight years in Seattle. Austin seems extremely friendly to us. I imagine if you are coming from another part of TX, maybe not. I think it's just what one is used to. In fact, friends of ours just moved back to Boise and cannot believe how rude the people in Boise now seem after a few years in Austin.

It took us about eight months the first time we lived here to make some close friends. In the whole scheme of things, that's not that long, BUT at the time it seemed forever. It was helpful that during the first several months of "friendlessness" the ambient energy of Austin seemed friendly, from pleasant waitstaff and checkout counter help.

[OneJackson]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

. I imagine if you are coming from another part of TX, maybe not. I think it's just what one is used to.

there is some truth to that statement. I have friends in Dallas and Houston who can't stand the other's city. and they both hate Austin...lol. go figure. they say it's too many hippies in those hills.