Austin was great when it was the only liberal and cultural oasis in TX, back when that meant something. When it was a Texas-sized college town. SXSW created a reality distortion field for tourists looking for the Good Life and since then they’ve been trying to graft a tech hub on top of a place that was never suited.

Alternative take - what he’s saying is true but lacks the context that it’s not ruined it’s just in its awkward in between phase. Like a teenager going through puberty, Austin has growing pains and an identity crisis

The old culture definitely exists in places but is being pushed out. Times change!

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when climate change is in deeper swings and the roads down there are melting apart in the sun, i think even you will agree it’s a shithole at that point

This is something that worries me. Austin is such a great city, and I worry that it will be ruined the same way some other areas have been

Been here since 2005 bro and I can tell you that people who have been here since the 80s were saying the same tired bullshit when I showed up. 

Austin is fucking awesome today and it was awesome in 2005 and it was awesome in 1987. It's just in flux, and that's good. The weird spirit is still here and never left.

Exactly this!
I noticed the growing pains the very first time I visited in 2019, and have accepted them since moving here in 2020. The culture and infrastructure were not ready for such rapid change, but the needle is moving forward, so we caught in this 90s social climate with burgeoning 2050s infrastructure.

Strongly agree. Nothing is static. 

There are virtues in all stages of growth for a city. The particular ones change over time.