Well, since this thread started, the construction here has gotten out of hand.
I live a mile East of the 35 on Sixth St.
When I moved over here, there was one loft development on the East Side. Mine.
Now there are five more going up in the one mile of Sixth St. between here and the freeway, with a bunch more in the general 'hood, plus a few apartment buildings.
Traffic on my formerly quiet street has exploded. There are only three ways out of this part of the East Side; Cesar Chavez, Sixth and Eight via Seventh. And they're all jammed all day. And on top of that, Cesar Chavez doesn't go all the way through; you have to cut over the bridge or go north to Sixth if you want to go further West on Chavez.
There's a thirty-six story condo going up at Lamar and Fifth.
There's a new W Hotel and Condo going up next to City Hall with the ground floor being Willie Nelson's Austin City Limits Studio and Theatre (I'm sure it'll be a "House of Blues" most of the time.)
Every direction you look, all you see are huge cranes.
Traffic all over Downtown Austin and vicinity has gotten totally out of hand in the last six months.
It really feels like "Vegas-ization".
The problem with Downtown Austin is that there are only a few ways to go certain places.
Unless you go way up north, the only connection between the 35 and Loop 1 is Sixth Street.
If you're South of Town Lake and you want to go North, you can go Lamar, Congress or the 35.
And the limited passage between East and West sides due to the 35 freeway.
I drive my girlfriend to U.T. and it used to take five minutes. Now it takes thirty-five if we're lucky.
It's making my head spin. There are only a million people here. Hoo boy.