Documenting Barton Springs: An Interview with Karen Kocher, Creator of “Living Springs.”
Karen Kocher is one of the foremost documentary chroniclers of the historical, ecological, and cultural importance of Barton Springs to the city of Austin. Her current interactive online documentary project, … Continue reading
Shared Services at UT
Austin would not be the city it is without the University of Texas: it is one of the economic, social, and cultural hubs of the city. It employs tens of … Continue reading
Community Preservation and the “Value” of a Bad Guy
How does a community preserve a threatened treasure? In 2010, Austin citizens and University of Texas students joined forces in a popular uprising that saved the Cactus Cafe, the much-loved … Continue reading
Sing the City of the Rounded Shoulders
For Carl Sandburg and Nelson Algren. O sing this city! a land of unstoppable drive to the self-satisfied middle where it stops to spare its energy for another corporate happy … Continue reading
Familiarity in (Sub)Urban Form: The Death of Highland Mall?
Where do malls go when they die? They go to deadmalls.com, or, alternatively, Facebook. In 2009, deadmalls.com visitor “Susan” warned that Austin’s Highland Mall was one foot in the grave: … Continue reading
The Rise
The Austin skyline is punctuated by cranes and rebar and silhouettes of future buildings in every direction you look. I work downtown at 301 Congress Avenue, a building constructed in … Continue reading
Letter to the Sultan of Brunei
One thing is for certain in the hearts and minds of our little “weird” city, and that is coming to the defense of our sacred landscape! Granted, not everyone “gets” … Continue reading
Finding Loston
Is this the End of Austin? How presumptuous. Endings and Beginnings are always the same process. Austin has been around for a long time; only it wasn’t always called Austin. … Continue reading
Filed Away, Forgotten For Now
Some of the other End of Austin pieces will undoubtedly focus on how the city has changed, how it is no longer what it once was, how and when it … Continue reading
The Souls of Austin
TEOA asked Robert Jensen, “How does a rapidly changing city avoid losing its soul?” Here is his response: The question presumes that Austin has a soul. I’m skeptical, for several … Continue reading
Welcome to Mediocre, Texas
Only the mediocre are always at their best, someone said, which could be why Austin is so damn proud of itself. Welcome to Mediocre, Texas, the home of the Texas Longhorns, … Continue reading
The Capitol Complex
Austin’s status as the capital city of Texas is both a privilege and a burden. State government employs thousands locally and is a major contributor the local economy. The State … Continue reading
Interview: Imagine Austin
Approved by the city council in summer 2012, “Imagine Austin” is a 30-year plan based on 18,500+ ideas and contributions from Austinites. According to the plan’s authors, “Imagine Austin” provides … Continue reading
An End Both Slow and Urgent: Blackness in Austin
Like many grad students, I always expected a fairly definitive end to Austin, a time when I was called upon to fulfill my life’s work after years of honing my … Continue reading
Memorial Wall
“It started out as something smaller, a Day of the Dead thing,” Henry Gonzalez explains, standing before the Memorial Wall at the South Austin Popular Culture Center on Lamar, “but … Continue reading
Ann Richards and the Future of Austin
When Texas Monthly writer Jan Reid published his well-received biography of Gov. Ann Richards in late 2012, TEOA couldn’t help notice some moving passages about her death in 2006 and legacy. We … Continue reading
Interview with Richard Parker, New York Times
Austin-based writer Richard Parker touched a nerve with his New York Times article about how Lance Armstrong’s rise and fall might reflect what could happen to the city where he … Continue reading
End of Austin: West Campus
I’ve been taking photographs of graffiti on and around the University of Texas campus for six years. In that time, I’ve amassed a collection of about 600 photographs, including many … Continue reading
