The Warehouse District

I am sitting here at 4th and Lavaca in a place called Halcyon, drinking a cup of joe. Just eight years ago this spot contain another coffeeshop and bar called Ruta Maya. The difference between the two is quite amazing. Ruta Maya was a colorful place with colorful people. Any night of the week you could come here and find big burly bikers drinking coffee after their AA meetings or hippies smoking pot in the alley beside the building, or young people out drinking beer and listening to local bands. I spent many nights sitting on this porch people watching… watching unique people such as the spinning man who made you dizzy as he spinned on his homemade circular board, he was what you would called a human top. In contrast, Halcyon, which has been redesigned three times since it has been at this location, caters to the young professionals who are now calling downtown home. It no longer has that old Austin feel. Austin has moved on. Looking out over the urban landscape I noticed that a new club named Que has replaced the old gay club whose name has slipped my mind but luckily Oilcan Harry has survived. Further down the Frost building towers over the city. On the Northwest corner of the block a restaurant named Nighthawk used to stand. It was demolished and replaced with a parking lot which contains an ATM and one of those small taqueria trailers that you see popping up everywhere in parking lots. I decide to walk the warehouse district and absorb the changes. As I walked toward 2nd street I remembered that it once contained old dilapidated warehouses that housed small businesses looking for cheap rent. It is now replaced with mixed-use buildings containing restaurants, high end shops and apartments. If you close your eyes you almost feel you are at Newbury Street in Boston. Austin has moved on. Don't get me wrong – I like change, unlike some old Austinites. However, I wish that they had been more creative along this corridor and maybe they will be; new buildings are being built as I write. We can only wait and see as Austin moves on.