The Low Blow for Lobu-- Letter to the Editor

This Letter to the Editor came in to the Austin-American Statesman on January 23, 2007 and it supports the building of a Wal-Mart at Northcross Mall on the corner of Anderson Lane and Burnet Road. The letter does reveal some of the LoBu landscape, from a decidely negative perspective. Here it is, word-for-word from the Statesman:

Good News for Northcross
It's time the Wal-Mart haters faced reality: A half-dead mall, an abandoned post office and a hodge-podge of used car lots, matress outlets, repair shops fast food joints, pet salons and gin mills aren't the brave new Austin.

Wal-Mart got targeted because it's a threat to grocery unions dear to Democrats. The accusations by the unions' fronts are either false or wildly exaggerated and their fear-mongering about Wal-Mart's effect on communities is sheer demagoguery.

I lived within a mile of a Wal-Mart superstore and its negative effect was near zero. There were no lights or noise, no necessary businesses closed, and the increase in traffic was minimal. the positive effects included 300 new jobs and a source of inexpensive household goods-- a convenience store without the exorbitant prices.

And did somebodymentiond crime? A code word, perhaps? Heaven forbid all the fuss is really about keeping black and brown shoppers in their place.

Edward
Austin, Texas

I have to admit, Edward shows literary talent. His description of LoBu businesses, though bleak, has some accuracy and you gotta love a colorful list for creating a mood. Ironically, he's describing the old Lobu with the list of marginal businesses. But he did use the phrase "hodge-podge" and that sounds like one of my early blog entries where I said the architecture dow here was a mish-mash of styles. I like the his irony with the term "the brave new Austin."

As for his Wal-Mart aesthetic, I don't agree. I don't see the benefits of Wal-Mart and never have enjoyed shopping there. Wal-Mart, as Edward states, is like a big convenience store with its lack of flavor or appeal. Do I need a massive convenience store in theneighborhood and for what-- the opportunity to pick up cheap undershirts in the middle of the night!

My belief is that inner city neighborhoods are going to become very prized real estate entitities. The proximity to downtown and Central Austin means that the land only goes up in value. Sure Wal-Mart can afford the rent but for the most part the quality of the stores and businesses is slowly creeping upward. Wal-Mart wants to get into LoBu early and many of the neighbors are unhappy. Don't know what will happen.

The neighborhood people resisting Wal-Mart have a website. It's called: ResponsibleGrowthforNorthcross.org.

Undercover in SoCo

The whole concept for LoBu springs from the success and notoriety of SoCo, or South Congress. SoCo is the one Austin district known by a New York City-style abbreviation. South Congress has trendy appeal and a heckuva location-- just south of downtown and with a sight line to the grand old state Capitol building of Texas. But that doesn't make SoCo the be-all and end-all of Austin neighborhood shopping and living districts. The area we call LoBu, or Lower Burnet, has appeal and that's one of the cornerstones of this blog! You gotta love LoBu... and the rallying cry of this blog is "Lobu Baby!"

But last weekend we ventured down to SoCo. We met some friends at an eatery on the grand boulevard itself at Vespaio/Enoteca-- a tasteful place with high quality dining. The width of Congress Avenue is something to behold. You can sense the wild west days in the dimensions of South Congress. The great open continent of North America had room for wide boulevards so why not think big. Central Feed store functioned just a decade or two ago, but now it's Guero's restaurant, the place where Bill Clinton stops for enchiladas. Not many presidential sightings of note in LoBu but maybe that's a plus... Back to Enoteca, the Italian food side of Vespaio. Enoteca actually is Aztec for "cheaper than Vespaio." We sat at an outside table, situated on the side street on a cool Austin evening. The food was good and some of our fellow diners were regulars and actually knew the waiters. We got nice treatment and had a great meal with old friends.

You pay a decent price-- even on the Enoteca side so I'll present a LoBu option, Enchiladas Y Mas on Anderson Lane. Anderson Lane and Burnet Road is the second great LoBu intersection (after Koenig Lane and Burnet Road). Go east on Anderson, a few blocks past Burnet, and you see Enchiladas Y Mas on your right. Breakfast there is highly recommended for both the food and the friendly atmosphere. The LoBu lack of pretension means the waitresses appreciate your presence, even if you leave after spending a mere 5 bucks. You can feel the good vibes and the migas with sausage were awesome. Vaughn and I had a great conversation at Enciladas Y Mas, just another reason to say "Lobu Baby!"

Happy New Year! and Walking the Dog

Happy 2007! As my friend Ken say, "if you want something to be different, you've got to do something different." That may not be a direct quote but it sounds pretty believable. The Lobu Zone blog is something new for me and I'll make writing a blog a new activity for 2007.

The weather in Texas took a rainy approach to the new year. We've received a fair amount of precipitation in the first week and that's definitely a welcome start to the year. My friends know I've had an obsession with global climate change for a long time and even the weather broadcasters on TV scratch their head on a regular basis. They don't say much, usually sticking to the facts, but seem genuinely astounded to see the Dakotas and East Coast running 20-30 degrees above their normal winter temperatures. I don't want to harp on the mysterious and gloomy subject of man's impact on the climate-- but hey I'm a blogger and we're supposed to wax on about our obsessions!

I have one habit that is worth continuing into 2007-- walking our dogs Mojo and Suzi. I've made some observations about dogs, our fellow mammals, after five years of walking-- they have four legs to our two and are excellent walkers and they are closer to the ground than us and very earthy, snoopy animals. Okay, nothing to brilliant there. I've devised several LoBu-area neigborhood walks for my dogs and will discuss two of them-- Northwest Hills and Allandale.

Northwest Hills (walk #1) is hilly, as the name implies, and that has cardio benefits. White-tailed deer can often be sighted in Northwest Hills, especially at dusk, adding a Discovery Channel element to the walk and our little terrier Suzi gets revved up at the sight of deer groupings. They eye us suspiciously. The male deer have horns at this time of year and the sight of a full-grown buck deet with horns blazing is something to behold. We give them a wide berth but marvel at their beauty. I'm astounded to see the families of deer and wonder how they survive and flourish so close to the the center of Austin? My record is 15 deer observed on a single suburban lawn!

The walk in Allandale (walk #2) is flatter than Northwest Hills and it's a great place for the dogs to move around and cover some ground with less traffic than some of the other LoBu neighborhoods. Mojo and Suzi didn't notice the lawn signs stating "No Wal-Mart! Responsible Growth for Northcross!" as dogs can't read-- another big difference between us. The signs reference the biggest controversy to hit the lobu area in my ten years in the neighborhood-- the announcement of a proposed Wal-Mart store in the Northcross shopping center at a key LoBu intersection, Anderson Lane and Burnet Road. Neighbors are concerned over the development of a big box store-- open 24/7-- in a previously sleepy Northcross Mall, located right at the edge of our neighborhoods. Truthfully, it does not sound like a boon to the area or the property values! This is a controversy I will follow in the Lobu Zone blog.

Have a Happy New Year! Maybe try someting a little different this year and see what kind of results you get!