It's been over a year now that I've been writing for a href="http://rareaustin.com/v2/index.php"Rare Magazine./a Congratulations to them for the continued success and growth. It's quite evident every single month that more and more of you are reading it. Subscribe today a href="http://rareaustin.com/v2/subscribe.php"here:/abr /br /Grab the July issue out today. I wrote about Douchebag guys in their 20's. I originally titled it "ode to Bobby Bones". I think you will see why when you read the issue.br /br /Here is what I wrote for the June Austin Neighborhoods issue:br /br /p class="MsoNormal"strongspan style="font-weight: normal;font-size:10;" Am I cool enough to live in my own city? st1:place st="on"st1:city st="on"Austin/st1:city/st1:placeâs âhip factorâ has spun out of control and finding a neighborhood where you fit in is getting tougher and tougher.o:p/o:p/span/strong/p p class="MsoNormal"strongspan style="font-weight: normal;font-size:10;" I am going to attempt something that is probably going to upset a lot of people. I am going to attempt to rank st1:city st="on"st1:place st="on"Austin/st1:place/st1:cityâs Coolest Neighborhoods. I imagine anyone that lives in one of these neighborhoods might be a little too close to this subject. I think there are a lot of hip, eclectic neighborhoods in central st1:city st="on"st1:place st="on"Austin/st1:place/st1:city that are difficult to define. Let this be a newcomers guide to quirky things us long time Austinites are well aware of.o:p/o:p/span/strong/p p class="MsoNormal"strongspan style="font-weight: normal;font-size:10;" There are many surveys out there that rank neighborhoods on crime, schools, parks, levels of educations, etc⦠Not me. Iâm going for pure hipness. Iâm not saying Iâm the most in vogue, trendsetter this town has to offer, but I know it when I see it. I love this city and Iâm offering my time and knowledge to rank Austin Coolest neighborhoods for you. o:p/o:p/span/strong/p p class="MsoNormal"strongspan style="font-weight: normal;font-size:10;" o:p /o:p/span/strongspan style="font-size:10;"10 st1:place st="on"Tarrytown/st1:placeo:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"Everyone that lives in st1:place st="on"Tarrytown/st1:place bitches about the mosquitoâs. Once your McMansion was built there shouldnât be enough yard to have a run in with bugs, quit your bitchin. Big props to T-town for having a strip center owner with the sack to ban meat and leather. I admire the owner for putting her ethics before the almighty dollar. I can cross mopac to get my cabrito, leather belts and boots. Iâll switch to salads, suspenders and aqua socks!o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"o:p /o:p9 st1:place st="on"Hyde Park/st1:placeo:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"When I was in college, I rented in st1:place st="on"Hyde Park/st1:place and always dreamed of living there. This was where hippieville used to thrive. It was the hub of the co-op mentality, the birth of organic, commuting on bikes, buying local etc⦠And then a bunch of yuppies have come in and Pottery Barned the hell out of it. Quit making it so damn pretty. A porch swing should be rusty, not bedazzled. HP has slipped down my list over the years, but still hangs on to the top ten because musicians are still renting all the garage apartments. Does Mike still have notes posted all over st1:place st="on"Hyde Park/st1:place gym like âif your pee pee is too short, please sit down to peeâ. Classic.o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"o:p /o:p8 East st1:city st="on"st1:place st="on"Austin/st1:place/st1:cityo:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"I love so many things about st1:place st="on"East Austin/st1:place I donât have the time and space to mention it all. I love the authentic, inexpensive restaurants. I love the neighborhood bars. I love some of the interesting business concepts like Arturoâs Piñataâs y Moffles (mufflers). If you count the trailers serving food and frozen novelites, this neighborhood has to have more restaurants per capita than anywhere else in the city. I just hope the gringoâs moving in there embrace itâs current culture and donât try to change it. o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"o:p /o:p7 Clarksville/West Endo:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"This gets my strongest bid for folks who love location. Everything in this area seems packed in and there are cars everywhere. Either everyone owns about 5 cars apiece or every one of them has offered to house a starving musicianâ¦and his van. I get frustrated with Texans for opting for pure square footage. Itâs an ego trip or something. This area is the antithesis of that. They are willing to give up space for location. This is one of the few areas not being torn to the ground for a rebuild⦠and they are not afraid to use outrageous exterior colors or cement bicycles or armadillos to the side of their house. Because of the UT housing in close proximity, you kids might come home speaking Chinese or Russian. Diversity at itâs best.o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"o:p /o:p6 Westlake/Rollingwoodo:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"This neighborhood is great if you can tolerate all the political unrest. If only Bob Marley was here to get new and old to shake hands. Iâve learned to appreciate the naturalscape and applaud their efforts to keep it a place that could burst into flames at any moment. I love how the deer just stand there and stare at you as if to say âGo ahead, Iâm gonna eff up your Cayenne S and my life sucks anywayâ¦Iâd flip you off but I got a damn hoofâ. This neighborhood gets props for being more liberal, interesting and eclectic than anyone realizes. Too bad none of the neighbors come within 100 ft of each other.o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"o:p /o:p5 st1:city st="on"st1:place st="on"Highland Park/st1:place/st1:city West/Balconeso:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"The ONLY thing stopping this neighborhood from numero uno is location and the fact they have to use Mopac to get anywhere. Iâm a sucker for well built cool architecture from the 50âs and 60âs and there are some real gems in this hood. I love the mix of young families with bikes, trikes and tree swings in the yard, next to memaw and peepaw making a run to the dumpster with the dirty Depends. Itâs one of the least pretentious neighborhoods in the city and I love that so many of them are preserving some of the old school integrity in their homes, although Iâve seen some of my favorite mid-century homes get bulldozed to the ground in a day. Shame on you!o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"o:p /o:p/spana name="south-neighborhoods"/aspan style="font-size:10;"4 Barton st1:personname st="on"Hill/st1:personnameso:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"When I bought my last house, Barton st1:personname st="on"Hill/st1:personnames was my first choice. Problem is, no one ever leaves so thereâs rarely much on the market. I love that there seems to be no social class there. Doesnât matter how big your house is or what you do for a living. I imagine people having real interesting conversations about real things that matter. I also love that this neighborhood is where all the broken pets seem to have been adopted (one eye, missing leg, perhaps a stutter). My only beef with Barton st1:personname st="on"Hill/st1:personnames is that everyone spends their entire paycheck at REI. Too many pockets, backpacks, fanny packs, adventure caps, canteens and compasses. Itâs creepy.o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"o:p /o:p3 South Congress/South Lamaro:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"When I first moved to st1:city st="on"st1:place st="on"Austin/st1:place/st1:city this was flat our hookerville. Many st1:state st="on"st1:place st="on"Texas/st1:plac
e/st1:state politicians are quite sad this area has been cleaned up. They donât know what to do when in town for legislature anymore. This area is filled with 30 somethings who apparently donât have to be anywhere at any certain time⦠EVER. Their days are filled with coffee shop visits and vintage store browsing. Driving through this neighborhood area it is apparent that everyone is a bike messenger or aspires to be one. So will someone, for the life of me, tell me how they can all afford 500,000 dollar homes. Big props to those who havenât sold out to builders and are hanging onto those 800 sq. ft. homes. Without you, this neighborhood would be ruined by all the newbies.o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"o:p /o:p2 Bouldin Creeko:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"This area just oozes cool. They are in for trouble though. The home prices and new modern homes are going to bring in a ton of people who âthink they are coolâ and they are going to dork it all up. The art to living in this neighborhood the right way is spending as little as you can on; cars, landscaping, personal hygiene, haircuts, or clothing. If you are going to spend money, spend it on; music fests, piercings, tats, hemp clothing and Eastern medicine. No one in Bouldin works for the st1:state st="on"st1:place st="on"Man./st1:place/st1:state I admire that.o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"a name="southwest-neighborhoods"/aa name="east-neighborhoods"/a1 st1:place st="on"st1:placename st="on"Travis/st1:placename st1:placename st="on"Heights/st1:placename/st1:placeo:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"I have always wanted to live in this neighborhood but Iâm afraid I would never fit in since I donât have a Kiln. Itâs very popular to be a white person with dreadlocks and to look as if you are heading to or from a Renaissance festival. Congratulations on spending more annually on the health of your trees than on yourself. Thereâs a difference between being âCoolâ to attract attention or just âBeing Coolâ. st1:placename st="on"Travis/st1:placename st1:placename st="on"Heights/st1:placename is the latter and thatâs why itâs my pic for st1:place st="on"st1:city st="on"Austin/st1:city/st1:placeâs Coolest Neighboorhood 2008. Too bad I canât even afford to rent your detached studio.o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"o:p /o:pHonorable mentions⦠neighborhoods on the rise.o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size:10;"Downtown, Crestview, st1:place st="on"North Loop/st1:place.o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal"br /br //p
