Opinion
THE eagle’s Eye
Page 8 | Oct. 10, 2023
Corporations are changing Austin Austin’s local charm dies as condos and big tech rise sarah flores StAFF WRITER Residents of Austin Texas have experienced gentrification and change around them, especially in the last few years. Over the last twenty years, corporate chains have slowly eaten away Austin’s unique character and charm. I’ve lived in Austin my whole life. I’ve seen several of my favorite places replaced with high dollar condos and office towers. It feels like developers have been given free reign to push out local businesses, replacing the colorful and quirky with an achromatic palette of steel and glass. Graffiti ParkPalace was one of the first places that I noticed change around me. It was a tradition for my family to go down to Castle Hill and grab some spray cans to draw some funny images or write some quotes with personal meaning. Now when I drive by I only see the overpriced apartments in its place. Recently, Peter Pan’s Mini Golf has become the latest potential victim of gentrification and rising costs of property. The owners of the beloved mini golf course located at the intersection of Barton Springs Road and the quickly gentrifiying South Lamar Boulevard just south of downtown
Adrian Orduna
Austin is worried that it will be forced to move or close because of complications with renewing its lease at an affordable rate. Peter Pan’s Minigolf has been open since 1948 and has been a staple fun activity to do in Austin, but if it were to close, the city would lose a part of the “weirdness” that it’s been advertising for so long. The golf course’s managers are seeking support at City Hall and among many Austinites. A petition to keep it open has more than 24,000 signatures. One strategy the course is using is to obtain a historic landmark designation that could help it from avoiding a price hike on its lease. The Historic Landmark Commission, city council members, and Austin Mayor Mark Watson have expressed support for such a designation, but it is still
an unanswered question if this will help save Peter Pan. Natalie Fontenot, Akins Austin Corps program adviser, said in a comment submitted to an online survey conducted by The Eagle’s Eye that Austin has changed from a “big, small-town feeling” to a “large city feeling.” Many other survey respondents expressed sadness for missing the feeling that Austin used to have, including enjoying family-owned businesses, unique street art, and local musicians busking for tips. Even with the constant push of gentrification, Austin residents and business owners have found ways to fight back. I Luv Video, the oldest and largest video store in Austin was forced to close in 2020 because of the pandemic and the dominance of streaming
services. However, in 2022 Ryan Teel and Macy Cotton decided to reopen the store, now called “We Luv Video” in the form of a volunteer-run, non-profit organization. This new operations model has helped the beloved video store reopen on North Loop Blvd, keeping a piece of old Austin alive. While expereincing the hardships of trying to “Keep Austin Weird” local residents have joined together to find solutions, including the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), a local nonprofit organization that helps give low-cost health care to musicians in Austin. Many musicians have said HAAM has helped them gain access to health care. As a city once celebrated as the Capital of Live Music and a city that supports local businesses rather than corporate businesses, some longtime residents worry that the city has gone against its original ideals. Many local musicians have been pushed out of Austin and small venues have shut down. The local businesses are getting priced out. The Austin vibe is starting to feel like any other generic large Ameircan city. The feeling of culture just like the rest of the United States has disappeared. If Austin continues to grow and change in the direction that it continues in, Austin will be nothing but a sterile city full of tech jobs. To save Autin’s soul, it’s going to be up to all of us us to join together and learn more about the city we live in and search for creative ways to protect it.
Change school schedules to 4 days of the districts that have gone to a adriadna four-day school week do it to save and not have to struggle Vazauez money with teachers leaving. StAFF WRITER I believe having four-day school would be much better not just Some Texas school districts have because we get an extra day off but decided to switch to four-daybecause I would be using that extra a-week schedule instead of five day to work. days to attract teachers and give A lot of high schoolers have students more flexibility in the part-time jobs and it’s such a big work and life schedules. pressure having to go to school Since the COVID-19 Pandemduring the day as soon as they get ic presented many challenges out of school, students have to go to teachers, many of them have to work and end up getting home retired or resigned, and to this day late after trying to eat, do their a lot of schools have classes with homework, and go to sleep just to substitute teachers throughout repeat the same thing the next day. the whole year. This is why many Having to repeat that every day
Maxwell Pearson
drains you physically and mentally. Many students work to be able to pay for basic necessaties, including helping with rent, as well as car and insurance expenses. Having an extra day off would allow them to work more and be able to earn more money or even just use that extra day off to get caught up with school or even basic stuff at the
house. When hearing about districts having the possibility of going to a four-day school week students and teachers love the idea, And as great as it seems we still have to consider whether going to a four-day school week is going to benefit us. Some districts decided to question students and teachers and see if they thought the change had been for the better or worse based on what they would say they compared it with the actual data from school districts. Based on the data they were able to collect, they could tell that there was almost little to no difference. One of the many
reasons why they would say four-day school week would be better was because they wanted to save money but when comparing whether there was much change on how much money was being spent and saved they didn’t really see a difference. While I understand some may be concerned that students will learn less, some schools that have successfully offered tutoring programs to help students in need of additional instruction. I think every school district in Texas should consider a four-day school week to decide if it could have benefits for students and educators alike.
