This three-part series looks at the reinvention of South Lamar. In part one, Rob Patterson looks at the boulevard's car-culture history and changes that are being felt today; part two examines how businesses may fare through the transformation; and part three below takes a longer view towards what the boulevard may become.
Preservation vs. Demolition on the Boulevard
Q: How many Austinites does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: A baker’s dozen. One to change the bulb. And a dozen to sit around, open a 12-pack, pass a joint and talk about how much cooler the old light bulb was.
We Austinites love our history. We hug it like an old teddy bear. And whenever you moved here, it was so much better before you did, man. Someday in the not-that-distant future, those of you who have recently joined us will be saying the same thing. Trust me.
Preservation versus development is a huge skein in the past, present and future tapestry of Austin. South Lamar has two developments that have preserved iconic music, drink and food landmarks on the boulevard and suggest that coexistence can be possible.
The Walgreen’s built at Bluebonnet and Lamar in 2004 provided Maria’s Taco Xpress -- which it displaced -- with bigger and even better digs that preserved its funk and soul. The Broken Spoke will be serving cold beers, country music and chicken fried steak until 2032 if its 20-year lease from the developers of The 704 complex on either side of the dancehall runs its course.
Which leads us to pull our reportorial vehicle off of the old Lamar into the Horseshoe Lounge, a classic Austin neighborhood beer bar soon to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Until 2007, it enjoyed such generous rent that its manager’s request to not print the exact number has to be respected, but under-four-figures will give you an idea of how low it was.
Then its location was bought by Barton Hills Properties LLC, which also has acquired three neighboring Lamar plots as well as another fronting Hether Street. The purchases can’t help but suggest a mixed-use development is in the offing. The Horseshoe’s current $6,000/month lease runs out in the middle of this decade not long after it turns 50. "We're going to try to stay here as long as we can," says manager Sherrill Scott.
Could the Horseshoe Lounge follow the path of Maria’s and the Spoke? What better amenity could a multifamily complex boast than a lil ol’ friendly South Lamar landmark? The horseshoe shape provides interesting architectural setback and wraparound design possibilities. Slaid Cleaves has even written (with Karen Poston) a perfect theme song to market, say, the Horseshoe Residences. One can at least dream of saving rather than lamenting the loss of a classic Lamar locale.
Round Round Get Around
Whatever the fate of the Horseshoe Lounge, there's the one element to South Lamar's future that everyone will have to contend with.
“It will be interesting to see how they build the transportation infrastructure,” speculates Joe Ruhoff of Maudie's Tex-Mex.
No kidding.
"I just wish there was better public transportation,” says Leea Mechling of the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture. "We’ve got to figure out a way to get cars off the street."
Winston Churchill noted that “an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty,” and Lamar offers an opportunity for the city to cultivate a mix of transit options that can help make smart growth work on a busy roadway.
One sign that alternatives are sorely needed is what locals do to avoid Lamar traffic. Stuart Sullivan relocated his Wire Studios to the short block of South Eighth Street on the east side of the boulevard between Treadwell and Gibson where it joins such other musical businesses as Fibes Drums and Tommy’s Drum Shop, and lives in Travis Heights.
“When I take the kids to school in the morning [at Zilker Elementary], I then take Kinney to Treadwell and shoot across. It takes forever if you get on Oltorf.” Sullivan explains. “The cars are just backed up, moving inch by inch. So I automatically learned the quick workaround. Getting out of where I am can also be a nightmare.” But as through traffic and parked cars spill off the boulevard, the neighborhood will quite likely feel run over.
Clearly something must be done. In 2014 Capital Metro will start its MetroRapid service along Lamar with express busses every 10 minutes in peak periods and every 15 otherwise. But that will hardly untangle the snarl. Trying to build light rail down the middle of the street would make traffic unbearable and afflict businesses, perhaps to the point of fatality.
A possible solution runs just beside Lamar down to Oltorf and nearby further south: The Union Pacific freight rail corridor. Slated to become a passenger line between Austin and San Antonio, its right of way could also accommodate light rail. The swath of open space surrounding the rails could even become parkland/greenspace, another smart growth element, perhaps with a bike trail. If done correctly, the area might enjoy a new urban transit artery that circulates community lifeblood and supports sustained neighborhood livability and business vitality along Lamar. And open up some nature to balance the street's infill.
Another bugaboo along the avenue is parking and access to its businesses. As that and other effects of Lamar’s gentrification spill over into the surrounding neighborhoods, homeowners will no doubt feel that their quality of life is also being affected.
Can it Walk the Walk?
The final issue to be tackled as the street becomes more residential is making it more pedestrian friendly. Car culture is embedded in its DNA. Lamar has long stretches that work against walkers and bicyclists circulating not just up and down the way but also across it: from Treadwell to Mary/Hether, Oltorf to Bluebonnet, and then Barton Skyway to Panther.
“I can’t even get across there to get to the Black Sheep to get a burger,” says G-Spot's Gigi Greco. When this writer lived just off Lamar to the east between Del Curto and Kinney between 2006 and 2009, I’d frequently dodge traffic to cross the street and patronize businesses on its west side any any time of day or evening. It took some time to get a break in the flow but was possible to do without too much danger.
I did so again in midday a few weeks back along the same stretch. And found myself in the middle left turn lane looking rapidly both ways at a whole lotta steady moving traffic and thinking, uh, hey guy… this does… not… feel… safe…. As well, the city has stepped up enforcement of its jaywalking laws in recent years. But fear of being mowed down trumps the cost of a ticket, which can run from around $100 to as high as $500.
So South Lamar also needs more places and ways to get across it. More lights would likely slow traffic, as would striped crossings with red lights triggered by pedestrians on either side, a tactic the city is using on other streets. The only other logical solutions are to go up over the roadway with pedestrian bridges or below it with tunnels. But with thousands of new residents who will soon live on the boulevard and many new businesses popping up, yet again, something must be done if the new Lamar streetscape is to truly thrive.
The Lamar of Unintended Consequences
As the Boulevard morphs, there will be casualties. One case in point is the Thundercloud Subs drive-through shop in the parking lot of Lamar Plaza.
“It used to be a terrible, horrible store that I would have sold to you for $150, $100 if you pressed me on it,” says Cotton. “But then the manager of the store at South Lamar and Manchaca said, let me do it, I’ll do two stores. And he’s a great manager and turned the place around into a real strong moneymaking store. Our sales went from maybe $10,000 or $15,000 a month to $20,000, $30,000, got up to $50,000 and more. It was all his doing. I thought that was a dead store and it really turned around.”
But if the plaza is sold and redeveloped, its effects will be “close to catastrophic. The manager who is used to getting a double income will lose that completely. We can’t make that up to him. Our managers make money on the [sales of] stores they manage. We can’t say, hey, we’re going to pay you an extra $50,000 a year even though that one’s closed. It doesn’t work that way. We’re local guys and losing that store is going to hurt us.”
It’s only one of a number of similar stories in the plaza and even more along the street.
But the change speeding up and down the street isn’t always bad even for businesses that are forced out. “For me it was ultimately a good thing,” says Sullivan. “The rent is significantly less, and the utilities are much cheaper.” He even once again moved into a space that was already a studio where in the past a local guitar guru labored on his recordings. And Sullivan is still close to the amenities that his business has enjoyed since he started his studio, now being a short ways off the street.
Living Up to Its Name
In the final analysis, for gentrification to succeed, Lamar must truly become a Boulevard rather than a roadway. Various definitions of the word mention wide streets lined with trees and vegetation, sometimes with meridians running down the center. As Tim Ziegler’s article last week on the road’s traffic outlook pointed out, the street itself cannot be widened. But the sidewalks can. And planting some shade trees would make Lamar a more comfortable place to walk and bike ride as they grow and mature, especially during the warmer and sunnier months.
Wheatsville’s Gillotte observes how “we are on a pretty congested street here on Guadalupe, and we feel like it works pretty well for us and we have a nice mix of people walking, riding their bikes and driving. And we expect that even though it’s not that way today [on Lamar], over the years of us being there it will reach that at our new store.”
Red's Porch is already proving the theory that apartments along Lamar will encourage more foot traffic, says manager Sean Tipps. "All the apartments will be a positive effect for us. We have a lot of regular customers that walk here," he notes.
Still, as hearty as the old low-rent and practical business landscape of Lamar once was, and as vibrant and teeming with opportunities (for some) as it feels now, neighborhoods can still be fragile ecosystems. The moment is now – right now – for all involved to work together and as cooperatively as can be realistically managed. But then again, this is Austin, where "not in my back yard" is a frequent neighborhood association howl, the city government is playing serious catch-up in managing growth, and stacks of cash are being laid down by developers for properties like our town is a red-hot game of Monopoly.
“Unless the wheels come off the whole national economy I think this is a good place to invest in real estate if you’re looking at the next 15 to 20 years,” notes Draker. “Our little town is blossoming into quite a city, isn’t it?”
The New/Old Streetscape Emerges
South Lamar isn't in no danger of losing its commercial car culture anytime soon. Businesses like the massive Texas gas station, Genie Car Wash and Brake Specialists Plus just south of Treadwell anchor that section for now, even as the number of used car lots has fallen.
The street has seen a big increase in bars and pubs where locals can gather. Not long ago, “There was just me and the Horseshoe and Broken Spoke,” notes Ables. Now there is The Gibson, The Highball, The Corner Bar, The Black Sheep Lodge, and Red’s Porch holding court toward the far south end.
“I always wanted that to happen,” Ables says, and it’s doing so “quicker than I ever dreamed.”
The restaurant scene already cooking along the boulevard has multiplied and broadened in the fare it serves. A Chipotle’s is nearing completion, and it’s rumored that an In-N-Out Burger will occupy the plot vacated by Discount Tires (where, alas, the Lulu B’s trailer will also have to move). The skinny on the street also says that the Gourdough’s donut trailer on South First will go brick-and-mortar in the old Kerbey Lane location.
Country-singing former Chicagoan Scott Angle, a recent Austin arrival, just opened Honky Tonk Hot Dogs, which as a salute to The Broken Spoke just down the street has named its various topping combos for Austin C&W singers and players: Jesse Dayton, Dale Watson, Jeff Hughes, Cindy Cashdollar and Weldon Henson.
Angle serves as an example of why some people want to move to Austin: to enjoy our local culture that we hope development won't erase. As I was enjoying one of his scrumptious half-pound Vienna dogs, another Windy City transplant wandered up from his nearby apartment, and explained how out of all the places he was offered high-tech industry jobs - New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco - Austin was the most appealing option.
And there's the rub that's been plaguing our city for close to two decades: How can a place with an infrastructure that was never intended to support even the people who are here now continue to manage inevitable growth and still maintain the downhome and weird appeal that draws The Many to join us here?
The lessons to possibly be learned on South Lamar can provide guidance as gentrification speeds up on other center city thoroughfares... if they are heeded. The process shows no signs of slowing down - South First is likely to be the next changing strip just due to spillover from Congress and Lamar alone - and other streetscapes throughout the city will undoubtedly follow.
Lamar & Austin Will Always Be There... We Hope
The feelings elicited from longtime South Lamar businessespeople are times wistful and concerned. They’re sometimes hopeful and even bullish. And also accepting and realistic. But whatever their point of view, one senses a genuine affection for the boulevard.
“It was wonderful to be part of Lamar for all those years with the access and convenience to everything,” says Sullivan. “It was still South Austin and you could be kinda funky.”
“It’s changing the face of South Austin, which I think most of us Austinites are sad about,” laments South Austin Music's Bill Welker. “I understand growth and I certainly understand change. But the changes taking place are [funded] by wealthy investors that don’t even reside here. What they’re doing is they’re buying properties like the one Ray Hennig [Heart of Texas Music] has been in for a good 40 years. It’s just unfortunate that people who have done business here now have to move on. I’m basically counting my lucky straws that I’m still here and doing business in the building that I’ve been in for 26 years.”
And for better or worse, as the growth in the Austin area that started in the early 1990s proceeds and accelerates at a sometimes dizzying speed that might qualify it for November’s F1 race – visiting parts of the city where one hasn’t been for a while almost always elicits strings of “what’s that?” and “where’d that go?” – the community might be living more comfortably with the notion of change.
“I used to be a condo hater – hate, hate, hate, hate – until I decided that, honestly, it’s a great thing to do to cluster people downtown so there’s not more sprawl,” says Mechling, who moved here in 1974, back when Austin was really really cool. “I can’t fault people for liking this place and wanting to move here. And I think that’s part of what keeps this place so vital is the coming and going of folks.
In the end, “It’s all for the good,” concludes Cotton. “The better it is, the more people it attracts. They want to turn it almost into a South Congress thing. But of course, Lamar is always there.”