Weird City: Sense of Place and Creative Resistance in Austin, Texas BY Joshua Long 2008 Submitted to the graduate degree program in Geography and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Human Geography __________________________________ Dr. Garth Andrew Myers, Chairperson __________________________________ Dr. Jane Gibson __________________________________ Dr. Brent Metz __________________________________ Dr. J. Christopher Brown __________________________________ Dr. Shannon O’Lear Date Defended: June 5, 2008. The Dissertation Committee for Joshua Long certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Weird City: Sense of Place and Creative Resistance in Austin, Texas ___________________________________ Dr. Garth Andrew Myers, Chairperson Date Approved: June 10, 2008 ii Acknowledgments This page does not begin to represent the number of people who helped with this dissertation, but there are a few who must be recognized for their contributions. Red, this dissertation might have never materialized if you hadn’t answered a random email from a KU graduate student. Thank you for all your help and continuing advice. Eddie, you revealed pieces of Austin that I had only read about in books. Thank you. Betty, thank you for providing such a fair-minded perspective on city planning in Austin. It is easy to see why so many Austinites respect you. Richard, thank you for answering all my emails. Seriously, when do you sleep? Ricky, thanks for providing a great place to crash and for being a great guide. Mycha, thanks for all the insider info and for introducing me to RARE and Mean-Eyed Chris. Bobby, you were the perfect insider. From driving directions to free food to constant updates, you were awesome. Thanks for ALWAYS answering your phone. Garth, thank you for supporting my decision to pursue this research. You are an irreplaceable mentor and friend. Elena, thanks for always being so understanding and for putting up with all my dissertation frustrations. I love you always and forever. To my family and friends: thank you for all the love, prayer, and support. Also, thank you for dealing with all the awkward confusion that accompanies explaining my research to others. To my dissertation committee: thank you for all your advice and mentoring. This dissertation would not have progressed without your assistance. To the people of Austin: thank you for hospitality, approachability, kindness, and sense of humor. This research would not have been possible if y’all hadn’t taken time to share your passion for the city of Austin. You made me feel like I was always among friends. iii This dissertation is dedicated to the people of Austin and their love of place. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Section I Preface ………………………………………………………..……1 Scope of Research ……………………………………………………….…….4 Methods ……………………………………………………………..8 Purpose and Justification ……………………………………………………..……..24 Section II Prologue …………………………………………………………....28 Introduction ……………………………………………………………29 Interlude 1: Welcome Home ……………………………………………………………35 Chapter One: Why Weird? …………………………………………………………....37 Chapter Two: A Little Background Music ……………………………………………47 Chapter Three: Austin Emerging …………………………………………………....81 Interlude 2: Lofts Ascending ………………………………………………..…110 Chapter Four: Aliens, Affluence, and Abnormality ……………………………….….112 Chapter Five: Keeping it Weird …......................................................................…143 Interlude 3: The King and Queen of Weird Austin …………………………………..187 Chapter Six: Sense of Place, Conflict, and Creative Resistance ………………..…189 Section III Theoretical Review and Application …………………………………………………..223 Further Research …………………………………………………………..243 Bibliography …………………………………..………………………244 Glossary of Terms ………………………………………………………..…253 Appendices …………………………………………………………..256 v SECTION I: THE PLAN OF RESEARCH PREFACE This dissertation revisits one of the most central and enigmatic themes in the discipline of geography, the emotional bond between people and place. Influenced and inspired by the erudite frameworks of place theory, scholars have repeatedly investigated this bond in an attempt to challenge our understanding through a diversity of contextual lenses. Each investigation proves that a sense of place, while visible and readily observable, remains an intractable and fluid concept difficult to fully elucidate. Sense of place studies rarely seek out rigid epistemological frameworks. Instead, these studies tend to rely on a humanistic approach in order to better portray the special “betweenness” of place. The successful sense of place study educates, illuminates, and contextualizes through a rich and holistic portrait of place—a portrait that hopefully challenges the reader to reevaluate his or her own notions of topophilia. The use of words like “betweenness” and “topophilia” reveals the influence of certain “erudite frameworks” in my own academic training. Mentally armed with the humanistic writings of Yi-Fu Tuan, Nicholas Entrikin and Clifford Geertz, I entered the field ambitiously, ready to investigate and illuminate the processes at work. I asked myself questions like Which theories apply? and What can this study add to contemporary discourse on culture and landscape? It took little time for me to realize that there was no meta-theory to explain what was happening in Austin, and that this dissertation would be no grandiose, watershed contribution to discourse. Words like “theory” and “discourse” met their demise at the corner of 34th and Guadeloupe. They 1 won’t be fully revived again until the final chapter, and even then, they will be appropriated in a way that might infuriate dyed-in-the-wool Marxists and inspire Lefebvrian purists to burn these pages with their cigarettes. This is not to say that the applicable literature will be overlooked. The significance of the creative class literature, for instance, cannot be understated. Its influence has revealed itself through a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy of planning and development in urban areas throughout North America (and now abroad). What I mean to say is that fieldwork in Austin challenged the application of theory, widened the scope of investigation, and pushed empirical methods outside of their comfortable, predetermined boundaries. In order to maintain a central focus and purpose to this research, I was forced to reexamine my own fundamental understandings of the discipline of geography. The following statements reflect my own training as a humanistic geographer. The simplicity of these two basic tenants guided the empirical investigation, theoretical considerations, and writing methods of research: (1) Geography is holistic and interdisciplinary. Geographic studies support diverse methodologies and theoretical frameworks, and encourage a holistic perspective and scope in order to reveal the inherent interconnection of geographic processes. Through the investigation of an ostensibly simple phenomenon like “Keep Austin Weird,” this research reveals the underlying and interconnected social, economic, political, and environmental processes that have shaped the Austin cultural landscape. This research hopes to introduce (and reintroduce) a humanistic perspective on the dynamic and interconnected nature of urban processes. (2) Geography is educational and inspiring. By investigating the interconnection and interrelationship between humans and their natural environment, geographic studies educate people about their relationship with place, provide new perspectives on the sustainability of this relationship, and at times, inspire people to improve upon the places they inhabit. This research aims to educate a wide audience about the importance of a geographic perspective in 2 urban planning and development. It is my hope that this research will inspire urban citizens to participate in some way, in any way, in the construction of their cultural landscape. These two basic geographic precepts underscored everything related to this research. The success of fieldwork relied upon a holistic and interdisciplinary empirical investigation of “Keep Austin Weird,” and the success of this dissertation will prove reliant on its application as an educational and inspiring portrait of Austin and Austinites. The first section of this dissertation explains the methods, scope, and goals of research. The next section attempts to portray the cultural landscape of Austin, the ways in which that landscape is changing, and the creative modes of resistance to these changes. The final section helps to contextualize the diverse meanings and impact of “Keep Austin Weird” by suggesting a cautious mosaic of several theoretical frameworks. If this dissertation is successful, these three sections will encourage you, the reader, to reflect upon the experiences, emotions, and meanings you ascribe to place. If I’m lucky, this research will inspire you to actively participate in the construction and preservation of your own cultural landscape. 3 SCOPE OF RESEARCH I was a senior in college when I saw my first “Keep Austin Weird” sticker. I was stuck behind a puttering Honda hatchback that had ambitiously chosen to merge with traffic on the lower deck of I-35 in downtown Austin. There was no point in passing. My exit was less than a mile away. This gave me ample time to read through the patchwork array of eco-friendly, Wiccan, new age, and leftist stickers that adorned the back of the car (I think bumper