In the 1980s, 350K people, U Texas and State Government the main employers, clubs everywhere, many with minimal cover charges and $1 beers. I'd go see Angela Strehli for free at Huts Hamburgers on Sundays, Chris Duarte at the Black Cat on 6th street (no cover). Even the "expensive" venues, $5 at Liberty Lunch to see Joe Ely, $10 at Antones to see Buddy Guy, or the Austin Opera House for the Chronicle's "Best of" show with numerous local stars. Toni Price at happy hour at the Continental Club and so on. You could live the good life on a research assistant's salary.
Left in 1997, returned in 2005, and the party was over. Still could buy a nice house at a reasonable price, but "Keep Austin Weird" was a Chamber of Commerce bumper sticker. By the time I left in 2012, highways that I used to drive down with wide open lanes were bumper to bumper all day and evening.
Now the musicians have moved to Lockhart, the Tex-Mex places have been replaced by yuppie Neuvo Mexican joints, housing is unaffordable even way out of town, there's no decent public transportation and the roads are jammed. It's just another overcrowded and unaffordable city. Happens everywhere, who wouldn't want to have lived in Laurel Canyon in the 1970s, Greenwich Village in the 60s and so on.
Global warming is going to kick their butt, I lived through one extreme summer, 108 the high, 70 something days over 100, temperatures at night in the 90s until close to midnight. That was unusual, but lately is becoming more the norm, and it's going to get much worse the next couple decades. Though they won't have the extreme drought issues that is going to kill development in the SW, what made the climate bearable was that even the hot days would be followed by pleasant nights - but when the heat doesn't subside, summer becomes hell.
