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Austin, Texas: Beautiful Model Past Her Prime
Picture a model. Neither waif nor plus-sized. Maybe Cindy Crawford in her prime.
Now picture her ten years later with 20 more pounds.
She’d probably still be kinda hot but not when compared to her prime.
That’s Austin.
300,000 to One Million
Austin has put on 700,000 pounds in 50 years.
Its population has skyrocketed from its 1980 level (300,000) to become the 10th biggest city in the United States. The 2022 census estimate puts its population at 975,000, but it’s adding about 1,000 people every month.
The number includes Elon Musk and a dozen other billionaires in a city that recently had only a few.
They’re throwing money around. The city oozes it.
Two friends told me I would love Rainey Street’s live music, cool bars, and food trucks. They must not have visited it with the cage of high-rise construction that currently surrounds it. I could see Rainey Street’s charm, but it was like trying to appreciate that model in a frumpy house coat and curlers.
