Go to Speak Up Austin for more information on how to give input into the proposed new district maps.
Here are the upcoming public forums:
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| The Current Austin City Council District Map (click to enlarge) |
On a trip to Las Vegas earlier this year, one of the members of our party spoke wistfully of wagering on horse races at Manor Downs back in the 1990's. I had forgotten about Manor Downs, and for good reason: it stopped holding horse races in 2010 and closed shortly thereafter (though inexplicably it still has a functioning website).
We know people with rental property in the area, thus I keep an eye on the current events in the Manor area. I recently read that Dalfen Industrial will convert the 146 acre Manor Downs site into an industrial park with six buildings (totally about 1 million square feet in aggregate). Construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2022 and the estimated time of completion is in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Manor Downs hosted Farm Aid II in 1986. While the new project is not as cool as that, it is a positive improvement to the area and indicative of the regional growth the Central Texas area is experiencing.
If you live in Texas and really want to see live horse racing, you can still find tracks open near San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston.
Genie Car Wash on South Lamar along with the adjacent Jiffy Lube and auto repair ship have closed. Apartments and offices will be built on the site.
If you need your car washed south of the river, here are a few options:
It is now streaming on Netflix. After you watch a few episodes, check out the Seinfeld Law blog.
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| Because Everything Tastes Better in a Ceramic Parrot |
If you prefer to eat/drink outside these days, Wu Chow does have a patio.
[Note: Wu Chow's mai tai is great, though the best tasting mai tai I've had all year was obtained at the Ritz-Carlton in Ft. Lauderdale. They also have patio dining; however, their patio looks across A1A (the very route Vanilla Ice loves) to the Atlantic as opposed to overlooking W. 5th. Said mai tai was not served in a ceramic parrot, so Wu Chow wins on presentation.]
As you may know, a remake of Dune is coming out next month. From what I've read online, it's going to be good. What you may not know is that David Lynch (yes, the director of Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, and Twin Peaks) directed a movie version of Dune in 1984. It can be a strange, often hard to follow movie plot for those who haven't read the book. It also wastes the talents of an impressive list of actors and the director. However.... it's also visually interesting and full of enough Lynch-esque touches that if you are a Lynch fan (or a fan of odd sci-fi) it's worth seeing. Furthermore, it has Sting reveling in villainy and a soundtrack by Toto.
Should you watch this movie before seeing the new Dune? If you like David Lynch and/or classic cult sci-fi movies then yes. As a bonus, if you live in Austin you can catch it the 1984 Dune on the big screen at the Alamo Drafthouse Village and Slaughter locations through September 29th.
Film Trivia: David Lynch turned down directing Return of the Jedi before agreeing to make Dune. Ewoks by David Lynch? Probably much cooler and/or more terrifying than the Ewoks we were given; definitely better dancers.
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Data compares August 2020 to August 2021. Visit abor.com/marketstatistics for more information and for charts on additional counties in Austin's MSA.
Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area. We would be happy to advise you on your real estate related needs.
Sadly, I read this morning that the much anticipated Top Gun: Maverick release date has been postponed until May 2022 (owing, of course, to COVID concerns).
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Data compares July 2020 to July 2021. Visit abor.com/marketstatistics for more information and for charts on additional counties in Austin's MSA.
Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area. We would be happy to advise you on your real estate related needs.
Data compares June 2020 to June 2021. Visit abor.com/marketstatistics for more information and for charts on additional counties in Austin's MSA.
Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area. We would be happy to advise you on your real estate related needs.
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| My 2007 VW Passat in New Mexico |
I was somewhat disappointed to read that Volkswagen will be ending Passat sedan sales in the U.S. after the 2022 model year (the car will continue to be sold in Europe). I probably would not have been surprised had I known sales had dropped to about 23,000 last year (down from 78,000 in 2015). Why do I care about this mid-sized sedan I once called "the German Ford Taurus"? I had a 2007 demo model I bought at a discount and proceeded to drive for the next 10 years. It road tripped from Taos to Savannah to Asheville, and I put thousands of miles on it for business trips in Texas and Oklahoma. It even drove down the long unpaved road from Hwy 550 to Chaco Canyon (though we thought it might become a permanent fixture) and survived a snowy mountain crossing driving it through the Carson National Forest. It was great on the highway and deceptively large in cargo space. To sum things up: it was a great car for 9 of the 10 years I owned it and the best value for my automotive dollar so far. Had I sold it in 2017 I'd probably have even fonder memories.
I've also driven the Passat's more exciting cousin, the Audi A4. My brother used to have an A4 R-line which was quite fun to drive. Assuming Audi doesn't kill the A4 to make way for more SUVs in the line-up, that's a car worth checking out.
Save the date: The Floyd Real Estate Trivia Series will return live and in-person on August 25th at Lavaca Street Bar (downtown). Stay tuned for more information.
Data compares May 2020 to May 2021. Visit abor.com/marketstatistics for more information and for charts on additional counties in Austin's MSA.
Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area. We would be happy to advise you on your real estate related needs.
I've been enjoying watching Seinfeld on Hulu for a while. Apparently, Seinfeld will be leaving Hulu on the 23rd. It will start streaming on Netflix, but that will be sometime in the Fall.
[Update: If you have Sling, you can watch some episodes through the On Demand feature. Also, Seinfeld will be on Netflix starting 10/1/21.]
Maybe you have driven on the I-40 De Soto Bridge (aka M Bridge) over the Mississippi into Memphis and reveled in the glory of the giant pyramid that is a Bass Pro Shops (better or worse that the giant pyramid that is a casino? You be the judge.). Unfortunately, you won't be able to do this until at least July (but probably for a while after that). Why? Because on May 11th a contractor found a large crack in the bridge which resulted in it being closed down. Now the 40,000+ cars and trucks per day which usually cross the bridge are routed through West Memphis to the older I-55 bridge. Why did I take the time to write about this? Because on a recent road trip I was stuck in West Memphis for a few hours whilst on the detour to the I-55 bridge. It was not pleasant. I have another road trip (to Nashville) in the works and if the bridge isn't fixed I'll take an alternate route to avoid Memphis altogether. If you have road trip plans through Memphis, I recommend you take the possible 1-3 hour wait into consideration when planning your route.
You can visit the Wall Street Journal for more information about the bridge closure and its economic effects. Like many things in the past year, it hasn't been good for supply chains.
There are a couple of trivia nights in the works.
We're going to do one for The Creative Fund (which I co-host) in the next couple of months. Details are being worked out at this time.
Also, there is a Floyd Real Estate sponsored trivia night (which I host) in the works. Not many details yet, but it will be live and in person.
Stay tuned for more information.
Check out this recent post from The Points Guy about new routes American Airlines will be opening to Austin later in the year.
Data compares April 2020 to April 2021. Visit abor.com/marketstatistics for more information and for charts on additional counties in Austin's MSA.
Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area. We would be happy to advise you on your real estate related needs.
The Wall Street Journal has written up a nice guide for a summer road trip in Colorado. I've been to Denver many times, as well as Salida (it's where I've stayed while skiing at Monarch). The road in between makes for a nice drive. Telluride and the surrounding areas also make for a good drive. One I'd suggest adding on to the list from the article is the "Million Dollar Highway" (aka US 550) from Silverton to Ouray. That one packs in some amazing views and goes by a few trailheads worth checking out (with the caveat that it should not be done towing a large trailer or in an RV).
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| New Travis Co. Courthouse, Under Construction |
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| UT Tower and Dobie Tower |
Check out our friend and financial advisor Adam Flagg being interviewed by KVUE vis a vis inflation concerns:
