The Age of Backyard Dining

The beginning:  Austin’s symbolic out door eateries are gaining nation recognition for their odd appeal but more importantly, they have kick ass food.  Erected mostly from dilapidated car parking lots and houses, these establishments signify a new age of dining for Austinites alike. Who can deny cheap and fun food? More importantly, the rejuvenation process that is required to set one of these establishments up will eve satisfy the hardest of hipsters

                     

                                The G’raj M’hall  91 Red River Austin, TX 78701 http://grajmahalaustin.com/

The Present: I myself have indulged many times at many of these outdoor eateries and as a result, I had great time not only eating but discovering something new. My favorites to this date have been the G'raj M'hall and Banger's beer garden and I strongly advise everyone to go try them. Their ability to thrust people out of their norm has cemented these restaurants in Austin culture and ensures that they will always be an enticing and cost effective bite to eat.

                  

                 

                      Banger’s Beer Garden 79 & 81 Rainey St. Austin, TX 78701 http://bangersaustin.com

 “New Urbanism will reinforce the relationship between the art of building, the making of community, and the conservation of the natural world. It will reform the practice of community building to restore existing urban centers and towns, create coherent metropolitan regions', reconfigure sprawling suburbs into communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, and protect our natural environment.

                                                               - Congress for new Urbanism

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The future:  The future looks bright for Austin food culture because Austin already possesses the necessary foundation for new urbanism. As more and more restaurants open their doors, Austin citizens will continue to expand into the darkest and weirdest place to continue this craze, which gives good hope for a total city over hall. However it turns out, we don’t have to worry about being stumped on where to eat.

International Orange

      Since its opening on May 27, 1937 the Golden Gate Bridge has become the symbol of the San Francisco Bay. As the San Francisco Chronicle referred to it, “the thirty-five million dollar steal harp” took eleven lives, ten different contractors, and four years to complete. Stretching 4,200 feet across the Bay the Golden Gate Bridge stood as the longest suspension bridge from the time of it’s opening in 1937 to 1964. The bridge tends to be identified easily by its bright color, “International Orange”, which was chosen by the contractors for multiple reasons: first it allows for a warm color contrast between the blue of the bay, and green of the land masses on either end, and second it was necessary to have a color that could be spotted through the infamous thick San Francisco fog. The Golden Gate Bridge has served as a main thoroughfare for commuters between Marin County and San Francisco; as of May 30, 2012 1,970,331,117 vehicles have crossed the bridge since its opening. On May 24th, 1987 for the bridge’s 50th anniversary people came from all over the world to pay homage to the bridge on its monumental day. The Golden Gate Bridge is also easily recognized for the role it has played in over 40 major motion pictures as well as in several documentaries focused on its superior status as a suspension bridge.

Joseph P. Strauss, the Chief Engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge, wrote the following poem after its construction in 1937: 

The Golden Gate Bridge

I am the thing that men denied, 

The right to be, the urge to live; 

And I am that which men defied, 

Yet I ask naught for what I give. 

My arms are flung across the deep, 

Into the clouds my towers soar, 

And where the waters never sleep, 

I guard the California shore. 

Above the fogs of scorn and doubt, 

Triumphant gleams my web of steel; 

Still shall I ride the wild storms out, 

And still the thrill of the conquest feel. 

The passing world may never know

The epic of my grim travail; 

It matters not nor friend or foe -

My place to serve and none to fail. 

My being cradled in despair, 

Now grown so wondrous fair and strong, 

And glorified beyond compare,

Rebukes the error and the wrong. 

Vast shafts of steel, wave-battered pier, 

And all the splendor meant to be;

Wind-swept and free, these, year on year, 

Shall chant my hymm of Victory!

      Strauss’ personifies the bridge by referring to in the first person granting the bridge a role in San Francisco society. The Golden Gate Bridge provides the people of San Francisco a sense of security when it mentions “I guard the California shore.” Its bright orange arch provides a gateway to the city. “Triumphant gleams my web of steel” symbolizes the golden persona the Golden Gate Bridge has over San Francisco and represents the opportunity that awaits as you cross over from Marin to San Francisco or by boat from the Pacific Ocean to the inlet of the Bay. Strauss writes from the Golden Gate Bridge’s perspective “my place to serve and none to fail,” symbolizing the responsibility for crossing people safely into the city as well as protecting them from intruders trying to enter from sea. “Now grown so wondrous fair and strong, and glorified beyond compare” represents the Golden Gate Bridge as a symbol for victory and prosperity that comes from living in San Francisco. 

The Golden Gate Bridge has been romanticized and seen as a golden asset to San Francisco, but with every “white knight” comes a “black knight.” The Golden Gate Bridge’s “dark knight” has become the patrons who have jumped to their death from the Golden Gate Bridge throughout the years. The Golden Gate Bridge is reported to have the most suicides, with a 98% fatality rate, committed, by 2005 on average one suicide was reported every two weeks. The image of despair represents the people who failed to find success in San Francisco by crossing the golden bridge. However, it is believed that the Golden Gate Bridge is also chosen because of the dramatic purpose it serves upon taking the 245 foot plunge into the icy Bay waters. Although the bridge is more popularly known for the many people who come to marvel at the bridge each year, the bridge contains a dark side full of victims of despair and failure.

I-35: A City Divided

Though I have lived in Austin since I was four years old, I was virtually unaware of I-35's effects on the city when I was younger. Growing up in West Austin, I was ignorant about socioeconomic and racial inequities in the city. I first discovered the demographic division caused by I-35 when I was eleven. I had purchased Small Steps by Louis Sachar, and the context he gave for the novel struck me. I was surprised and a little ashamed that I, an Austinite, was unaware of the social dynamic in my own backyard.

"Interstate 35 goes from the Mexican border all the way up to Lake Superior, and some of the heaviest traffic is along the two-hundred-fifty mile stretch between San Antonio and Dallas. The steady flow of cars and trucks divides the city of Austin in half, not just geographically, but also economically, and to some extent, racially."

-Small Steps by Louis Sachar

Small Steps is Austinite Louis Sachar's first young adult novel dealing with the themes of racial and economic oppression on a local, observable level. Small Steps is the contrasting companion of Sachar's book Holes, which depicts a wrongfully sentenced white boy from the "wrong side of the tracks," who eventually makes it out of his desperate situation. Theodore, the black main character of Small Steps, finds that he cannot escape the assumptions people make about him based on his East Austin address, forcing the readers of Holes and Small Steps to acknowledge the racial discrepancy. Sachar admits in an interview that Theodore and Stanley endure equal suffering in Holes, but Theodore creates a more complex character because he does not return home to wealth and a fresh start. Small Steps creates the opportunity to explore life on the other side of Austin's racial barrier, I-35.

Interstate 35, according to the Texas Freeway history website, was originally a two lane highway that was not intended to be incorporated into the interstate system. In the early 1950s, I-35 was known as US-81, and there was no difference between West side and East side. As you can see from the photo, both sides of US-81 featured businesses and houses of similar appearance. 

Soon after the interstate underwent construction in 1959, the city became divided by East and West, and East and West began to imply certain racial heritage and socio-economic status. Today, I-35 physically separates the less affluent East Austin from the booming, bustling scene of West Austin and downtown. The infrastructure, though "building" the city, was destroying it and cutting off its circulation, causing its growth to stunt in East Austin.

I-35 detaching the East side from the lights of downtown.
Source: www.nytimes.com

The inequity between the East and West sides and the division caused by I-35 is an issue in the forefront of most socially-aware Austinites' minds. The Austin blog, Questions of Quantity, has multiple posts discussing quantifiable evidence of the divide and debate over a solution.  When the blogger searched Google Maps for SAT tutors and orthodontists in Austin, she found that all those businesses are located west of I-35, while businesses for trailer home rental are located on the east side. The people of Austin are not only divided by I-35, but they are limited by it. In Austin's case, the roads of the city physically separate its natives from certain places and opportunities. Even the picture above illustrates interesting contrast between the east and west: the West side is the focus of the photo, and it's full of light and life, while the East side is dark and barely in the picture.

 Though the pictures can accurately portray the discrepancy between the east and the west, there is a plethora of quantitative proof as well. According to the US census data the Questions of Quantity blogger found, the average median income for an East Austin household in 2000 was $15,678, while the average was $48,950 for Austin overall, which is almost three and a half times more. 34.1% of households in East Austin are single parent households, which is shocking compared to Austin's overall percentage of single parent households: 8%. Yet another divider, according to the 2000 census, is the gap in education. In East Austin, 54.4% of adults never finished high school, while in Austin overall, only 15.2% of adults lack a high school diploma. 

My personal experience with this astounding education gap began when I began to volunteer with Breakthrough Austin in my sophomore year. Breakthrough helps kids who will be the first in their families to attend college achiever their academic goals. Through the mentoring program St. Stephen's does with Breakthrough, I became more acutely aware of the discrepancies between my Austin experience and the experience of most of the students.

One of the projects I did with my students was a Google Maps project in which we chose locations historically important to East Austin and those locations on the east side that are important to the Breakthrough students. Over the course of three months, we researched, refined our map, and prepared a walking tour. On the day of the tour, I got to see the places my students had researched for so long and watch them present what they had learned with the confidence and certainty of someone much older. That Saturday, I was truly inspired by their hard work and dedication to their academics. I also enjoyed being in a part of Austin I rarely spent any time in. This project not only expanded my world, but it gave me hope that one day, the people of Austin will overcome the physical, racial and economic divisions the city has placed on them.