C3 opened the back gate for LiveNation/Ticketmaster. They joined forces with Moody, and the patrician class from NY and CA that have been steadily filing in—not to mention those born here and Dallas and Houston. Not to say everyone from those places wants to pump Austin full of growth steroids because they think we can (and should) build build build our way to some mythical affordability.They (developers and privateers) have been playing Game of Thrones in city government since before the pandemic, but used the cover of that chaos to sow the seeds we are seeing come into fruition now. Behold Waterloo Park and the nonprofit that profits from it. That is the future they have planned for Zilker.
They are trying to split the environmental movement in Austin. That’s who has stood in their way, so first they want to peel off SOS and blame them for the city codes that were adopted by an overwhelming majority of the citizens in 1992. That was the SOS ordinance—even though they won at council in 1990, they still had to do an official petition drive and get an ordinance on the ballot so some other developer couldn’t do the same scheme. They spent 1.5+ years doing what we are doing now, grassroots activism, and it went to a vote in 1992. Austin passed it 2-1. It became the law the citizens initiated. And the developers played the long game, rebranded, and recruited from the environmentalist ranks.
Some figured out how to use nonprofits and parks. They’re working hand in hand. The boards of directors tell a more clear story of what they’re doing than their mission statements. The mission statements are just high minded nonsense.
The boards tell the truth.