Love My Neighborhood

For a neighborhood to resonate with other people, it needs a name. In Austin if you say 'SoCo' everyone knows you mean a fast-gentrifying, once funky section of Congress Avenue south of the river. I don't live there.

We say, when asked, that we live 'North Central.' But I don't think there is a catchy designation other people would instantly recognize that gives people an idea of where we live.

When it's your own neighborhood, it is defined, in my opinion, by what you can get to by walking. This is why your neighborhood shrinks as you get older. My in-laws can't really make it to Burnet Road anymore and they are several blocks closer than I am. I can walk from here to Central Market or deep into Hyde Park if I wish. I have even walked to my club which is three miles away and on the other side of Mopac. That's reaching, however.

I'll stick to easy walks to show you around. Ones where I could take along the fifteen-year-old dog and she would only get a little tired. We won't actually take her along on this virtual walk, however, because then we will be able to go inside some of the business establishments. Virtually, that is.

The closest businesses to my house are Fonda San Miguel Restaurant, a high-end interior Mexican place with a beautiful bar and dining room; the Around the Corner Store grocery, a gas station convenience store which is quite literally named for its proximity to us; and the Austin Greek Deli which I've never tried but I think sells breakfast tacos along with gyros although maybe there was a taco place there before; and a hair salon, INNU. All these places are about three blocks from here. I don't patronize the latter two, but I buy a lot of gas at Around the Corner and I've been to Fonda about a hundred times, no exageration! For all the folks who live in gated communities far from a six pack of beer, gas or a quality margarita...envy me!

Hancock Drive and North Loop fork off at the Around the Corner. Hancock veers south. There is an odd little business tucked into a house there called Cindy's Games or something. Don't know. Don't want to know. But if you keep walking, there are other conveniences: a branch library; a Tex-Mex restaurant (Jorge's); the fire station (you can drop off unwanted kids there but I think they have to be newborn); and Billy's Burgers (home of fine burgers, delectable vegetarian fast food and a huge number of draft beers...along with pool, video games, darts, TV sports and Wi-Fi). There are other professional offices along the way and if the kidneys are deteriorating after years of sampling beer...there is a dialysis center.

At Billy's you reach Burnet Road. Billy's has a deck 'overlooking' this busy urban artery in fact. It's popular, though, because you can light up out there. This stretch of Burnet is thick with antiques and junk. There is a pretty good-sized antique mall. There are thrift stores operated by the Lutherans and Project Transitions and others. There are 'for profit' junk and vintage and antique shops. There is a joint where you can buy old pinball machines. There are a couple of dollar stores. There is a Mexican bakery. A Mexican take-out place. A liquor store. There is a place to sharpen knives, a barbeque stand, a South American restaurant (Sampaio's), a high-toned home cooking place (Blue Star Cafeteria, which is not a cafeteria), a sushi restaurant. There is Phoenecia Bakery, Upper Crust Bakery and Pacha (a South American coffee shop with delicious food). There is a place selling old vinyl (as in LPs). A CVS drugstore. There is a Thundercloud and a shoe store. If you strap on your hiking boots, you can get to my barber shop (Jane's A Barber Shoppe) and Amy's Ice Cream and Phil's Ice House (which I understand has good burgers but I never get past Billy's). Indeed, you will also find a big old HEB store, another liquor store, a truly weird place selling new and used geegaws called Cats 'N Kids and the Frisco Shop, the last vestige of the Night Hawk chain which is a local legend.

And, as they say, there is much more. If you are stout at walking, you can get your clothes dry cleaned. There is a laundromat near the Fonda. There are several doctors. There is a pet store and a 'good old boy' bar.

It's a nice neighborhood...colorful and pleasant with lots of independent businesses and all the services you'll need. The new sidewalks on Shoal Creek Boulevard are an amazing addition...we used to drive to Fonda at night not because of the distance but because walking wasn't very safe. I'm sure you could walk to Burnet or Bull Creek and catch a bus downtown. But I'll confess I've never done it.

Today's picture was taken of the window of Top Drawer Thrift Store (benefiting Project Transitions) around New Year's Day 2005. I'm thinking of using it for my holiday card next year.