I grew up in Austin, and I used to make fun of it when I was in high school (post-dell, but pre-boom). I would just joke about how, in the summer, people here w

I grew up in Austin, and I used to make fun of it when I was in high school (post-dell, but pre-boom). I would just joke about how, in the summer, people here would move between air-conditioned facility in air-conditioned pods, like the entire place becomes some sort of approximation of reality like disneyland or something. I left Texas for college, and tried to come back briefly a couple times, but after the city rejected any-and-all attempt to create a non-automotive transit system, and built an express lane on the highway as a solution to traffic, I finally quit for the Bay Area because of the weather and urbanism. I still think central Texas is a fine place to live if you don't sunburn much and can stand the summers. The springs that flow out of the aquifer are pretty magical, and the land between San Antonio and Austin really makes me nostalgic.