My Travis Heights

Mine, I tell you! All mine!

Oh, all right, I'll share. I went walking today and thought I'd post a few pictures of the neighborhood. For you out-of-towners, Austin is a long, skinny north-south city bisected at the middle by a stretch of the Colorado River called Town Lake. Downtown is on the north banks, and Travis Heights is one of the very first suburbs, rising up the slopes of the south banks. Excepting new construction, most of the houses date from the 1920s or so; but there are a handful, closest to the river, from the 1880s.

Austin's the liberal epicenter of Texas, and Travis Heights is the liberal epicenter of Austin. That's why our state congressman is from San Antonio. Thanks, Tom DeLay!

Blunn Creek runs roughly down the middle of the neighborhood, with Stacy Park (Big and Little) wending along its banks. My half, the western half, is a little frumpier and funkier than the eastern half, which runs more to perfectly restored houses and immaculately landscaped yards. My half is a little woodsier and more secluded:


In Stacy Park, behind the softball field, is a little path leading through the undergrowth down to the creekbed - which is still dry despite our big rain the other day. (Austin summers are always a scoche on the droughty side.) Here is one of my favorite spots in town, a giant old oak tree jutting out over the creekbed with gnarled roots grasping the bank. The trunk is hollow, and the gaping hole in it is about three, three and a half feet across:


You get a nice little glimpse of the downtown skyline among the trees at the southern end of Newning. Too bad about all the power lines, but I guess I couldn't very well blog without them.


Just a couple of houses down from my apartment complex, major restoration is underway.

I love the old stonework that separates the yard from the sidewalk.

And on the other end of the spectrum, here is, for your viewing pleasure (or otherwise) the house voted Austin's Ugliest McMansion by readers of the Austin Chronicle. It won a sapling. Unfortunately, nobody lives there to plant it. Flanked on either side by cute little 1920's two-bedroom bungalows, the house has been on the market for months and the sign out front now says it's for rent.

Only 800 grand, folks, and this monstrosity could be yours!

I'd settle for a two-bedroom bungalow. We could all take turns camping out in the backyard.