Cool houses, parts 2 & 3

[Just added 6/25: related news]
Part 2 - South Austin Condomania
Saturday all we did was go to Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse (one of our favorite places) and whine about the destruction of the South Austin style that is going on. From right there, you can see these two sights:

This used to be a really funky-looking video store. It had this mural that I loved. Click to enlarge:

Now it's empty and awaiting tear-down, soon to be replaced with "24 luxury residences" that look pretty much like all the other gawd-awful condo developments that are spreading like wildfire.

This is the view directly across the street from the coffeehouse. Another tear-down to make way for... something... something high-end fitting the standard of all the new stuff being built everywhere.

This is over on Barton Springs Rd. where they took out Shady Grove RV park to put in Barton Place, another high-end complex. [article]

What is going on in places like South First, South Congress, Barton Springs Rd., South Lamar (and so many more locations) is that they are putting in developments in places that people enjoy being because of the high level of creativity that has been shown in the character of the people, dwellings and businesses, and in the process they are tearing down and driving out those very people and places that make the areas appealing (either by changing the character and flavor or raising costs out the roof). You can't cut out your heart and use it for a facelift.

Part 3 - Artsy Smartsy
On Sunday, we went on the Cool House tour, which is another event we've been doing every year. The "cool" part of it actually means "green" as the house featured have acquired very high ratings for energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. It is our ultimate lookie-loo experience of the year, as these houses are more or less all dream homes that we could not afford - not even the small ones. All of us can change little things in our homes to make them better for the environment (not to mention lowering the bills) but doing the big things is NOT cheap (like solar panels, new roofs, insulation, new walls...). A lot of these homes are very interesting on the inside (well... very affluent people live in them, so they tend to have cool stuff, but at least they are using their bucks to help out the planet a little). In some cases, we muttered amongst ourselves that... ahem... having a humongous TV in every room is not exactly "green", and neither is that waterhog in the yard known as a swimming pool. Meeeowrr. And in this one particular case, this stunning little house off South Congress...

...presented quite a contrast to the house right next door, which badly needed a roof, and lots of junk removed indoors and out (when boxes cover the windows, that means you've officially got too much stuff in there). But, I couldn't help but admire that they've made a statement with a yard sculpture from concrete blocks and milk crates (and some found objects). This place is really more in tune with that neighborhood, which is a neighborhood that can no longer afford the cost of living there.