Supports Condominiums

Dear Editor,
    I can’t help but be a little upset at Toni Price’s comments [“Off the Record,” Music, Jan. 25] saying the reason she left Austin is because of all the condominiums. I personally live in one of the new condo projects going up around Austin, and I would like to think I’m not part of the problem Austin is facing. I moved to Austin because I wanted to be in the heart of a large, hip, progressive city, and that’s what Austin still is, even with all the condominiums. I lived in the outskirts of town for two years when I moved here, because all the condominiums weren’t yet available, and I’m glad they are now, because if people like Ms. Price would check, they aren’t really that expensive compared to the old, energy-devouring, sometimes decaying houses going for sky-high prices in other parts of town. I now get to live in the heart of our hip city, in a newly built, green (as in ecologically friendly) home, and isn’t that what “hippies” like Ms. Price want all of us to do? And, if people like Ms. Price would also check, there are a lot of people in the neighborhood of these condominium projects that are glad they’re being built. People here in South Austin at all our quirky shops and restaurants are thrilled when I tell them I live in the neighborhood condo building, because they have new costumers moving in and new friends moving in, as well. Imagine the ecological impact of building 200 new homes on Barton Springs (goodbye, Zilker Park!). I certainly hope there was more to Ms. Price’s reason for leaving Austin than all the condominiums, because this condo dweller can’t wait to get out and enjoy a city I still think has a lot of local music, theatre, food, and art to enjoy.