Antone's Nightclub
Let's Avoid Sixth Street Blues
RECEIVED Sat., Aug. 2, 2008
Dear Editor,
The people of Austin would do well to seriously consider the guest post recently printed regarding the undesirability of attending live music Downtown [“Reader Comments of the Week,” Aug. 1].
For a case study, take the Deep Ellum district of Downtown Dallas as an example. On a recent trip to this once-vibrant art and music mecca, I was struck by the empty storefronts, darkened clubs, and sheer magnitude of drug dealers, pimps, and other undesirables shuffling through the streets devoid of revelers. According to friends in the area, it seems that the wrong kind of clubs brought the wrong kind of people to the area, several incidents of violence occurred, and the art and music lovers simply refused to attend. Now Deep Ellum is pure urban blight, populated by a small minority of hangers-on, attempting to weather the downturn. Most aren't faring that well.
If Austin truly wants to revitalize and preserve our Downtown musical heritage, we should give strong incentives for live music and art, such as providing tax breaks and historical zoning, waiving noise violations in certain circumstances, and taking steps to control or subsidize ever-rising rents for established music venues. Perhaps steps could also be taken to discourage the turn-and-burn, 1-dollar-you-holler bars that bring the undesirables out of the woodwork while providing no cultural product to speak of, save drunkenness. It also wouldn't hurt to provide safe parking and transportation in the area. More arrogant, Orwellian, never-see-'em-again cops on horses won't solve our problems, but a few on foot near the I-35 bridge, at the bus stops, and a few veteran police assigned to permanent "business liaison" positions in consistent problem areas might just do the trick.
Decades ahead of their time, the Grateful Dead sang, "the people in Deep Ellum got them Deep Ellum blues.” That's not the kind of blues we want on Sixth Street, is it? But that's just what we're gonna have if we don't take steps now.
The people of Austin would do well to seriously consider the guest post recently printed regarding the undesirability of attending live music Downtown [“Reader Comments of the Week,” Aug. 1].
For a case study, take the Deep Ellum district of Downtown Dallas as an example. On a recent trip to this once-vibrant art and music mecca, I was struck by the empty storefronts, darkened clubs, and sheer magnitude of drug dealers, pimps, and other undesirables shuffling through the streets devoid of revelers. According to friends in the area, it seems that the wrong kind of clubs brought the wrong kind of people to the area, several incidents of violence occurred, and the art and music lovers simply refused to attend. Now Deep Ellum is pure urban blight, populated by a small minority of hangers-on, attempting to weather the downturn. Most aren't faring that well.
If Austin truly wants to revitalize and preserve our Downtown musical heritage, we should give strong incentives for live music and art, such as providing tax breaks and historical zoning, waiving noise violations in certain circumstances, and taking steps to control or subsidize ever-rising rents for established music venues. Perhaps steps could also be taken to discourage the turn-and-burn, 1-dollar-you-holler bars that bring the undesirables out of the woodwork while providing no cultural product to speak of, save drunkenness. It also wouldn't hurt to provide safe parking and transportation in the area. More arrogant, Orwellian, never-see-'em-again cops on horses won't solve our problems, but a few on foot near the I-35 bridge, at the bus stops, and a few veteran police assigned to permanent "business liaison" positions in consistent problem areas might just do the trick.
Decades ahead of their time, the Grateful Dead sang, "the people in Deep Ellum got them Deep Ellum blues.” That's not the kind of blues we want on Sixth Street, is it? But that's just what we're gonna have if we don't take steps now.
Mike "Dub" Wainwright