great post - I share many of the sentiments expressed. I moved here in '94, and let's just say that the skyline is quite transformed since then. More than once, I thought the building boom was over (and so did many others). Maybe over for decades... in 2001/2. again in 2008/9. And even as Covid entered our lexicon. and each time, I was wrong.
this time we have another pause- but who can tell what happens next!
I'll share a brief thought as well about hope, and what a skyscraper can stand for. After 9/11, like many people, I found myself laid off from my first job out of college, one that I had worked hard at for 7 years, a place where I had a lot of respect, to which I tied much of my identity and value to. I loved that work, and the people I worked with.
As I started looking for work, Dice dot com was offering work for software engineers for $15/hour. My plumber charged $75/hour. It felt like it might be the end of software engineering and consulting as a gainful employment /profession, especially with companies so focused on moving jobs offshore, and the dot-com bust delivering so many bad financial returns to investors and companies. Many of my friends (indeed, most of my closest friends) moved away from Austin during that time, to try to reinvent themselves in San Francisco, Boston, New York, or LA.
During that time on the bench, I played a lot of ultimate frisbee over at Martin Middle School's fields on the weekends. (public park right next to the school). And from there, I had a good view of the Frost Tower going up. And I felt like it was a symbol that someone still believed in Austin. (And indeed, interviews with the folks who ran that project at the time indicated they did believe in Austin and they moved forward despite the headlines and they wanted Frost Tower to be a symbol of hope for Austinites with a memorable profile and crown as well). By the time Frost Tower opened I believe it was 85 or 95% leased. I found a contract to keep me fed in 2022, and a job in the summer of '23 that allowed me to afford an engagement ring for my wife, and a wedding. And that job (at Lombardi Software) led to the founding of BP3, which was the company that the building of defined the next 17 years of my professional life, and made possible so many things in my personal life.
Frost Tower was and is really important to me for that reason. And the idea that some people will power through - not just with hope, but by proving doubters wrong, and forging a new reality.
I love this. Seeing the Austin skyline emerge over 25 years must be wild. Still, I visited for the first time in 2012 and didn't recognize it by the next time, in 2020. I expect it will continue to evolve, the doomers be damned! Thanks so much for sharing your story, Scott!
Really enjoyed reading this post. It reminded me of my Dad, back in the day when he talked about seeing the new skyscraper in town - the Empire State Building. (He was born in 1921 and lived in New York City). He said he was in awe of the height and magnificence of such a beautiful building. I also really enjoyed seeing it myself, for the first time in the 90’s. What a marvel it must of been for people in New York to see it going up! I was also impressed by the interior of the building, with the marvelous feel of an era gone by.
I love reading about your exuberance of living in the city of Austin and seeing it grow and come into its own!
Thanks, Jan! That’s really cool to hear. It must have quite the sight for a child of that era. I still love seeing it, in all its glory, even though it’s long been surpassed in height by other towers.
Back when interest rates were zero, the biggest expression of irrational optimism was VC money flooding into tech companies. That torrent of money brought us ChatGPT, but not much else. I wish other places had spent it building skyscrapers like Austin did. Now high interest rates are killing all kinds of projects from skyscrapers to solar farms. It would be great if someone somewhere cared about fiscal responsibility so we could get back to investing in the future some day, but I'm not too optimistic.
One of the reasons The Fountainhead is one of my favorite books is because it has an optimistic and moral hero who shares this belief in human potential, with skyscrapers as a symbol of man’s greatness and achievement.
“Because skyscrapers are not merely buildings, they are living monuments that reflect the optimism for the future in the era in which they were built.”
This article is chicken soup for the yimby soul. :) Thanks, Ryan!
great post - I share many of the sentiments expressed. I moved here in '94, and let's just say that the skyline is quite transformed since then. More than once, I thought the building boom was over (and so did many others). Maybe over for decades... in 2001/2. again in 2008/9. And even as Covid entered our lexicon. and each time, I was wrong.
this time we have another pause- but who can tell what happens next!
I'll share a brief thought as well about hope, and what a skyscraper can stand for. After 9/11, like many people, I found myself laid off from my first job out of college, one that I had worked hard at for 7 years, a place where I had a lot of respect, to which I tied much of my identity and value to. I loved that work, and the people I worked with.
As I started looking for work, Dice dot com was offering work for software engineers for $15/hour. My plumber charged $75/hour. It felt like it might be the end of software engineering and consulting as a gainful employment /profession, especially with companies so focused on moving jobs offshore, and the dot-com bust delivering so many bad financial returns to investors and companies. Many of my friends (indeed, most of my closest friends) moved away from Austin during that time, to try to reinvent themselves in San Francisco, Boston, New York, or LA.
During that time on the bench, I played a lot of ultimate frisbee over at Martin Middle School's fields on the weekends. (public park right next to the school). And from there, I had a good view of the Frost Tower going up. And I felt like it was a symbol that someone still believed in Austin. (And indeed, interviews with the folks who ran that project at the time indicated they did believe in Austin and they moved forward despite the headlines and they wanted Frost Tower to be a symbol of hope for Austinites with a memorable profile and crown as well). By the time Frost Tower opened I believe it was 85 or 95% leased. I found a contract to keep me fed in 2022, and a job in the summer of '23 that allowed me to afford an engagement ring for my wife, and a wedding. And that job (at Lombardi Software) led to the founding of BP3, which was the company that the building of defined the next 17 years of my professional life, and made possible so many things in my personal life.
Frost Tower was and is really important to me for that reason. And the idea that some people will power through - not just with hope, but by proving doubters wrong, and forging a new reality.
I love this. Seeing the Austin skyline emerge over 25 years must be wild. Still, I visited for the first time in 2012 and didn't recognize it by the next time, in 2020. I expect it will continue to evolve, the doomers be damned! Thanks so much for sharing your story, Scott!
Really enjoyed reading this post. It reminded me of my Dad, back in the day when he talked about seeing the new skyscraper in town - the Empire State Building. (He was born in 1921 and lived in New York City). He said he was in awe of the height and magnificence of such a beautiful building. I also really enjoyed seeing it myself, for the first time in the 90’s. What a marvel it must of been for people in New York to see it going up! I was also impressed by the interior of the building, with the marvelous feel of an era gone by.
I love reading about your exuberance of living in the city of Austin and seeing it grow and come into its own!
Thank you!
Thanks, Jan! That’s really cool to hear. It must have quite the sight for a child of that era. I still love seeing it, in all its glory, even though it’s long been surpassed in height by other towers.
Back when interest rates were zero, the biggest expression of irrational optimism was VC money flooding into tech companies. That torrent of money brought us ChatGPT, but not much else. I wish other places had spent it building skyscrapers like Austin did. Now high interest rates are killing all kinds of projects from skyscrapers to solar farms. It would be great if someone somewhere cared about fiscal responsibility so we could get back to investing in the future some day, but I'm not too optimistic.
One of the reasons The Fountainhead is one of my favorite books is because it has an optimistic and moral hero who shares this belief in human potential, with skyscrapers as a symbol of man’s greatness and achievement.
“Because skyscrapers are not merely buildings, they are living monuments that reflect the optimism for the future in the era in which they were built.”
Skyscrapers can be useful, but we should avoid making them into urbanist talismans. Likewise with downtowns.
https://bnjd.substack.com/p/downtown