A recurring grievance
Dispatches from the orange-barrel frontier: I-35, detours, frontage roads and the commute as a way of life.
Expect delays. Expect them forever.
A profile of Gary, a traffic drum who has guarded the same I-35 lane shift near Riverside longer than most leases last. Today, for the first time all year, he's not the only one in costume.
5 min read
On East Cesar Chavez, a SIDEWALK CLOSED sign points across the street to another SIDEWALK CLOSED sign pointing back. A field guide to walking anywhere near a tower going up.
5 min read
A profile of one patient man, one 2004 Corolla and one unprotected left onto Burnet Road, where four gaps a week are now considered a rich season.
5 min read
Saturday of ACL weekend two, reported from the shuttle queue, a closed Barton Springs Road that suddenly belongs to pedestrians, and the long walk home that no app wanted to discuss.
6 min read
An 18-wheeler struck a downtown I-35 overpass near 11th and 12th on Friday and closed lanes for over six hours. I wrote the bridge a get-well note from the frontage road, where I'm still idling.
5 min read
I spent three days horizontal with a cold, and the robot cabs started taking freeway trips and filing pothole reports with the city. My pothole has waited years for a hearing. Theirs get a direct line.
5 min read
A sawhorse detour sign off East Cesar Chavez has said TEMPORARY since 2019. I wrote its annual performance review, and it outperforms every human institution involved.
5 min read
A sound bath on South Congress runs $45. The Texas U-turn under I-35 is free, takes eleven minutes, and teaches more about letting go than anything with a gong.
5 min read
A new series on the I-35 rebuild opens with five mornings of commute notes from the frontage road, where every exit is closed and every lane is temporary.
5 min read
Documenting the luxury boxes replacing everything you loved.
"Where your favorite taco truck used to be."
Tracking the annual corporate colonization of Austin's weirdest week.
"It used to be about the music. Now it's about the lanyard."
A eulogy for affordable Austin, one price tag at a time.
"Adjusting for inflation and broken dreams."