Another South by Southwest has come and gone 鈥� and in its wake comes the inevitable cry from some local natives: 鈥淒on鈥檛 move here.鈥�
Pulling up the drawbridge on SXSW visitors isn鈥檛 anything new: back in 1997, telling folks they could go back home when the music鈥檚 over. But as SXSW Interactive continues 鈥� with a 25 percent surge this year and over 30,000 attendees 鈥� it attracts a different set of attendees than music-loving spring breakers. And some of those attendees may not be going back.
One clear sign: a SXSW Interactive contest to , offering $100,000 in prizes and benefits. As 鈥� thanks in large part to a burgeoning tech sector 鈥� the ire of the SXSW backlash may be moving from interloping music fans to new tech transplants.
is a professor at Southwestern University who specializes in urban planning and environmental studies. He鈥檚 literally , and worries that Austin is slowly, but surely, losing its weird.
鈥淚t is a sort of fight to preserve that identity in the face of the new 鈥榠nternational鈥� city of Austin, which is an identity that Austin is gaining,鈥� says Long.
The new arrivals aren鈥檛 a bad thing, he says, but they鈥檙e part of a wave of young professionals that have changed the face of Austin.
The expansion of Austin, says Austin city demographer Ryan Robinson, is a product of Austin鈥檚 mini tech-boom.
鈥�Austin鈥檚 long-term, sustained, rapid population growth continues to be driven by the two fundamental factors of strong job growth and a very high quality of life,鈥� Robinson says. 鈥淢etropolitan Austin鈥檚 overall appeal 鈥� is its urban core, the city of Austin itself.鈥�
Long eschews the idea of persecuting those from out of town. He encourages the inevitable newcomers to remember the eccentric, environmentally friendly, live-music-loving, neighbor-loving 鈥渕yth of Austin,鈥� but adds that he was once just 鈥淸another one] of those people clogging up traffic on 35.鈥�
As for the city鈥檚 future growth, Robinson says that the challenge of urban development is not a new one.
鈥淚 think that the new data just verify that we鈥檙e moving on a trajectory of very rapid growth,鈥� Robinson says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been moving along a trajectory of massive growth for a long time.鈥�
