On a sunny fall day in Austin, pedestrians stroll along South Congress Avenue clutching shopping bags and peering into the plate glass windows of stores. Clusters of friends stop at iconic landmarks for photos, while families enjoy meals under the shade of oak trees at sidewalk cafes. With classic local establishments like the Continental Club, Allens Boots, and Hotel San José, this little stretch of road is a bastion of Austin’s culture. However, the past decade has ushered in a sea change for the strip, with longstanding stores like Lucy in Disguise and Tesoros traded out for bougie international brands like Hermès and Soho House. Many locals have bemoaned the death of the district in light of those shifts.
However, all that transformation pales in comparison to the radical reimagining of the area set to take place when the construction of the new light rail commences. Much has been made about Project Connect’s effects on North Austin: Beloved burger joint Dirty Martin’s clamored to have the rail’s path altered, and community grocery store Wheatsville Co-op announced it would depart next year when its lease is up.
But no one is really talking about how drastically the new transportation line will alter South Congress forever…