In 2013, so many of our popular stories dealt with change: who is coming, who is staying and who is here causing a ruckus. At CultureMap, we are privileged to be able to tell these stories. We look to our neighbors to find characters, to our favorite places to find narratives, in our backyard to find events and to our readers for the inspiration behind it all.
Except for Romeo Rose. For that story, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
1. Oh, Romeo Rose. You jerk. Though this misogynistic, velour-suit-wearing Austinite now claims his ridiculous antics are "performance art," it didn't stop him from spewing hateful things on every outlet from KGSR to Jezebel. If that's supposed to be art, perhaps our collective New Year's resolution should be to redefine what art is.
2. Austin sucks! Don't visit. After the Huffington Post called Austin "overrated," CultureMap took the writer to task for his article. (Spoiler alert: This HuffPo writer really likes Houston.)
3. Secret Beach isn't so secret. A new shuttle service and tubing destination to East Austin's Secret Beach gave Austinites our very own place to tube on the Colorado River (and made Secret Beach not-so-secret).
4. Austin audiences act like jackasses. After attending one too many shows with jerky audience members, Mikela Floyd crafted a call to action for her fellow Austin show-goers.
5. Wal-Mart buys property on the East Side. It seemed just about everyone had an opinion when it was revealed that Walton Enterprises bought the tract of land that was previously home to Nuevo Leon.
6. Where do hipsters live? The Hipstercrite herself Lauren Modery gave us her picks for the next "hipster cities."
7. 6 reasons to shop at Trader Joe's. As if you needed more than one reason (cookie butter) to hit Austin's newest grocery store, we rounded up a few more.
8. The most anticipated restaurant openings. After the success of so many on this list (qui, Arro), it's hard to believe that these restaurants have been open for only a few short months.
9. In-N-Out Burger craze. With a full-fledged burger war going on, it's no wonder this burger story made our list.
10. An A&M degree worth more than one from UT. For Longhorns, it definitely stung to find out that a degree from Texas A&M was deemed more valuable than one from the University of Texas. Actually, it still stings.
As we head into 2014, we look forward to adding to the conversation about where Austin is going, where it has been and what we can shape it to be.
Tubing on the Colorado River was a game changer this summer.
