Points Of Contention: The Domain
Things we can all agree on. Or not.
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Like all cities catering to the well-educated and conscientious, Austin brews self-entitlement the way Seattle brews lattes. While it’s all too easy to tout the city’s advantages—from a live-and-let-live philosophy that borders on hegemony to the vibrant music scene and so on—that civic pride can oh-so-easily slide into vanity. As such, Austinites can be brutal about slamming anything they see as threatening their cherished way of life. Here, Decider examines some of the city’s most common Points Of Contention and debates whether they deserve their bad rap. This edition: Austin's wannabe "second downtown," The Domain.
Point Of Contention: The Domain
Why you hate it: Referred to (by themselves) as “Austin’s Second Downtown,” The Domain exemplifies the word “sprawling.” A real estate developer’s wet dream, The Domain posits itself as a place not just to shop for expensive pleasantries, but somewhere to work and live as well. In other words, The Domain aims to be a mini-suburb of Austin, one where a person could conceivably get by without ever leaving the confines of Braker and Mopac. Scary. Also, it keeps getting tax rebates from the city, which is totally unfair to local retailers (or so say last year's defeated Prop. 2 proponents, Stop Domain Subsidies).
Why you're right: The Domain tries to be everything to everyone, from an upscale shopping community to a “hip” destination for Austin’s tuned-in young professional. Obviously, something’s got to give. In the case of The Domain, anyway, “hip” and “affordable” are apparently not synonymous: From “who can afford that?” stores like Tiffany & Co. to “premier wine bar” Crú to the dainty $8-and-up sandwiches at The Steeping Room, The Domain mostly feels like the product of a more decadent, pre-recession age—probably because it is. The first phase of building took place in March of 2007, well before the economy began its current freefall. It’s not unreasonable to see The Domain as the product of a less responsible, more fiscally masturbatory time. “Defining the urban Austin lifestyle for the next 100 years,” goes one of The Domain’s slogans. Right, because things will never, ever change.
Why you're wrong: It wouldn’t be wrong to expect the creators of The Domain to blow a lot of hot air about “sustainability” and “green” everything, but in this case, steps really were taken to preserve the surrounding environment. Nine live oak trees were bussed from out of harms’ way into other parts of The Domain, and “reclaimed materials” from one of the buildings demolished during construction have either been recycled or are being transformed into outdoor art pieces. A list of other tree-hugger-friendly amenities includes rainwater harvesting, albedo roof coatings, and a communal garden. Perhaps local audio artist Alex Keller—who recently curated an exhibit entitled Recreating The Domain, which saw contributors like Vanessa Rossetto and Bill Bridges waxing philosophic about the development—put the Domain dichotomy best when he said, “I’m interested in The Domain for a number of reasons, and not all of them are negative. Mixed-use architecture is really positive, as is the minimal carbon footprint of an outdoor shopping area,” before adding, “I’m not a huge fan of steep tax exemptions for luxury shopping, either.” But as opponents of Prop. 2 pointed out, rescinding those tax exemptions would have all sorts of consequences for Austin's reputation, the cost of which would be much higher than anything you can buy at The Domain.
