Austin - something that is pissing me off

[Fastbreak 3,992]

I grew up in Austin I’ve lived here for 30+ years of my life. I went to school here, I learned to drive here (at the hole in wall place next to the old Horseshoe Lounge). I’ve been living in Singapore for the past 6 years and have just been back for the last few months to remodel my house.

 

What pisses me off is why are the street lights so fucking dim now? What sense does it make to have these provide basically no visibility? I am not talking about the fringe part of the city, I live in central Austin. Today, at 24th and Pearl (heart of west campus), I came within inches of hitting a guy because I couldn’t see him.

 

Trying even to turn off of south Lamar is super hard because there is no lighting and no road markings. Backing out of my mom’s driveway in Barton Hills is just a 50/50 shot as they Tim have literally turned off the street lights on her street and it is pitch black.

 

Coming from a place like Singapore where everything is super well lit and marked this is a crazy contrast.

[ztejas 43,537]

It's so fucking dark. I moved back here from Dallas and it was jarring. I guess it's good for the environment or whatever but there are residential areas within 20 miles of downtown that are pitch fucking black at night. 

[burntorangebongos 10,752]

I'm used to it. We have no street lights in my hood, just lamp posts in people's  yards that they maintain themselves. 

[South Austin 52,604]

Part of the whole “dark skies” initiative to reduce ambient lighting at night so we can see the stars and shit.

[gmr548 16,616]

Have you tried being less old?

[NorthLoop 14,248]

27 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

Have you tried being less old?

 

26 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

Have you tried being less old?

 

You only have to hit submit once, pops. 

[RDCanecutter 26,473]

Ah, the old "This isn't how we did it in Singapore" complaint.

[Jerry Callo 8,727]

Don't Singapore my Texas.

[crash_davis 23,115]

i'd love some to instill some Singaporean law into our systems. Chew gum in public, 10 lashes with a kane, bitch! Litter? That's another 20 lashes. Just do that long enough to punish the shitheads and establish a new normal in civic behavior.

[WBT 20,669]

3 hours ago, South Austin said:

Part of the whole “dark skies” initiative to reduce ambient lighting at night so we can see the stars and shit.

I don't live in Austin but I'm glad to hear this.  People need to turn off their own lights at night too.  One of my neighbors has a flood light in the backyard that would make Clark Griswold proud.

Edited February 3, 2022 by WBT

[South Austin 52,604]

2 minutes ago, WBT said:

I don't live in Austin but I'm glad to hear this.  People need to turn off their own lights at night too.  One of my neighbors has a flood light in the backyard that would make Clark Griswold proud.

My neighbor at my old house also had flood light.  It was motion-sensored, so it was off during most of the night, but if a squirrel or rodent happened to trigger it, it would shine right into my bedroom window for a couple minutes. 

[Kennythetiger 9,460]

And god, the things it would see…. 

[RPM 26,354]

My workplace switched from sodium outdoor lights to LED. Be careful what you wish for. I wear my sunglasses at night. Not to be cool, to keep from going blind.

Edited February 3, 2022 by RPM

[High Plains Drifter 11,052]

53 minutes ago, WBT said:

I don't live in Austin but I'm glad to hear this.  People need to turn off their own lights at night too.  One of my neighbors has a flood light in the backyard that would make Clark Griswold proud.

 

48 minutes ago, South Austin said:

My neighbor at my old house also had flood light.  It was motion-sensored, so it was off during most of the night, but if a squirrel or rodent happened to trigger it, it would shine right into my bedroom window for a couple minutes. 

 

30 lashes under singapore law.

 

 

 

 

[Pescado_Rojo 19,428]

38 minutes ago, Kennythetiger said:

And god, the things it would see…. 

[High Plains Drifter 11,052]

 

I also attended that driving school next to the old Horseshoe Lounge. My dad would drive me to the driving school at 6 or so, I'd have class until 8 or so, then I'd go scrape dad out of the Horseshoe and drive him home.

[Native Horn 3,515]

Looks like COA is going to make some improvements to lighting in West Campus this year.

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/university-of-texas/west-campus-more-lighting-safety/269-4daf3d95-093f-47ad-9359-eb57baa85bc5

[MAUFRAIS 6,634]

You moved from Singapore to the Theta house? Solid.

[Sawbonz 27,588]

1 hour ago, WBT said:

I don't live in Austin but I'm glad to hear this.  People need to turn off their own lights at night too.  One of my neighbors has a flood light in the backyard that would make Clark Griswold proud.

Don’t you have a pellet gun?

[Fudge Nuggets 19,224]

1 hour ago, WBT said:

I don't live in Austin but I'm glad to hear this.  People need to turn off their own lights at night too.  One of my neighbors has a flood light in the backyard that would make Clark Griswold proud.

I have a neighbor like that and they leave the fuckers on when they go out of town.  Worst part is those damn lights shine straight at my bedroom window and it's like daylight in my room at night.  Well it was until I invested in a pellet gun and took those fuckers out earlier this week.

[next2naus 439]

GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!

[ABSR 5,324]

When the Commies come to drop bombs....wait this is Austin.....When the Totalitarians come to drop bombs, you will be thankful that it is hard for them to target your Hemp farm and Tie-Die factory.

[stc 1,465]

the street lights on I-35 between 290 east and parmer haven't worked in years, that stretch of highway is way too dark. 

[Samson's Wig 3,194]

Some of you guys need to learn how to have a conversation with your neighbors.

 

And this is what pisses the OP off after having been gone for years?   I would have guessed it to be the New Yorkers.  Californians used to catch all the hell, but during the pandemic it's the droves of New Yorkers that are ruining the vibe around here.

[South Austin 52,604]

2 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

And this is what pisses the OP off after having been gone for years?  

No shit.  There are a lot of other worse things about Austin over the past several years (traffic, soaring home prices, tech bros, trying to re-name Town Lake, etc.) that rank above subdivisions not being lit up enough.

[Pato del Muerto 52,600]

Last I checked, road legal vehicles have lights on their bow and stern, as well as turn indicators. I’d rely on those to tell me there is a vehicle before I rely on street lights. 

[Ghost of LL 15,539]

7 hours ago, South Austin said:

Part of the whole “dark skies” initiative to reduce ambient lighting at night so we can see the stars and shit.

My neighborhood has that bullshit, and it pisses me off.  I'm much more concerned about hitting a goddamned deer as I drive home at night, not getting hit myself when I go for a jog at 6:00, or being able to see the local hoods trying to break into cars than I am anyone's ability to see fucking Cassiopeia.  

[MAUFRAIS 6,634]

Really stuck the landing with your constellation choice. Made it funnier. Well done.

[RDCanecutter 26,473]

How many of y'all motherfuckers are driving with bright screens shining back at y'all from the dashboard? Also. I know y'all been batin'. Shit catches up with your creepy old ass.

[Ghost of LL 15,539]

15 minutes ago, MAUFRAIS said:

Really stuck the landing with your constellation choice. Made it funnier. Well done.

Thank you for your appreciation of that hand-crafted, artisanal post.  I'm glad it enhanced your enjoyment of this icy day.

[cmontexas 3,281]

My backyard stays lit up like a movie set at night. Aint gonna be no prowlers in my shit

[Sbbruin 21,888]

And what's the deal with airline food?

[sidis 9,832]

west lake hills resident...we do not have any street lights at all in my neighborhood and it is fucking glorious.  here's a pic of saturn i got through my 11 inch celestron nexstar telescope last winter less than 3 miles away from downtown. 

[Armybrat 40,911]

Pics of ‘scope?

[South Austin 52,604]

2 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

Pics of ‘scope?

[Armybrat 40,911]

My 1962 Unitron 60mm Equatorial, now owned by my son.

 

[Hefeweizen 5,333]

5 hours ago, NorthLoop said:

 

 

You only have to hit submit once, pops. 

Tried to rep you twice youngster.

[sidis 9,832]

29 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

Pics of ‘scope?

This is when I was putting it together.

[Armybrat 40,911]

Sweet! 
My problem with the modern telescopes .....I wouldn’t have any idea how to operate the digital electronics they seem to be loaded with these days.

[sidis 9,832]

2 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

Sweet! 
My problem with the modern telescopes .....I wouldn’t have any idea how to operate the digital electronics they seem to be loaded with these days.

takes some getting used to for sure...but once you get the hang of it, makes things far more convenient and allows for richer viewing experience (when it works).  Line up three objects and store them and the rest of the night, you can track to any object in the sky with a push of a button which is nice when looking at certain dso's that aren't visible to the naked eye even in ideal ultra dark conditions.  you'd never know those things were there and then look through a large telescope...boom, galaxy you didn't realize was there.  also a nice thing is once you lock on, it automatically moves itself in micro-increments to track the object so you can hold anything in the middle of the view piece without having to constantly adjust it manually.

[used2b 249]

As a woman, I find it much more unsafe.

[RDCanecutter 26,473]

3 hours ago, sidis said:

west lake hills resident...we do not have any street lights at all in my neighborhood and it is fucking glorious.  here's a pic of saturn i got through my 11 inch celestron nexstar telescope last winter less than 3 miles away from downtown. 

I always thought that if Saturn passed within three miles of downtown, it would look bigger.

[Guest Lobo]

Use your open eye, Frank. 

[Willfully Horn 8,049]

Team space porn, so my first reaction was to think OP’s night vision was skewed by the bright lights of a hyper big city. But, there are a couple of spots on Mopac that are darker than rest of it. The posts about safety are persuasive. I thought the dark skies initiative focuses on light beaming up, not illuminating the ground.

 I suspect we could satisfy both sides, but we can’t have nice things.

[blacklab 11,951]

7 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

My neighborhood has that bullshit, and it pisses me off.  I'm much more concerned about hitting a goddamned deer as I drive home at night, not getting hit myself when I go for a jog at 6:00, or being able to see the local hoods trying to break into cars than I am anyone's ability to see fucking Cassiopeia.  

you don't jog

[Your Mom 4,852]

Another board I frequent has lots of posts about camping.  These guys are always asking about the best LED lights to illuminate their campsites.  It boggles my mind.  The less light the better anytime you are sitting outside enjoying yourself.   I bitch at my kids when they fire up a flashlight when the ambient light would have been adequate.  

[JimmyJames 12,271]

You grew up in Austin for 30 plus years and the thing you find to bitch about is the street lights are too dim nowadays?

Personally I’m still pissed they tore down liberty lunch but maybe I should look into this street light issue instead.

[JimmyJames 12,271]

Also there have been and still are entire neighborhoods in west Austin that never had street lights at all, much less dim ones. Sometimes you don’t want the neighborhood to know what exactly you’re up to.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11,821]

1 hour ago, blacklab said:

you don't jog

Right, but he frequently has the runs, so it evens out.

[Biff Tannen 45,741]

2 hours ago, Your Mom said:

Another board I frequent has lots of posts about camping.  These guys are always asking about the best LED lights to illuminate their campsites.  It boggles my mind.  The less light the better anytime you are sitting outside enjoying yourself.   I bitch at my kids when they fire up a flashlight when the ambient light would have been adequate.  

Red light is the answer. Buncha jackasses.