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"Developing Austin" with Perry Lorenz
"We all got liberal arts degrees, and a whole lot of my friends are, you know, are casualties in one way or another. Either, either drug casualties or lifestyle casualties, and never quite made it through school, although that's the reason that they came to Austin. And again, it was so inexpensive… People weren't having to work three jobs to figure out how to pay for their school. Student debt, what the hell is student debt? I mean, nobody I knew graduated with student debt. So it was just a completely different scene… and it was just a liberal bastion." (Perry Lorenz)
Perry Lorenz has been at the center of Austin's transformation for nearly six decades, from printing underground comics in San Francisco, to developing some of downtown Austin's most iconic real estate. In this conversation with co-hosts, Eddie Wilson and Dr. Jason Mellard, Perry traces his unlikely journey from University of Texas student and counterculture participant, to one of the city's most consequential developers, reflecting on what Austin gained and lost along the way.
Content Warning: adult themes Content created during the global pandemic, in the room, and on Zoom.
Chapters: 01:30 - Coming to Austin in 1966; feeling "born" in Austin 02:00 - UT culture: liberal arts, no fraternities, no business school 02:43 - Visiting San Francisco, discovering the underground comix scene 03:05 - Joining the Ripoff Press as production manager 05:00 - Returning to Austin; entering the car business 05:30 - Downtown Austin in the late '70s: ignored, owner-financed, no banks 08:40 - The true story of the Rainey Street rezoning 10:00 - The shift from planned high-rises to a bar district; owners ultimately profiting 11:18 - Soap Creek Saloon's opening night bartender, tequila Wednesdays 13:00 - George Majeski making the worst of enemies get along 14:00 - Appearing in Texas Chainsaw Massacre; cooking on opening night at Pecan Street Cafe 15:50 - The Independent ("Jenga Tower") 16:15 - The Nocona at 9th & Lamar with Robert Barnstone 17:00 - Ann Richards' support; proving the downtown condo market 18:03 - East Austin condo development; the railroad land; Larry Warshaw 21:25 - UT in the '60s & '70s: open admissions, cheap tuition, student culture 23:10 - Cambodia protests; marching on the Capitol; Austin's liberal identity 24:00 - Working with Dave Moriarty in San Francisco; the warehouse culture with Jerry Garcia and Angela Davis 25:00 - Working alongside Gilbert Shelton, printing the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers 26:00 - Printing for Robert Crumb, Spain Rodriguez, Dave Sheridan 28:08 - The Convention Center relocation story: Suzanne Cannon's idea; Larry Speck's scoring matrix; convincing the city council. 31:15 - West 33rd Street: hippie houses, Joe Long, motorcycles indoors 32:50 - Reflections on Austin's change: "it was better 18 months before you got here"; history as ongoing
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Guest: Perry Lorenz - Principal of Constructive Ventures, participant in early underground comix movement, community commissioner, and decades-long figure in Austin downtown development.
Production Team: Host, Eddie Wilson - Armadillo World Headquarters founder @Threadgills Host, Dr. Jason Mellard - Cultural historian @jasondeanmellard Editor, Renee O'Connor Music Mixing, Matt Carlson @axemanguitar Producer, Renee O'Connor @realreneeoconnor Producer, Sandra Wilson @sandrawilson709 Executive Producer, TSSI Music by Jake Andrews Music @jakeandrewsmusic Production assistant, Miles Muir @miles_muir Production consultant, Katey Psencik
