From the Bureau of Common Sense

From the Bureau of Common Sense

By Robert Dean

Dear businesses that move into “hip” cities, do your homework on the vibe of the city, the attitude of what’s relevant to the culture before slapping a SOLD sign on any piece of dirt you can get your mitts on. It’s not a good look.

Cities like Nashville, New Orleans, Asheville, Portland, and here in good ole’ Austin are seeing booms in businesses wanting to cash in on flavor and flair, but they want it in a profitable, managed way. See, the problem is, when you invade a town and throw up some vomitorium and expect the city to buckle under your demands, it turns a lot of the locals off to your brand.

In New Orleans, I watched Bacchanal, a venerable Bywater icon fight for its right to play music. Music being too loud in New Orleans is like getting your beer spilled at a metal show, it’s part of the deal. Eventually, the venue won its right for music again, but the fight gave the tattoo shop down the road an artistic black eye, which it never recovered from.  And recently, Austin’s been dealing with the Westin Hotel complaining about noise from 6th Street. People, when you build something near an entertainment venue, or a BBQ pit, or a favorite bar – you’re the ones encroaching on the city through capitalism. Do your homework and know what you’re building upon. Otherwise, you’re making yourselves look like assholes through the process.

In closing, it is the Bureau’s mandate that if you’re trying to jump in on whatever’s trending, do your fucking homework and don’t tell nightclubs how loud they can be. That ain’t right, and if you want us to stick some dollars in your pocket, we gotta know you’re on the team.