See You in Austin
Lori Burkhart is the Editor-in-Chief of Public Utilities Fortnightly.
I smiled when I realized NARUC was holding its 2023 Summer Policy Summit in Austin, Texas. Of course, because I get to see all my regulatory friends, but the other reason is music, which I love.
I started visiting Austin's live music scene on Sixth Street in its heyday 1980s and 1990s, first during law school, when I was fortunate to have a college friend move there. You could walk down that iconic street and find every kind of music. Not in the mood for blues, walk next door and find reggae, or to the next for rock, or to the next for jazz.
If you want to see what Austin was like back then, the Coen Brothers in 1984 filmed their first movie, Blood Simple, in Austin, and part of it in the Old Pecan Street Café on Sixth Street. Hope you've seen it. One of my favorite films.
Sixth Street was built as Pecan Street in 1839, but was given its
current name in 1884, so it predates NARUC by a mere five years. Both have fascinating histories.
But times have changed, and now the city's slogan is, 'Keep Austin Weird,' adopted by the Austin Independent Business Alliance in 2000. Take from that what you will.