The last person we interviewed among the group was Chris, who preferred to be called “J-Blake.” He was wearing a bandana, sandals, and black military trousers. An Austin native, he had lived in the city for 17 years and recently returned from his two-year cycling trip across the U.S. He had a very jovial temperament and genial disposition that won him friends wherever he went—including us. His voice was high-pitched for a man, sounding close to a young adolescent. He talked fast, and wanted to tell whoever was around about his life and opinions. During the interview, he would often wince at our questions, explaining that it was a habitual gesture.
What immediately captured our attention was the content of his specific sociological claims. Chris made some very salient points about the current situation of Barton Springs. “It [Barton Springs] has changed for the worse,” he said, “It is not the same natural pool anymore, you know?” He defined the “natural pool” not only in the physical geographical sense but also in the human sense: “Four years ago, everyone was friendly and together. There was no group. Now people—including college students, hippies, and old folks—are in separate groups. It is not the same place.” Evidently he was hinting, in his crude yet sensible manner, that the community was experiencing a change, which largely involved the loss of community identity that had once existed.
Chris attributed the reasons for this change to the pernicious influence of overcrowding. “People come from everywhere to Austin—from L.A., from New York, wherever you name it.” He was suggesting that solidarity in a community, particularly in a culturally homogeneous community such as Austin, could weaken given a massive influx of “new people.” The ramification is two-fold. First, “not many people know each other,” implying their foreignness prevents the inhabitants from building a sense of shared community. As a visitor to the city myself, I agreed to the point. Second, “Austin needs to somehow accommodate all these people.” The recent growth of population in the region has dramatically changed its scene. The environmental conditions of the pool, for example, have “gone worse” due to upstream urban development. The price of tickets became more expensive and Chris’s weekly trips dwindled. According to him, it was $1 four years ago; now it is $3. As the pool became more inaccessible to the general population, the division between the “free side” and the “paid side” widened. “I only see Hispanics, hippies, and dog-owners on this side [the ‘free side’] of the spring today,” Chris observed.
In the end, it was refreshing to see a new perspective: that the sense of separateness at Barton Springs was intensified by the city’s rapid growth and the diversity within its population. Meanwhile, I felt an excitement that was reassuring. Chris eventually became our friend and local guide to the area. He would play a key role in organizing trips and introducing us to other “regulars.” This, I felt, was the essence of field research; the field of serendipity is always open to opportunities.
-Billy Kim
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