Alliteration runs wild in the headlines for this look at downtown Austin from a national commercial-property-investment viewpoint in today’s NYT (byline Kristina Shevory). Illustrated with the customary view of the Capitol in the background and construction activities in the foreground, as well as with a photo of Las Manitas and another of condos going up, this article quotes McCracken and follows the CofC line fairly closely. “Low cost of living” is in there somewhere and a claim of “70,000 new jobs,” over what period and of what type not disclosed. Fool that I am when it comes to completely extraneous alliteration, I’m disappointed that the on-line version omits this sub-headline: “With Corporations Flocking In, Austin Is a Boomtown for Building.”

Anyone who suspects that those 70,000 new jobs, if any such number materializes, will amount to temporary construction work and many, many hotel housekeeping jobs may want to reserve the date of Friday, February 23, to attend a concert to benefit Las Manitas and the Escuelita del Alma. This is planned for La Zona Rosa at 8, with a preceding fajita supper from 6:30 to 7:30. On the musical bill of fare as posted is a wonderful menu of Austin music: Grupo Fantasma, Alejandro Escovedo, Patty Griffin, Ruben Ramos (brass!), James McMurtry, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and special guests. The handsome promotional graphic shown here, by Gary Houston, is as delightful to the eye as the music will be to the ears. Tickets to a Concert of Voices are available at Waterloo Records and RunTex.

It was just in mid-December that there was a similar alluring look at Austin from the same come-and-get-it stance. Perhaps the next feature of this sort will focus specifically on the emerging Town Lake condo corridor, advising potential purchaser-occupants to buy early and enjoy their views before all they have for a prospect is their counterpart across the river.