Ki Gray - Austin Real Estate

The "Pecan Street Festival" has been a part of Austin for 31 years. The festival hosts over 250 arts and crafts venders, musical and performing artists. There are also art classes, dance classes, a scholarship competition, a petting zoo and a carnival.

The Pecan Street festival is scheduled for Saturday, May 2nd and Sunday, May 3rd. All the fun starts at 11:00 am each day and runs until 10:00 pm on Saturday and 8:00 pm on Sunday.

The festival will have five stages with some of the most eclectic performances around. Tommy Tutone is scheduled to open the festival on Saturday night.

The Pecan Street Festival is a bi-annual event. The first festival is in the spring, and then there is another festival held on September 26th and 27th. Both festivals bring an estimated $43 million to the Austin economy.

The shows benefit local charities and is the primary fund raiser for the Old Pecan Street Association; an organization established to preserve 6th street.

When the street were first laid out for Austin the north-south streets were given the names of Texas rivers in the order in which they appeared on the Texas map; the east-west streets were given names of trees. Later these streets were replaced with numbers. This is how Pecan Street became 6th street.

Austin is known as being different and "weird" and this festival is just as diverse and weird as Austin. All kinds of people from all over the region and country flock to this festival. The admission is free and everyone is welcome.

The festival is located on 6th street, which is also the heart of live music and is why Austin is known as the "Live music capital of the world."

6th street is lined with historical houses and commercial buildings that were built as far back as the late 1800's. Many of the old buildings now house numerous bars and host many live music venues, art galleries and restaurants and cafe's. Many are landmarks and have interesting history behind them. 6th street is a very beautiful street and has many pecan trees lining the road on both sides. Many people flock to the famous street to listen to live music and see bands or just to say they've been to 6th street!

The Pecan Street Festival will also have many other venues besides music and arts and crafts. Austinites love to eat, and there will be plenty of food booths to choose from. Everything from "fair" food like turkey legs and funnel cakes to hot dogs and hamburgers, they've even added something new this year, there will be healthy food available for those who are conscious of their diet and health.

Another famous treat is ice cream. There will be venders serving various flavors of ice cream, so be sure to take time to sample some of your favorite flavors and keep cool.

If you live in Austin or are just traveling through, it is worth your while to stop by the Pecan Street festival. It is an "Austin" thing and is one way to keep Austin weird.


Ki works with Austin real estate buyers. On the site, buyers can search Austin MLS or read about the Austin real estate market. His site also has a real estate blog with updated statistics.

Texans have been doing it for centuries; camping! There is nothing like the great outdoors, wide open spaces, camp fire, tent, roasting marshmallows.
Camping can be the time of your life, or it can be a nightmare; especially in the Texas heat.

Don't get discouraged, or let the Texas heat keep you and your family from enjoying the great wilderness. If you play it smart, you can keep cool, even in Texas.

The first thing you should do is choose the right campsite. You should try to find a site that has trees that can provide shade in the day light. If your tent is cooler during the day, then the nights won't be so miserable. Also try to choose a site that is near water and is out of the path of high winds.

Once you have selected your site, try covering your tent, picnic area, ECT. with a tarp. Basically all you are doing is covering the entire site with additional shade. Not only will it help keep your site cooler, it will also protect your site from rain.

A tent can get very hot and humid inside. If possible, try to avoid staying inside the tent during the day time hours. Try leaving the windows unzipped during the day. This will allow air flow through the tent helping it to stay cool.

Drink plenty of water. It is important to stay hydrated no matter where you are, whether it is in Texas camping or in Alaska skiing. Water is the best option. Alcohol and caffeine will actually dehydrate your body, so stay away from them as much as possible. It is also important to drink lots of water during the day, not just when you are thirsty or hot. Keeping your body hydrated will help you stay cooler when it is hot.

When out in the Texas climate, it is important to dress properly. Try wearing cotton and always wear light colored clothing. Cotton breathes and lighter clothing reflects the light.

Try to avoid strenuous exercise or activity during the hottest part of the day, usually between 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm. If you have a hike planned, try to start early in the morning so you can be finished earlier. Be sure to take plenty of breaks and enjoy the beautiful Texas scenery.

Always carry a towel or bandana with you. You can wet down the towel or bandana and wrap it around your head or your wrist if you get over heated.

Don't let the Texas temperatures scare you and your family away from a fun camping trip. Use common sense and follow the rules at the site you choose and you're sure to have a memorable camping trip.

There are many state parks in and around the Austin area. Many have public restrooms with showers available, just in case you don't like to rough it too much. Take the time and research and find the park that fits your family.


Ki wants to help buyers find Austin real estate. He maintains a searchable Austin MLS directory on his website. He has worked in real estate for almost a decade. His site also provides information about Westlake Hills.

The Austin area added about 3,300 jobs between March 2008 and March 2009, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. That's the good news. The bad news is that the local unemployment rate has gone from 3.8 percent in March 2008 to 6.2 percent this past March. Austin is not immune to the recession after all.

What Austin is doing is weathering this recession better than most places. That 6.2 percent unemployment rate is well below the 8.5 percent national rate. While other major cities across the country, and even across Texas, are continuing the downward spiral of job losses, Austin may be slowing down. Just to give a little perspective on how bad it is in other places, the unemployment rate in Michigan is 12.6 percent and California is 11.2 percent.

The fickle unemployment cycle is all part of being a tech-savvy city for Austin. Semiconductor companies in particular are prone to slough off jobs as the business cycle dictates and it can take years for the tech sector to recover. The problem with this particular recession is its reach is much farther and the impact seems to go much deeper.
"Nationally, Microsoft Corp. is cutting jobs for the first time in its 22-year history; the U.S. Postal Service is shedding workers, too. Retailers cut 500,000 jobs last year and have announced 100,000 more layoffs this year," said a recent article in the Austin-American Statesman.

Austin is fortunate to not rely too heavily on any one sector of the economy. The city has certainly been affected by the hard hit the construction industry has taken, with a national unemployment rate of close to 21 percent. However, Austin is bolstered somewhat by government jobs and the University of Texas. Austin economic development consultant Angelos Angelou predicted recently in the Statesman that job growth in the months to come will be lower paying jobs in health care, education and government.

Jobs and housing seem to be the two numbers everyone pins their hopes on in this recession. While Austin is no Florida when it comes to the bad real estate news, the city is not immune to a real estate slump either. According to the Austin-American Statesman, sales of existing homes is at a six year low. While the housing decline has been slow, it does seem to have been steady with 22 consecutive months of sales declines.

"Conditions in the Austin real estate market remain weak, as they do across the state," said D'Ann Petersen, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallasin a recent Statesman article. "The national recession has trickled down to Texas and the state, and its major metros are seeing job losses. The credit situation has also impacted the real estate sector in Austin, especially the higher-priced segment."

While the number of homes going on the market has gone down, the average sales price has held pretty steady for Central Texas overall. Houses stay on the market a little bit longer now than in years past, but the next few months are typically good months for home sales as people relocate over the summer. With the continued low mortgage rates and other incentives, it's a great time to buy a house.


Ki's company is located in Central Austin. He maintains a website with information on Austin Texas real estate. His site provides a search of the Austin MLS along with a blog covering Austin real estate.

There is a large research facility in northwest Austin that is part of the University of Texas System called the J.J. Pickle Research Campus, and the site is nine miles north of the main U.T. campus just north of the Domain. This facility is on the cutting edge of new technology but not very well-known to most residents of Austin. The site of the PRC was originally a magnesium plant during World War II and was owned by the U.S. government until two U.T. professors sought to lease and eventually buy the site for the University. An agreement was reached in 1946 and research projects began at that time.

Later, in 1949, the University purchased the site with the help of then-Congressman Lyndon Johnson from the federal government and in 1953 it was named the Balcones Research Center, named for the Balcones
Escarpment which runs through northwest Austin. The original site was 402 acres and the western boundary was U.S. 183, with other borders being Burnet Road and Braker Lane to the east and north, respectively. The southern edge of the facility was bordered by the land that was later developed and named the Domain, and is now a huge shopping and entertainment complex.

The MoPac railroad tracks and Loop 1 run directly through the campus, and U.T. shuttle buses transport students and faculty to and from the center and the main campus, but for the most part, the center is not open to the public. In 1971, the University received full title to the facility and in 1974, expanded the site to its current size of 475 acres, after purchasing more land. The facility continued its research into the areas of defense, nuclear physics and space flight, all areas to which the facility has brought important contributions by its research and development.

In 1994, the center was renamed the J.J. Pickle Research Center after then Congressman J.J. "Jake" Pickle, who died in 2005, and the facility continued to flourish. The Campus has over 100 buildings today, but no dormitories and very few classrooms; it is primarily a closed research campus due to the sensitivity of some of the areas being researched.

In 2003, the U.T. System Board of Regents made an agreement with the Simon Property Group for around $130 million to lease unused portions of the campus for retail development, and construction on the Domain began at that time, and an Arbor Walk was begun in 2005, with retail stores opening in the fall of 2006. Much of the campus is still undeveloped, and the site is very scenic with its proliferation of wildflowers, especially bluebonnets, which dot the fields and meadows surrounding the facility.

The campus has also been utilized for industrial research, and Texas Nuclear, the Radian Corporation, and Tracor have all been instrumental in expanding the private sector's use of the campus in the areas of nuclear physics, chemistry, paleontology, zoology, botany, and atmospheric science, among other disciplines. The center has been home to over seventy different laboratories over the years, and encourages chemists, physicists, and engineers to conduct interdisciplinary research as well as having been a training site for these disciplines, among others.

In addition to the above mentioned facilities, the campus is home to the Commons Conference Center, which is a full service conference facility managed by the PRC. The Commons Cafe is the centerpiece, with gourmet meals prepared and served in dining rooms and private conference rooms, to the delight of visiting academics and faculty members alike. Many governmental agencies use the facilities along with educational
agencies and conferences, with first rate facilities and technology in very discreet and private, yet elegant, surroundings.

The Pickle Research Campus is just one more outstanding facility in Austin's educational and business environment, so if you ever have the opportunity to visit the campus or the Commons Center, it is definitely worth your time, and you just might enjoy fine cuisine while appreciating all that the campus has to offer!


Ki developed a clearinghouse website of Austin Texas real estate. On the site, buyers can search Austin MLS listings. His site also has a blog that covers news and updates in the Austin real estate market.

One of the most interesting and beautiful places to visit in the Austin area is called Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum, which is located near Zilker Park on Robert E. Lee in southwest-central Austin, across from the softball fields and Barton Springs. Umlauf Garden and Museum was named for contemporary sculptor Charles Umlauf, and the museum features his sculptures as well as the works of other local artists, some of whom studied under Umlauf at the University of Texas, where Umlauf taught.

The sculpture garden and museum hosts a very popular yearly fundraising event called the Garden Party, and this event is held shortly after Easter every year. This year, the 11th year for this gala and party, the event will take place on April 23rd, and many local restaurants, clubs, vineyards, artists, and other merchants will display their wares during this event at booths spread about the grounds, and a silent auction will be held as the evening progresses.

For the past three years, a series of architectural lectures has also been held at the facility, and this year's opening architectural lecture features Michael Antenora, a local architect with Antenora Architects. The lecture begins at dusk, and a five dollar fee is charged for admission except to Umlauf members, who gain free admission to the series with the cost of their membership.

Many of the facilities on the property, such as the gardens, are available for rental, the proceeds of which go to cover costs of maintaining the facility and grounds, and many weddings, receptions, parties and other gala events are regularly held at the museum and gardens throughout the year, especially in the spring.

The museum is also open for visiting and tours Wednesday through Friday from 10:00am until 4:30pm, and 1:00pm through 4:30pm Saturday and Sunday, and the museum is a popular attraction for local schools and church groups, as well as various other clubs and organizations. Another attraction this spring is a collection and show of Umlauf's early works, narrated and discussed by Umlauf's son Karl Umlauf, which is being held at the museum January through April of 2009.

This year's 11th annual Garden Party, the most exciting attraction at Umlauf, will feature the Nash Hernandez Orchestra again, and works of featured artist Kyle Bunting will be displayed, among others. Damian Priour has been named honorary chairman for the event this year, and in addition to the silent auction, a celebrity seed auction will be held, during which terra cotta pots and small garden and plant containers will be made or decorated by local well-known celebrities, such as local seed artist Beth Thom, who has been featured for the last three years.

During the silent auction, numerous eclectic gifts, creations, art, jewelry, wines, meals, and other services from local merchants will be auctioned off, and the proceeds will benefit all of the many educational programs sponsored by Umlauf Gardens and Museum.

Some of the restaurant sponsors for the Garden Party include Hudson's on the Bend, Moonshine, Cool River Cafe, and Green Pastures, among others, and vendors will have samples of the tasty menu specialties of these restaurants available to patrons of the garden party for a nominal fee.

Attendees can choose between the wares of various restaurants from the many booths, stands and vendors situated along the tree and foliage encircled paths which meander throughout the grounds. Drinks are also available from outlets along the paths including choices of refreshments such as local wines and beer, and other beverages, with wine being provided by local liquor company Twin Liquors. A dance floor will be set up in front of the stage and orchestra, and dancing is usually a popular activity during the event, along with schmoozing with the local cognoscenti.

Other events this year at Umlauf include a Saturday afternoon sculpting workshop for kids interested in the art form, and during the school break a summer camp is held in two sessions for children interested in art and sculpture. The summer camp includes field trips, materials, and snacks, for a reasonable fee. In the fall, the Autumn lecture series begins, with another series of lectures by local architects.

Umlauf Gardens offers something for everyone, and with its natural beauty and majestic art, the facility is an ideal location for your next event or just to visit, so the next time you are in the Barton Springs area, be sure to explore the many wonders that Umlauf Garden and Museum has to offer!



Ki lives in the Austin area, where he enjoys biking the hill country. His website compiles information on Austin Texas real estate. It also has a search of the Austin MLS and a blog covering Austin real estate.