Austin Way Magazine - GreenGale Publishing - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/715608
128 AUSTINWAY.com PhotograPhy by MoEaFati The global gaggle that gathers each fall for Austin's Formula One US Grand Prix can't help but scratch its collective head over how everyone refers to the big race at COTA. What on earth, visitors ask, is a COTA? Why, we Austinites explain, it's Circuit of the Americas, the name of the track. Welcome to Austin, where everything is referred to by acronyms or initials. Conversation around here almost always devolves into alphabet soup. One reason? All the festivals. We're gearing up for ACL, which sounds like a knee injury but is really the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Then there's the Austin Film Festival (AFF), TBF (Texas Book Festival), and, next spring, the grandfa- ther that put us on the acronym map: SXSW (South by Southwest). Another reason: We're in the land of state government, where you can't go a day without hearing about an RFP (request for proposals) from the HHSC (Health and Human Services Commission). Neighbors bicker about whether or not to support LHDs (Local Historic Districts), RPP (Residential Permit Parking), ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units—better known among English speakers as garage apartments), and TNCs (Transportation Network Companies, namely, Uber and Lyft, which at press time had fled Austin after a battle with the city, leaving us SOL). And we carp about the actions and inactions of COA. What, newcomers must ask, is COA? Ah, yes. City of Austin. Ever hear Houstonians refer to the COH or Dallasites mention COD? You do not. Only in Austin is being avidly acronymonious completely A-OK. Wait, did we say Austin? We mean ATX. . ALPHABET CITY Will COA let TNCs serve ACL and the other festivals? sMh! By HeLeN ANders It's time again for ACL, one of Austin's better known acronyms. and finally