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Right before the pandemic, Peter Hawley moved back home to Austin, Texas, his hometown,

and he was kind of surprised by what he saw.

Peter's a journalist for Texas Monthly magazine.

He knew Austin had been booming, with tech jobs and tourist attractions generally becoming less weird.

There was one particular business that was really popular in Austin that was sold pinatas, and it was torn down and replaced with a business that catered to, it was like a cafe for cat owners.

This is not a surprising story, right?

The pinata shop replaced by a cat cafe.

That's a pretty typical trajectory for a sleepy town that heats up fast.

It follows the basic gentrification blueprint.

But Peter noticed something else as he settled into the new Austin, something almost eerie.

There were just fewer people who lived there.

There's neighborhood streets where, you know, people used to hang out on their porches and talk,

and people knew each other by name.

...