Sorry man, this is the 1% I disagree with you on. Educating our kids, giving them places to play, and working with small business owners is a good thing and it's not some sort of evil blue wave plan. Seems education and a thriving local business community would bode VERY well for infrastructure wouldn't it? I know downtown is a better place than it was 10 years ago. In terms of making a city blue.... I'd look no further than our "red" compatriots. They are doing a fine job of running it into the ground.
LOL, you're not going to get me to defend the "red" so-called "leadership" of this town here. They're certainly a disaster on the management side of the equation. That doesn't mean they're worse than the blue contingent, because they're not. Ask yourself why Kaiser used Austin as his model. Do you think his politics played no role? Why not any of the other cities raising their quality of life, minus the massive political upheaval? Why not San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Tampa-St. Pete, Salt Lake City, Raleigh or Charlotte?
Austin has pretty much built it's entire persona on being the most liberal city this side of Berkeley. They courted tax and cost of living refugees from California and it worked. Now housing is unaffordable for many who are native to the area. Is that a good thing?
I love bars and entertainment venues and parks as much as the next person, but do I want someone like Sally Hernandez as our sheriff? Nope. The problem with using a city like Austin as your template, is that you wind up with a city like Austin, and all the baggage that comes with it. So thanks, but no thanks.