Icon or Eyesore?

Austinites are a reminiscent bunch. From the growth wars of the 1980s, through the watershed reckoning of the 1990s, to the recent cry of "Keep Austin Weird!" a nostalgic pining for the Way Things Were has long haunted public policy and local culture.

The fate of Las Manitas – and, along with it, the question of "iconicity" – serves up all these issues like a heaping helping of migas. How do you define an icon? Would a 12-point matrix suffice, or would it be smarter to gauge the appeal to influential, middle-aged white dudes (aka "The Evan Smith Factor")? Moreover, isn't the fleeting nature of all our departed landmarks the reason we hold them so dear?

That's where y'all come in. On our patented Web site Iconographer™, you can rate landmarks on a rising scale of one (i.e., put up some condos pronto!) to 10 (I'd rather pave Barton Springs!) and add your comments accordingly. You can also nominate your own Austin icons by either uploading a photo of your discovered treasure or just submitting the address on a form, which will display it on a map.

One lucky participant will win a package of old Austin ephemera – and we'll forward the results on to the Planning Commission and City Council, so they can preserve your favorite businesses forever, like mastodon shit in amber. So vote on your favorites at austinchronicle.com/icon before those Californian real estate consortia snatch up everything!