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AUSTIN, Texas - "We were a few guys that went to school here, we wanted a place to have and we thought Sixth Street would be the perfect place which it was," said Jeff Lipton, owner of Bobalu Cigar Company.
Lipton opened Bobalu in 1997. It isn't your average cigar shop.
"We are actually a cigar manufacturer. We make and manufacture all the cigars," he said.
Lipton says when they opened more than 20 years ago, Sixth Street was the jewel of the city. He says now it should be called “Filthy Sixth” because no one from out of town would actually want to visit it.
"Now really over the last 5 or 10 years it has really become a very dangerous and hence the moniker 'Dirty Sixth Street' it's just not a place that is advantageous to businesses,'" Lipton said.
Marc Roppolo, owner of Roppolo's has a lot of the same opinions as Lipton. He says nobody calls the San Antonio Riverwalk the "Dirty Riverwalk." Nobody calls Bourbon Street "Dirty Bourbon Street." He says it's a shame what's happened to Sixth Street..
Roppolos isn't leaving but Bobalu Cigar Company is moving on down the road so to speak. In 2015 they opened a second location on Burnet...at the end of this month, the original downtown spot will close and the north location is where they'll be from now on.
Lipton says it was getting expensive to be on Sixth too. They just didn't see the upside of staying.
"Every day you hear of tens if not more overdoses, gunshots, defecation in the alleys, crime, aggressive panhandling," Lipton said. "We don't let our employees walk around to their cars in the alley by themselves. It's just not done. They get a bouncer from one of the clubs next door to escort them," he said.
Lipton says the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) shouldn't be where it is -- right next to the tempting entertainment district.
"If they want help let's put them in a spot where we can get them help and they really want it instead of having a place to congregate, sell drugs, drink," he said. "If you go in and ask businesses down there what's the biggest problem that's what they're going to tell you. If you ask the City Council what's the biggest problem they're going to tell you it's not a problem. But it is," Lipton said.
"We do focus some significant city resources on making sure that visitors and Austinites who go out to Sixth Street in the evening are safe," said Mayor Pro-Tem Kathie Tovo.
Sixth Street is in Tovo's district. Tovo says there are no plans to move the ARCH but council is looking at whether a re-design will help with the issues there.
She says in the next year, council will request proposals for social organizations who want to run the ARCH. "Front Steps" is in charge now and it could stay that way after that process.
"It could be a physical re-design, or it could be an expansion of services or other changes that would make it even more effective," Tovo said.
Mayor Pro-Tem Tovo also says there are some temporary restrooms that are doing well in the city and the goal is to put in some permanent restroom facilities downtown that would help clean up the streets a little bit.