Gentrification Diaries - a tale of two Austins

[mhudson78641]

UT officials: No bleach found in balloons thrown last week,... | www.statesman.com

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by scm53

Slightly hyperbolic. The title of the article refers to a guy whose sole income in $515/month in public assistance. Hardly someone drawing "wages about the same as the US".

I meant economically Hong Kong and the US are on about the same level when using stats like GDP per capita. If I used an example like Bolivia someone would have said that it is apples and oranges, e.g. developed world country versus developing world. There are also people in the US living off of gov't assistance, but they live in mobile homes in rural areas or dilapidated urban apartments, and not very small cages more akin to what we have our homeless dogs and cats in. I guess the poor of Hong Kong could relocate to somewhere else in China, but then again poor people in Austin could also relocate to rural Oklahoma for cheaper housing. Point is the gentrified in Austin do not have it so bad as they have the option of cashing out and moving into a new, bigger home in the burbs with better schools.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

I meant economically Hong Kong and the US are on about the same level when using stats like GDP per capita. If I used an example like Bolivia someone would have said that it is apples and oranges, e.g. developed world country versus developing world. There are also people in the US living off of gov't assistance, but they live in mobile homes in rural areas or dilapidated urban apartments, and not very small cages more akin to what we have our homeless dogs and cats in. I guess the poor of Hong Kong could relocate to somewhere else in China, but then again poor people in Austin could also relocate to rural Oklahoma for cheaper housing. Point is the gentrified in Austin do not have it so bad as they have the option of cashing out and moving into a new, bigger home in the burbs with better schools.

Are you really comparing Austin to the most expensive rental market in the world?.

The guy in the cage says he could move, but he wants to stay close to his friends. The point of the original Ebony article was that the African American community in Austin was being priced out of a cohesive existence. It isn't what the individuals do or what options they have - it is does the community continue to exist? All the P'ville houses, bigger, with better schools - don't maintain a cohesive African American community. And we are all the worse for that.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by joqua

By my definition, diversity is indicative of an amalgamation of elements, whatever they may be. The fact that Houston and other cities have black, Asian, Puerto Rican etc. enclaves is, in my mind, the opposite of diversity in the general population. So I stand by my claim that Austin has managed, in spite of economic changes, to accommodate a diversity of ethnicities in just about all of its neighborhoods. That, to me, is the epitome of "desegregation."

I agree with this. Many come to Austin looking for their "tribe", which is to say they want to find a ready-made "gayborhood", or the "black" area or the "asian" or "christian" area, etc. We all want to hang with "our people". But isn't that saying we don't want to mix with others?

Austin may have certain "enclaves" and demographic clusters, but we do for the most part live mixed among each other. It's funny to me when people take offense to that or deem it a "bad" thing.

The article was inaccurate in many respects, but I cut the writer slack as it was a "perspective" being shared, and a recounting of what was "heard" about Austin.

But it does illustrate how, whether a gay looking for a gayborhood, or blacks looking for their enclave, or christians looking for other bible thumpers next door, coming to Austin seeking to live among a concentration of people "just like you" will most likely result in disappointment. It's better to come with an open mind and expectations that Austin, though politically strident in some ways, is mostly a laid back mixture of easy going people who could give a rats a** about your religion, color, politics, accomplishments, car you drive, etc.

Steve

[petro]

I live in Austin, but grew up in Boston. I've seen two articles this week that make Austin sound like the most segregated city on the planet. I can only imagine that these authors have never lived in an older city like Boston that is truly segregated—and continues to be today. South Boston and Dorchester is reserved for the Irish, the north end is for the Italians, Chinatown for the Chinese, Roxbury for the blacks, South end for the gays, et cetera. I could go on and on. I do not see Austin in this way. Yes, minorities were relegated to the east side of Austin for many years, but as the OP's article admits, those folks have been leaving the east side over the past decade and integrating themselves into various Austin suburban communities. It's also true, that there is not only one neighborhood where it is safe to be gay—gays are welcomed in all areas of Austin. In my experience, diversity in the Austin community is welcomed, encouraged, and valued in a way that I have never seen in a much larger and older city like Boston.

Here's a link to the second article: What Nobody Says About Austin | Texas Monthly

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by petro

. Yes, minorities were relegated to the east side of Austin for many years,...

Good comments, but even that little part quoted above is not accurate. The neighborhoods north of the State Capital building were mostly black before the State moved in and started constructing all of the state buildings, and encouraged many of those displaced blacks to move into East Austin. Some parts of town such as Clarksville (West Austin) were black enclaves at one time. As gentrification made property values increase, black residents profited by selling off that land and moving to less expensive neighborhoods. At one time S. Central Austin was considered undesirable property, with lots of minority residents. Back when Cholera and Yellow Fever epidemics were sweeping Texas, quarantine camps were set up in South Austin, protecting the good people north of the river from exposure. I remember back around 1978 in Architetcure school at UT we did a programming study for a health clinic in S. Austin, 78704, the West Mary area, which had the highest concentration in the city of hispanic unmarried single women who were heads of the household. Areas gentrify, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, as property values increase and the land owners are able to sell at attractive profits and move to less expensive land.

[A-Tex]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Good comments, but even that little part quoted above is not accurate. The neighborhoods north of the State Capital building were mostly black before the State moved in and started constructing all of the state buildings, and encouraged many of those displaced blacks to move into East Austin. Some parts of town such as Clarksville (West Austin) were black enclaves at one time. As gentrification made property values increase, black residents profited by selling off that land and moving to less expensive neighborhoods. At one time S. Central Austin was considered undesirable property, with lots of minority residents. Back when Cholera and Yellow Fever epidemics were sweeping Texas, quarantine camps were set up in South Austin, protecting the good people north of the river from exposure. I remember back around 1978 in Architetcure school at UT we did a programming study for a health clinic in S. Austin, 78704, the West Mary area, which had the highest concentration in the city of hispanic unmarried single women who were heads of the household. Areas gentrify, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, as property values increase and the land owners are able to sell at attractive profits and move to less expensive land.

Right. And this current trend is not limited to the established AfAm neighborhood residents on the east side. Longtime residents of many of the once affordable and now desirable/trendy central and south neighborhoods are experiencing the same thing --- and these are people of all colors.

[mzoo]

I found the article to be pretty poorly written and thesis thin.

[creepy]

Hmm Joqua you said "I find it interesting that the author of the article seems perplexed that Austin has become a city of diverse cultures - no longer the city of divided cultures that it once was." I did not see that.

You may know or have some inside info that it was divided(because it was) but the author seems to think the city was displaced and not know the division.

However I think that he maybe being new does not fully understand the history and the complexity of what happened to the Eastside in the 70's, 80's, 90's and the past decade. It is not a simple story.

The author also has to make a living from writing and so he had to do an article and probably could not do that much research in the time he had.

Lets get real for a moment. The eastside is also home to many Hispanics originally. I am married into one of those original eastside, Hispanic families. I also know of several others thru working in Austin for over 2 decades. It might be easy to assume they are all poor and the neighborhood was "taken" from them but the truth is more complicated. Many have gotten rich off the backs of their families and other Hispanics. Some were slumlords which is not too great. Many moved to other parts of town by choice because it made them feel really good to buy a house where the rich whites live or the new middle class.

I am glad the writer found some people to relate to on the eastside. Good people there. The people who warned him away from it must have been raised in white Austin in the 70's! We all know it is the hipster, expensive part of town now, well somewhat with the old school black and Hispanics mixed in certain parts. Of course many artists moved here in the 90's of all ethnicites/colors and they are different than the original Hispanics/blacks.