Can Somebody Please Explain The East Side...Thanks (Austin, Bastrop: apartment complexes, neighborhoods)

[jobert]

I think "ImonFiya" is a black dude. The problem is that sarcasm doesn't translate well in written word. Your rebuttal may be misdirected and reaching too small an audience. I would go on the Philadelphia forum, they take it seriously there, to the point of even unionizing it.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by captaincatfish

That I have misread something, and went off on a 'hammer-dropping' tangent, only to find myself backpedaling and even apologizing later because I didn't read between the lines...

Thank you so much for calling me out and bringing that to my attention...if indeed that post was intended as sarcasm, then my apologies to the poster for, as TexasLady said, taking your remarks out of context

Hey, it happens to all of us at one time or another! That's how we learn to recognize it when it happens to someone else.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Jerksticks

I need a place to live for a few months while I check out the local real estate/rehab scene. A lot of people live on the east side but I hear people saying to avoid it.

Which specific areas have the crime?

To answer your questions about crime see these threads:

//www.city-data.com/forum/austi...available.html

//www.city-data.com/forum/austi...ased-some.html

In the 33 years I have lived in Austin the East side of Central Austin has always been in the top 5 violent crime neighborhoods in the City and still is.

[milytaylor]

Jerksticks: I got the same reaction from most of my coworkers after I moved here and rented a place on the east side. I'm north of what most people consider the true east side.

When I looked at buying a home, the east side was all I could afford unless I wanted to move out of Austin.

I think the property values will rise over here mainly because I think it's the only area inside the Austin limits that has room for growth.

As for crime, I haven't felt threatened. I was wondering through all the neighborhoods looking at properties and I didn't have any problems.

[TheKatintheHat]

I think of the East Side this way...When I first moved to Austin from Po-dunk Small Town, TX I was terrified of it. Then I found out there were some cool places over there, so I timidly "braved" the dangerous East Side to go to them.

Then I lived in Boston for a year.

Now I would go skipping down the sidewalk eating an ice cream cone at 2 AM on the East Side of Austin and feel completely safe!!!!

Yes the East Side of Austin is "more dangerous" than the rest of the city, but compared to any other city in the United States it's a joke. Cars get broken into, maybe some stores get robbed, maybe some homes get broken into, but there's relatively few muggings, rapes, or murders of what you could call "personal crimes." As long as you're just a person walking down the street and not involved in a gang war, drugs, or prostitution the chance that you're going to have more than your car stereo stolen are pretty damn small.

[atxcio]

My most recent eye-opener on the East side was earlier this year, when I went on the "chicken coop" tour. First off, there were several urban farms in East Austin -- something that can't really exist on the west side, land is so high priced. Those farms were cool! Really cool.

Second, of all the private residences we visited on the tour, the ones on the east side were by far the nicest, cleanest, well-kept homes and yards on the tour. That was a real surprise. Granted, most of these people were the "urban pioneer" type, or yuppie/hipster as most would call it, probably with plenty of money to rehab/maintain a home. Gentrification. But what they've done with some of the old housing stock on streets lined with old-growth big trees is amazing. Also, there is a surprising amount of rolling terrain inside the city on the east side -- more so than north or north central. The area really has a huge amount of potential. The lack of big-box or chain retail (for the wrong reasons, because the chains didn't want to go there) actually adds to the ambiance now, and some of the near-East side views of the downtown skyline are fantastic. I could see a lot of people wanting to live there if they really looked at what you get...

[CptnRn]

I lived at 6211 Manor Road for a year in 1979. There were some places around there I would not go walking at night back then. I could not wait to move out of the area. I drove through the area a few months ago and it has gone further downhill. I would not feel safe hanging out around there during the day much less at night. The apartment complex where Nathaniel Sanders was shot by the police is just about 3 blocks away.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

I lived at 6211 Manor Road for a year in 1979. There were some places around there I would not go walking at night back then. I could not wait to move out of the area. I drove through the area a few months ago and it has gone further downhill. I would not feel safe hanging out around there during the day much less at night. The apartment complex where Nathaniel Sanders was shot by the police is just about 3 blocks away.

Just thought I'd remind everyone that the police were investigating Nathaniel Sanders when he was shot because residents of the area had called police complaining of hearing multiple gun shots in the area during "recent nights".

Yeah! Sounds like someplace I want to go walking at night.


Eastside Police Shooting: One Man Dead, One Wounded Austin News - AustinChronicle.com

According to Acevedo's brief summary of the events, as yet unconfirmed, over the weekend police had staked out at the complex a white cargo van they believed had been involved in recent armed robberies; when no one returned to the van, it was impounded. Although the connection to the van is unclear, police also received complaints from residents in recent nights that men in or near a Mercedes-Benz station wagon were firing guns into the air. Early Monday morning, Quintana approached the Mercedes in which the men were sleeping and woke and arrested the man in the driver's seat without incident. When he returned to the car for the other occupants, Quintana reportedly saw Sanders reach for a weapon in his waistband and shot Sanders. The third man reportedly jumped from the passenger seat and charged Quintana, who shot him. Acevedo said a handgun was recovered from the seat where Sanders had been sitting.

[atxcio]

At least the residents call police when there is gunfire. Believe it or not, I think for a lot of people coming from larger cities (like Chicago), being within earshot of gunfire isn't necessarily a dealbraker...

I suspect East Austin is a patchwork, like many inner city areas in other parts of the country. Just need to know what blocks are "safe areas" and where the crime is concentrated. In many cities, it can change rapidly block-to-block, something most of Austin isn't used to.

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by atxcio

At least the residents call police when there is gunfire. Believe it or not, I think for a lot of people coming from larger cities (like Chicago), being within earshot of gunfire isn't necessarily a dealbraker...

This is true! I lived in bad parts of both St. Louis and Chicago before moving to Austin, places where hearing gunshots wasn't unusual (wouldn't happen daily but maybe 1-2 times a month) and where as long as the drug dealers were at the other end of the block from where you lived, you felt safe.

When we moved to Austin, we couldn't believe it! So much less poverty and crime than we were used to. Unreal.

There are iffy patches and people here too of course but nothing like major urban areas. There are places I wouldn't go at night but even there I'd be surprised if any actually happened. I'd just be nervous.