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(Stuart Seger/CC)
Welcome to town!
<p><em>This week, you'll see stories useful for someone new to Austin in anticipation of Austonia's "How to Austin" event. To attend, sign up <a href="https://austonia.com/howtoaustin" target="_blank">here</a>. </em></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="1240" data-rm-shortcode-id="bb274d8f32024996b88ab4a4c5cac1a4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUzMTg0OC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMjY1ODQxN30.1jigIQEPwbRuVRxJpbLa2gsIKkp14qm0TLxr-F2FVdA/img.png?width=980" data-width="1747" id="b4e0b" type="lazy-image"/>
</p><p>Although the pandemic rages on and many of Austin's most iconic attractions—live-music venues, honky tonks and long lines outside of barbecue joints—remain closed, people continue to flock to the city.<br/></p><p>Based on 2018-19 population estimates outlined in an October report by the Austin Chamber, the metro is now growing by <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-growth/1-austin-really-is-a-hotel-california" target="_self">168 net new residents each day</a>, mostly thanks to people who relocate here. And there are already indicators that suggest Austin's growth has continued amid COVID-19. </p><p>Being new to town is something of a common experience among Austinites, with natives sometimes referred to as "unicorns" due to their rarity. Still, recent arrivals may find the city foreign in unexpected ways. Here are eight things to know while settling in.</p>
1. Where are people moving from?
<p>More than half of new Austin residents come from other parts of Texas, according to the Chamber report. Californians, who are sometimes blamed for Austin's growing pains, made up 8% of migration to the Austin metro between 2014 and 2018, followed by New Yorkers (3.3%), Floridians (3.1%) and Illinoisans (2.3%).</p><p>In more recent news, the Wall Street Journal dubbed Austin <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-remote-work-make-austin-a-magnet-for-new-jobs-11607423401#_=_" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a magnet for new corporate jobs</a> last month, thanks to its lower costs (and taxes) compared to San Francisco and New York City. <a href="https://austonia.com/wsj-austin-jobs?q=magnet" target="_self">Between April and October 2020</a>, for every one person who left Austin for the Bay Area, almost three people moved in the opposite direction, and for every one person who left Austin for New York City, more than two New Yorkers came to Austin.</p><p>LinkedIn also reported that Austin gained <a href="https://austonia.com/newcomers-moving" target="_self">the most newcomers</a> of any city in the country in 2020, based on an analysis of its 174 million U.S. users.</p>2. Is it really a blueberry in a bowl of tomato soup?
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQwNzIxNi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTc3ODk3N30.xNqLWrumZXeeyS_i4KoMfYJWc24Csc8gMZVflzAav_E/img.png?width=980" id="36484" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="08d4b6360ef8ea54d5cc1bcefc86cdcd" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Texas State Capitol" />(Charlie L. Harper III)
<p><em>(Charlie L. Harper III)</em></p><p>Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry once likened Austin to a blueberry in a bowl of tomato soup because of its liberal politics in a red state.</p><p>Texas hasn't voted Democrat in a presidential election since 1976. In that time, Travis County—which includes most of the city of Austin—went blue in all but one race, in 2000, when then Texas Gov. George Bush was first elected. </p><p>Today, Austin is governed by an 11-person council, with 10 members who are self-described Democrats, and the county is governed by an all-Democrat Commissioners Court. Its elected officials have voted to support paid sick leave, police budget cuts, affordable housing investments and immigrant protections, often facing pushback from state officials and lawmakers.</p><p>But Austin is no longer the only blueberry in this unappetizing metaphor. Bexar, Dallas and Harris counties—home to Texas' three largest cities—also vote <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/11/06/texas-trump-biden-counties-rural-suburban-city/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reliably Democratic</a>, as do as an increasing number of suburban counties.</p>3. Where does Austin stand in terms of affordability?
<p>Austin housing costs have risen dramatically since the late 1990s as an increasing number of affluent residents moved into urban core neighborhoods, displacing low-income residents, according to <a href="https://centralaustincdc.org/diversity/cityofaustinplan_1928.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a 2018 report</a> by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin. </p><p>This trend has been most pronounced in the city's Eastern Crescent, where historically low housing costs drew in affluent residents. One reason these neighborhoods were relatively affordable is because of segregation codified by <a href="https://centralaustincdc.org/diversity/cityofaustinplan_1928.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the city's 1928 master plan</a>, which limited public services for Black residents to a "negro district" east of I-35. </p><p>Austin City Council has made significant investments in recent years in an attempt to address the affordability crisis, including approving a $250 million affordable housing bond, which voters approved in 2018, and earmarking $300 million in anti-displacement funding as part of Project Connect, a $7.1 billion transit plan <a href="https://austonia.com/project-connect-next-steps" target="_self">now in the works</a>. </p><p>But housing—and especially affordable housing—remains limited in Austin. Council has spent nearly a decade on <a href="https://austonia.com/zoning-austin-politics" target="_self">a land use code rewrite</a>, which urbanists say could help address the dearth of so-called missing-middle type housing.</p>4. What is CodeNEXT and why do I keep seeing signs about it?
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzk4MTkzMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzQ1MDgwMX0.wo8BZTgfx3Sbxn_krJmy5nJQHeQVAY2segZ4kmm0Mco/img.jpg?width=980" id="1bf06" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4936c8de4ecf6a26e0842fe8e9fbbe32" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />(Emma Freer)
<p><em>(Emma Freer)</em></p><p>CodeNEXT refers to an attempt by the city of Austin to rewrite its land use code, which determines how land can be used throughout the city, including what can be built, where it can be built and how much of it can be built. The code was last rewritten in the mid-1980s.</p><p>The CodeNEXT process began in 2012 and aimed to streamline local zoning rules and allow for denser and more affordable housing in accordance with population growth. But in 2018 Austin Mayor Steve Adler scrapped the effort, which he wrote had become "divisive and poisoned," and asked the city manager to create a new process. </p><p>The second attempt at a rewrite began in 2019 but is currently on hold due to a lawsuit. </p><p>But signs declaring "CodeNEXT wrecks Austin" and "CodeNEXT is BACK" remain posted in many yards around town. Multiple community groups organized in opposition to the rewrite, which members claim is exclusive, panders to developers and will destroy neighborhoods. Supporters, on the other hand, argue that single-family zoning stands in the way of a more equitable, sustainable Austin, at best, and is <a href="https://www.kut.org/austin/2019-12-09/white-homeowners-dominate-input-over-austins-land-code-rewrite-one-group-is-trying-to-change-that" target="_blank">racist and classist</a>, at worst.</p>5. What are some of the other major policy issues I should know about?
<p>In addition to housing, which ties in the related issues of affordability, gentrification and zoning, the city of Austin is also focused on:</p><ul><li>The pandemic, including an equitable vaccine rollout and preventing evictions </li><li>Police reform, including revamping its <a href="https://austonia.com/racial-inequities-apd" target="_self">training academy</a> amid reports of racism and hazing </li><li>Homelessness</li><li>Public transit and traffic congestion</li></ul>6. How bad is the traffic situation here?
<p>Austin is the 18th most congested city in the country, according to the latest traffic scorecard from <a href="https://inrix.com/scorecard-city/?city=Austin%2C%20TX&index=77" target="_blank">analytics company INRIX</a> in 2019, with the average driver spending 69 hours in congestion a year at a cost of $1,021. </p><p>Rapid population growth has led to longer commutes and more traffic. But local and state officials say that Project Connect and a forthcoming expansion of I-35 will help address the gridlock.</p><p>Austinites overwhelmingly approved a property tax rate increase last November that will help pay for <a href="https://austonia.com/project-connect-next-steps" target="_blank">Project Connect</a>, a 15-year, $7.1 billion plan to overhaul public transit and bring light rail to town. </p><p>The Texas Department of Transportation similarly touts its $7.5 billion I-35 expansion project, which proposes to widen the highway up to 20 lanes between Hwy. 290 and Ben White Boulevard, as a salve for congestion. Critics, however, dispute this claim, arguing that similar expansion projects in other cities have led to <a href="https://austonia.com/transit-in-austin/4-the-i-35-expansion-projects-offers-more-than-congestion-relief" target="_blank">induced demand</a>. </p>7. There were some major Black Lives Matter protests in Austin last summer. Did anything change?
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM3NzExNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMDQzNTM4OX0.Mpbm0dmtxuJrIbl7QUZjAbOnuIVr10ZhsTUP2wJF0Lo/img.jpg?width=980" id="9a089" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0d2100b55619275ce6b9fc9e8092e439" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="huston tillotson protest" />(Emma Freer)
<p><em>(Emma Freer) </em></p><p>After mass protests against police violence and racial injustice last spring and summer, Austin City Council voted unanimously in August to cut the Austin Police Department budget by around 5%, becoming the first city to do so amid activists' calls to "defund the police." The main impact of this decision was the cancellation of three planned cadet classes at the department's training academy, which has <a href="https://austonia.com/racial-inequities-apd" target="_self">raised concerns</a> in recent years due to its "paramilitary" culture.</p><p>Council members also approved moving 32.5% of the department's budget into transitional funds that will allow several of APD's traditional duties to continue while officials work out which to move from under police oversight. </p><p>Criminal justice reform activists <a href="https://austonia.com/video-remove-police-chief-austin" target="_self">also called for</a> the resignation of APD Chief Brian Manley, who remains in his position. </p>8. Why do I keep hearing about homelessness?
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwNjU0OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODI4MjM5N30.3K4RQ_OvX41EkinAWptBCqBOrQte3fn5GgdU6EIsKcE/img.jpg?width=980" id="adefa" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3bb749a0789de85ac084bd54f493a9e8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />(Jordan Vonderhaar)
<p><em>(Jordan Vonderhaar) </em></p><p>As the city becomes increasingly unaffordable, homelessness grows more acute. It has also proven to be a political lightning rod, dividing city residents and incurring criticism from state Republican lawmakers.</p><p>The point-in-time count, an annual census conducted by the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition each January, found <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-homeless-camps-data" target="_self">a 45% increase</a> in the city's unsheltered population between 2019 and 2020, which the organization attributed to increased volunteerism and better counting methods.</p><p>But many disputed this explanation, blaming it on the City Council's controversial 2019 decision to overturn a ban on public camping.</p>9. Is it just me or are there a lot of elections here?
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUxMjcxNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MDAzNDE2OH0.sGG9sH3j7lmlyXuZEKSdwoV-Jn9-uOqn0qpIPMgnXQ4/img.jpg?width=980" id="4375d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cf0ccefd43b021c6a9df1708235e853d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />(Bob Daemmrich)
<p><em>(Bob Daemmrich)</em></p><p>It can sometimes feel like there is an election every other month in Texas. Last year, there were five: a March primary to determine who would run in the November general election, May local elections, a July primary runoff for those March races, the November general election and a December runoff. </p><p>One reason for this is the runoff elections, which tend to have lower turnout. Texas, like <a href="https://www.vox.com/21551855/georgia-ossoff-perdue-loeffler-warnock-runoff-election-2020-results" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">some other former Confederate states</a>, still holds primary and general runoff elections for those races in which no one candidate earns at least 50% of the vote. </p><p>The next election is on May 1. City officials are in the process of reviewing two citizen-led petitions. If validated, they will be placed on the upcoming ballot, where Austin voters will determine their fate. One, submitted by the political action committee Austinites for Progressive Reform, aims to <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-strong-mayor" target="_self">increase voter turnout</a> through a series of charter amendments. The other seeks to <a href="https://austonia.com/save-austin-now-camping" target="_self">reinstate the camping ban</a>. </p><p>More information on how to register to vote as a Travis County resident can be found <a href="https://tax-office.traviscountytx.gov/voters/registration" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.</p>From Your Site Articles
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(Sasaki)
The 97-acre mixed-use development slated for 4700 East Riverside Drive has a new name—River Park—and master plan that includes the addition of a 12-acre retail center.
<p>The developer behind River Park, Presidium, shared its vision for the project, which will include more than 400 affordable units as well as 10 million square feet of offices, shops, hotels, parks and homes. </p><p>Bordered by the Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metro Park and Country Club Creek, the development will feature access to the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trailer and more than 30 acres of publicly parkland and urban trails. It will also be served by a forthcoming light rail line planned under Project Connect, the $7.1 billion transit overhaul that Austin voters <a href="https://austonia.com/prop-a-austin-results" target="_blank">recently chose to fund</a>. </p><p>"The location and size of River Park provides a unique opportunity to solve and address some of Austin's biggest challenges such as housing supply, affordability, connectivity and mobility—all on an urban-infill site within five minutes of downtown," Presidium Director of Development Michael Piano said in a statement Monday. </p><p>River Park is scheduled to be built in phases over the next two decades, with a preliminary start date planned for 2023. </p><p>Austin City Council voted 6-3 in October 2019 to approve zoning changes for the site, which is at the intersection of Riverside and South Pleasant Valley Road, after <a href="https://communityimpact.com/news/2019/10/17/austin-city-council-approves-zoning-changes-for-controversial-97-acre-urban-village-on-east-riverside/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">months of controversy</a>. </p><p>Members of Defend Our Hoodz—a local advocacy organization that the Austin Police Department has said overlaps with the Mike Ramos Brigade, <a href="https://austonia.com/city/austin-antifa-looting/particle-1" target="_self">a local antifa group</a>—protested outside the homes of Council Member Sabino "Pio" Renteria and Michael Whellan, an attorney whose firm represents the developer. </p><p>The University of Texas at Austin student government voted to approve a resolution asking the council to vote against the zoning change or to provide more affordable student housing in the area, which is home to many lower-cost apartments.</p><p>Council members acknowledged concerns that the project would worsen gentrification in one of the few remaining affordable urban core neighborhoods. But they also conceded that development was inevitable. </p><p>"Rejecting this rezoning request will not deflate the redevelopment pressure facing this area," Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison said at the time. "It's a difficult but very real truth."</p>
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From 'negro district' to hipster brunch spot: the gentrification of East 11th Street
26 November 2020
(Isabella Lopes/Austonia)
Austin's East 11th Street, with its brunch crowds and boutiques, is a slick and shining example of the gentrification that has taken over what was once designated by the city as the old "negro district."
<p>For long term residents of the historically Black neighborhood, the upscale office spaces and vintage apparel shops are little more than blunt reminders that the once-familiar streets are no longer theirs.</p><p>Brenda Mims Malik, president of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, describes the "horrific" effects of gentrification as a total disappearance of community and cohesion.</p><p>"We had businesses, Black-owned businesses, up and down 11th Street and now you can maybe count them on one hand, and I don't think you could get to five," says Malik. "And 12th Street is the same way, so, yeah, it has been a very rapid deterioration of Black-owned businesses and homes."</p><p>Malik, who in the late 1970s and early '80s worked as a project manager for the Robertson Hill HUD project, helped bring basic services such as alley trash pick-up, street lighting and sidewalk paving to the area she grew up in. She recalls a world of Black-owned restaurants, clubs, newspapers and theaters. </p><p>She says it all changed in the span of 20 years.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="2268" data-rm-shortcode-id="87cb0c02c2c3c2763f6cd4456aabd4f0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0MjA3Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDgwMjQ0OX0.1qroxGHu3f0sYVpiKpKotJekQTbTjFlMlzmoWv62pT0/img.jpg?width=980" data-width="4032" id="8c99a" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">(Isabella Lopes/Austonia)</small></p><p>Prior to this current gentrification, East 11th Street was almost entirely Black and this was no accident. Almost a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregation zoning laws were illegal, the city of Austin put into action its "1928 Master Plan" to create a "Negro District" in East Austin. In order to motivate Black residents to move to the area, the city placed the only public schools that Black residents could attend there.<br/></p><p>East Austin is now, of course, a highly coveted area for developers to build in and for newcomers to settle into. Between 2011 and 2014 the median home price in East Austin's 78702 ZIP code tripled from $125,000 to $375,000.</p><p>"What happens is developers will offer daily incentives for our residents to move out," says Malik.</p><p>"It is an aging population," she adds. "What happens is that when they pass on. Instead of having generational wealth, the inheritors, the children of those folks who have passed on are confronted with higher taxes and sometimes higher mortgages that they cannot pay. Some look at the offer and see it as a way to get some money very quickly. So they take that offer and they move out."</p><p><strong>The problem with inheritance</strong> </p><p>Pat Calhoun, who took over the taxes for the East Austin home her parents built in 1960 (located in the Rogers-Washington-Holy Cross Historic District) when her mother died in 2015, speaks to the difficulty of inheriting property in a historic district that has suddenly become hot property. </p><p>Prior to inheriting the home, Calhoun had been assisting her mother, who had benefited from a homestead exemption, with the property taxes for over a decade. </p><p>"What I would come to realize is the inequity for heirs," Calhoun explains. "If you inherit a home it is treated as though you purchased the home as a new buyer and that, to me, is not equitable because you're not purchasing the home. You have an inherent tie to the home. "</p><p>Calhoun added that this tax pressure can accelerate displacement. </p><p>"There are a lot older heirs who are unable to stay in the homes," says Calhoun. "Whilst I helped my mom in her later years, I was paying the taxes and I inherited the home. She passes away and I go ahead and move here permanently and suddenly my taxes are almost three times what I had been paying: from $2,500 to almost $9,000 and that's very difficult to sustain, particularly when you are retired. Consequently I <em>can't </em>retire."</p><p>As a result, many people opt to sell their homes, which may be their only asset. </p><p>"And you think of how our parents and relatives endured unequal salaries but they managed, they sacrificed, they built homes, they purchased homes and the next generation to just lose them ... it's just hard to take," Calhoun said.</p><p>Raul Alvarez, whose non-profit group East Austin Conservancy seeks to help families with tax relief, calls it a travesty. </p><p>"History is repeating itself," he says referring to Austin's 1928 master plan. "The Black and brown people used to live downtown and when the city wanted to redevelop downtown and basically kick Black and brown people out of downtown … it seems like that's what's happening again."</p><p><strong>How gentrification happens</strong> </p><p>Daniel Llanes, a 71-year-old artist and activist who has lived in Austin since he was 25 describes East Austin as "the classic gentrification take over of a Black area." </p><p>"Dear God, there ain't no Black culture left," he says. "The children of the people who grew up here cannot buy houses here."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="2268" data-rm-shortcode-id="f52103a848c7395610ae36edbb883a5f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0MjA2Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMzM1MDEyM30.X7DEpNFiSZrtxPaMBI7Rh2Ixd1NT-Rb6T3uY9Czrpjw/img.jpg?width=980" data-width="4032" id="f276f" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">(Isabella Lopes/Austonia)</small></p><p>As an artist who lived in West Austin for 22 years before moving to East Austin in 1997, Llanes sees even his own move to the area as typical of how gentrification occurs. </p><p>"West-side artists could not afford to live in west-side Austin anymore, so in the late 1990s (and) early 2000s a lot of them started moving to the East side because it was cheaper to rent here. That's the first domino effect of displacement of Black and brown people," says Llanes.<br/></p><p>Ricardo Lowe, a research associate for the Institute for Urban Policy Research & Analysis at the University of Texas at Austin, points out that the two main factors that are leading to the diaspora of East Austin are affordability and education.</p><p>Between 2000 and 2010 Austin's Black population was the only population in the nation that had declined in a large metropolitan city. Lowe points to r<a href="https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/iupra/_files/pdf/those-who-left-austin.pdf" target="_blank">esearch done by University of Texas' Dr. Eric Tang</a>, who sought to identify the causes behind this Black migration out of East Austin.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="826" data-rm-shortcode-id="40575a183404820e49365e9e93707eba" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0MjA4NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTU1NTUwMX0.i5afd75P85V2vm2mEBzduHAKlOc78VF-Qc3fcsStI0g/img.png?width=980" data-width="1436" id="f63cf" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit..." spellcheck="false">(Institute for Urban Policy Research and Analysis and Division of Diversity and Community Engagement)</small></p><p>The research identifies housing affordability as the leading cause for the migration to East Austin. The second leading cause was for the schools.<br/></p><p>As Lowe explains AISD "is incentivizing displacement and gentrification in a way by ensuring that the quality of the schools remains limited and once they do create an alternative, those new facilities are going to be there as a marketing strategy to appeal to those incoming families who are moving to East Austin and are of higher means."</p><p>Lowe is suspicious of Austin's recent plans to close older schools and replace them with new buildings.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="1012" data-rm-shortcode-id="f0269dba4b0df6572d03948126264aba" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0MjA3Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODQzMjYyMn0.fZeq_dWe6LlbgCzErtINrnXJhwR9jzx9WbEtGHaljOY/img.jpg?width=980" data-width="1500" id="bd4bb" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Blackshear Elementary School still stands today. It is unknown when this photo was taken.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">(Austin History Center)</small></p><p>"Who are these schools for? Are these schools for this new population that you are expecting to have in the future or are these schools really for our kids?" he said. "That is the war that is happening right now in East Austin. People making decisions on where they want to live are very tied to local schools."<br/></p><p><strong>What this means for Austin's Black residents</strong> </p><p>Lowe views the atmosphere of change in East Austin as absolutely demoralizing to the local Black community.</p><p>"Now if you got on 11th street now you're going to see condos, and different things like that that doesn't make East Austin even look the same. You see the graffiti in some of these spaces there, there's a Jamaican restaurant there, there's things there that are set to preserve the cultural significance of Black people in Austin, but the people there— they're not, they're not <em>there</em> anymore, a lot of them are being gentrified out," says Lowe.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-3x2">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="800" data-rm-shortcode-id="b9c08e0445e2f7dbdcb0938051dd33b3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0MjA3NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTg1NTIwMX0.XQn0cHKAL6Fkzvozexdv8jH0zn2lNNaRe-0cBMaQAgI/img.jpg?width=1200&coordinates=0%2C764%2C0%2C764&height=800" data-width="1200" id="0fd7b" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">(Roberto Ontiveros/Austonia)</small></p><p>Lowe see's the underlying problem as systemic racism. He says the story of East Austin is not just one of gentrification and displacement, but it is also the story of how institutions continue to persist on making it difficult for people just to remain put. People are being forced to move out of the area when they can't pay for the cost of living.<br/></p><p>"It is apparent that Austin is becoming a city that in order for you to live in, you have to contribute to that economy, because Austin wants to become a global economy," says Lowe. "Those who are not able to participate in making the global city more economically profound are finding it increasingly difficult to live there."</p><p>Roxanne Evans, member of the East Austin Coalition for Quality Education, says she believes the city is committed to affordable housing which will slow the rate of gentrification, and she hopes families who have left the area will be drawn back to the area.</p><p>"Progress is well and good, development is well and good, but not if it pushes people out and changes the whole nature of the community," says Evans.</p>
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(Emma Freer/Austonia)
Past transit invesment, including the building of I-35, displaced Austinites.
On Nov. 3, Austin residents will vote on Proposition A. If approved, it will increase the city's property tax rate by around 20% to help pay for Project Connect, a $7.1 billion overhaul of the local transit system.
<p>Proponents say the plan will help make Austin <a href="https://austonia.com/project-connect-pandemic" target="_self">a more equitable city</a> by ensuring residents have access to an affordable and comprehensive transit system. </p><p>But past transit initiatives suggest that the project could deepen the fault lines it hopes to address, which is why Austin City Council has allocated $300 million for anti-displacement initiatives under the Project Connect proposal.</p><p><strong>The broken spoke </strong></p><p><strong></strong>District 1 Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison told Austonia that the pandemic has magnified infrastructural failures and exposed disparities in health care, education and transit access.</p><p>"Multiple generations of disinvestment have to be reconciled," she said. </p><p>Although Project Connect provides a chance for the city to catch up, it could also lead to some unintended consequences. </p><p>In other U.S. cities, transit investment has accelerated gentrification and displacement. </p><p>Researchers at the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University found that the "predominant pattern" of neighborhood change following transit investment was "one in which housing becomes more expensive, neighborhood residents become wealthier and vehicle ownership becomes more common," according to <a href="https://www.reimaginerpe.org/files/TRN_Equity_final%282%29.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a 2010 report</a>. </p><p>Some Austinites have seen this happen in their own backyards. </p><p>The construction of MoPac in 1971 led to the destruction of nearly one-third of the homes in Clarksville, <a href="https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/baylor-mary-frances-freeman" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">one of the earliest freedmen's communities</a> established west of the Mississippi and, during segregation, <a href="http://www.clarksvillecdc.org/clarksville-under-threat" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">one of the few remaining Black neighborhoods</a> west of Interstate-35. </p><p>Similarly, the building of I-35 in the 1960s "both displaced existing Black communities and reinforced the de facto and de jure segregation of Austin" codified in the city's 1928 master plan, <a href="https://austinjustice.org/ajcs-guide-to-project-connect/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to the Austin Justice Coalition</a>.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><div style="overflow:hidden;padding-bottom:56.25%;position:relative;height:0;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" src="https://texashistory.unt.edu/media/assets/public/js/vendor/universal-viewer/uv.html#?manifest=/ark:/67531/metapth124769/manifest/&c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&config=https://texashistory.unt.edu/media/assets/public/js/vendor/universal-viewer/aubrey-config.json&locales=&xywh=" style="left:0;top:0;height:100%;width:100%;position:absolute;"></iframe></div></div><p>As a result, there is concern that, if implemented, Project Connect could worsen Austin's affordability crisis and deepen the inequities it aims to rectify.<br/></p><p>"Once this is approved in November … the speculation of real estate is going to happen instantaneously, almost over night," said Steven Pedigo, director of the LBJ Urban Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. </p><p><strong>The alternate route </strong></p><p>Aware of this likelihood and the precedent of past transit investment, Austin City Council worked to ensure the Project Connect budget includes $300 million in anti-displacement funds to be spent over the next 10 to 13 years on things such as:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>The construction or development of new affordable housing,</li><li>Preservation, repair and rehabilitation of existing affordable housing,</li><li>Financial assistance for homeowners,</li><li>Home repair,</li><li>Rental subsidies</li><li>And right to return assistance.</li></ul><p>"If it's after the fact, we've missed the boat," District 5 Council Member and Capital Metro Board Member Ann Kitchen said at an Aug. 7 meeting. </p><p>Dr. Yingling Fan is a professor at the University of Minnesota who has researched the effects of light rail development in Minnesota's Twin Cities. In 2012, she co-authored a report that looked at neighborhood change induced by new transit corridors, including gentrification and displacement.</p><p>"My opinion is we need to be aware of the potential impacts," Fan said, "but there is a lot of opportunity for government agencies to work with neighborhood organizations to ensure affordable housing supply is protected."</p><p>Austin Mayor Steve Adler and others have stressed that no city has done as much as Austin proposes to with Project Connect to offset displacement. </p><p>Harper-Madison pointed to the city of Denver, which established its Transit-Oriented Development Fund in 2010 with an initial investment of $15 million—or 5% of what Austin plans to allocate.</p><p>"We're going to be the gold standard," she told Austonia. </p><p><strong>The next stop </strong><br/></p><p>But some community members have raised concerns that the funding <a href="https://austonia.com/project-connect-budget" target="_self">will not come through</a> or, if it does, not achieve its stated aim. </p><p>David King, speaking as a long-time resident of the Zilker neighborhood, worries that Project Connect is "a perfect storm for displacement" and that $300 million is inadequate to prevent what is coming down the tracks. (He is also a member of the city's zoning and platting commission.) </p><p>"I don't think the city is as committed to preventing displacement as it could be," King told Austonia, adding that he would like to see more concrete parameters for how such funding will be allocated and demands on developers who build near transit stations.</p><p>In response to such concerns, council members established a <a href="https://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=346733" target="_blank">"contract with voters</a>" that ensures the city will create neighborhood-level strategies with community members, develop an equity assessment tool and publicly track the progress of its anti-displacement initiatives. </p><p>Yasmine Smith is a co-chair of the local nonprofit People United for Mobility Action, which works to ensure every Austinite has access to safe, affordable and convenient transit options. She has been heartened by the city's commitment to equity in developing Project Connect and believes the contract with voters will ensure the anti-displacement funding is put to best use. </p><p>"I like to analogize it to gumbo," Smith said. "Right now, we're in the roux stage. We've made a good roux, a great base, with the legal binding documents."</p><p>If Proposition A is approved by voters, it will take a long time "to get the tenderness of the meat just right," but Smith said she will be at the stovetop, stirring away.</p><p><strong>More on Project Connect:</strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/project-connect-taxes" target="_self">Austonia answers: How much will Project Connect raise my taxes?</a></h2>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ0MzY5My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNDU0ODc5OH0.Bb3tQZywQmgcH68kY8yu-OAWDLZpYqbNSVRDrqElfZo/img.jpg?width=980" id="f7a4b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b7d86f77c8e859a3f9378f3d6a9d003e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />How much will Project connect raise my taxes?(Emma Freer/Austonia)
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