Gentrification,
simply put, is the shift in a community that arises from new wealthier
residents and an increase of rising property taxes or increased rent, which
puts financial strain on the residents currently in the area. Further changes come in the form of new
businesses both following and inspiring the influx of new residents. What
follows is generally a push of the current residents beyond the boundaries of
their community to even poorer areas, as their previous neighborhoods make the
move from lower to middle class.
Our mission was
to map the effects of the gentrification occurring in the East Austin community
by analyzing the architecture, building patterns, and landscape of the
area. We sought our goal by allocating a
portion of East Austin, boxed in by I-35 and Pleasant Valley Rd. in the West to
East, and Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. from South to North.
19th street
was renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in 1975. It wasn’t until 1993 that
East 1st Street was renamed Cesar Chavez, following his death in
April of that year.
We chose five
smaller areas within this location, and through photos, selected conversations,
and online research, were able to gather a profile of the community. In addition, we gathered data from the
housing website, Zillow, from which we were able to gain a perspective on
historical prices of houses as well as the fluctuations in prices over the years,
the rate of turnover, and the average age of the houses. We also took the Hispanic origins of the
names of street signs into consideration when analyzing the historical minority
make-up of the East Austin neighborhood.
The origin of
segregation within the Austin area can most markedly be traced to the 1928 city
plan wherein city officials decided to purposely make the east side a minority
segregated area.
While the plan
only refers to African-Americans, it has become clear that over the following
years there grew to be a high level of Hispanic population concentrated in the
neighborhoods as well.
In the section
of the city we observed, 20 of the 47 street names were of Spanish origin. Many
of the Spanish street names were named after people or saints, such as Cesar
Chavez, Adam L. Chapa Sr., Medina, San Bernard, San Marcos, Santa Rosa, Santa
Rita, and a few others. On the other hand, there were only a very few street
names named after people who were not of Spanish origin, such as Bob Harrison
and Olander. The majority of the non-Spanish streets were more often named
after environmental surroundings, such as plants. Examples of such street names
in this section of the city include Cotton, Myrtle, Branch, Juniper, and
Catalpa. The number of Spanish street names is significant because it shows
which population of people was originally represented in this area, and it also
serves as evidence of the gentrification process currently occurring.
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The progression of homes throughout the
history of this area can be seen to reflect the needs of the inhabitants as
dictated by their socioeconomic statuses. The older homes we found, many in
disarray, were mostly bungalow craftsman style.
Craftsman homes, with
signature details such as brick based porch columns topped with graduated wood
pillars and pitched roofs as shown here, came out of the Arts and Crafts
movement.
The
Arts and Crafts movement wished to focus on traditional craftsmanship with
simple forms and materials. While the original focus was on individual
craftsmanship, the style became popular due to its low economic demands for
materials and design. Metal filigree porch posts were popular replacements in
the 1960’s for the wooden columns, which were known for rotting, due to their
pre-fabrication and very low required maintenance.
These latest
additions to the area, some remodeled and some blatantly new, reflect the
diversity of people moving to the neighborhood through the variety of combined
style elements. Many of them have stripped away awnings and porches, redoing old
houses to appear more contemporary. The brand new homes reveal modern styles,
where form follows function, showing right angles, exposed structures, and more
industrialized materials such as concrete and steel. Having the financial
ability to choose from such a variety of directions to go is not something that
residents of the area have previously had.
******
The sign for the
church is in Spanish, showing the services are held for a primarily Hispanic
population. As can be implied, the
church then caters to a largely Hispanic population as well. The hospital is very small, seems worn and
outdated, and most likely preforms basic health services to a population
primarily paying with Medicare and government funded healthcare. The question arises: do the wealthy middle
class residents of this neighborhood attend this church or receive treatment
from this hospital? Probably not.
Certainly, it is possible that the wealthy population that lives in the
area goes to Brackenridge or St. David’s across I-35. Will this church and hospital still be here
ten years from now? Or will they be replaced with expensive modern facilities
catering to the burgeoning wealthy transplanted white, English-speaking
population staking its claim to the area?
The Lifeworks Community Center, opened in 2010, is another project funded
by Zach Topfer, the man behind the Topfer theater on Lamar and Barton
springs. Its mission is to provide
counselling services to families, ranging from career counselling, family
service, youth guidance, and rehabilition services. It is not an unusal place for a community
center: down the street is an ACC campus, a public park and recreation facility,
and a hospital. Though it certainly is
the most modern and artistic of the community centers in the area. The building consists of three panels stacked
atop each other with three uniform textures: wood, metal, and stone. Surrounding the building are thin piping,
supporting an awning, presenting a radical modern spin on columns of
antiquity. The architecture is
particularly interesting in that it reflects the image that many of the modern
and wealthy developers of the area are employing, yet the building itself caters
to the traditional East Austin population, those in need of community
assistance. It seems like a blurring of
the lines that the housing developers of late have been so quick to draw. Whatever the case, modern facilities and
directed initiaves aimed at the wellfare of the East Austin community indicate
that the radical changes occuring on the East side are not all resulting in one
side’s loss.
******
The gentrification
process can be noticed simply by observing the neighborhoods located in the
east side of Austin. As we were walking around, we often observed the situation
where a brand new, modern house would be sitting directly next to a run down,
old-styled house of a much smaller size. One case in particular was that of what looked
to be a hoarder, with junk and trash piled on the lawns, literally across the
street from a very modern-looking house worth somewhere in the half million
dollar range. The shift in the types of
businesses in the area was another sign of gentrification. There were still
some small businesses, such as two vendors selling piñatas along Cesar Chavez.
However, you could see that some of the small businesses were being turned into
small office buildings, or new apartments, such as the one located at 1305 E 6th
Street. These small Mexican businesses
were no doubt under pressure from many of the more recently built office
buildings and coffee shops, and retail shops encroaching on the area.
On the corner of
E 2nd street, we briefly interviewed a man who was re-painting one
of the houses on the street. He told us that he was contracted to renovate the
house and the individual who had bought the house was not intending to live
there, but had instead bought it as an investment. He explained how this was
common of those buying property in the area. He also stated that often these
houses are worked on to the minimum, just enough to justify upon reselling,
indicating that those purchasing are not necessarily the upper class, but
instead middle class residents able to buy into the market on the East
side. Additionally, since they are able
to live elsewhere during the repairs, they would most likely be somewhere in
the upper middle class.
******
The East Side Neighborhood in Numbers
Within the last year there were 391 properties sold, ranging from $120,000
to well over $500,000.
Currently Available:
•
For Sale: 29
•
Foreclosed: 2
•
For Rent: 14
Houses Sold:
•
Pre 2005: 185
•
Post 2005: 94 (33%)
Time Spent on the Market
(of houses currently for sale):
(of houses currently for sale):
•
1 month: 6
•
3 months: 9
•
>3 months: 3
Shown is a graph
indicating the shift in price of one particular home on the Eastside located at
1407 Leon St. over a 10-year span.
Adjusted for inflation since 2005, the house would be worth about
$140,000 today. As shown, the value of
the house, since 2005, has increased by about 1.75 times.
******
So why the East
side at all? It is general knowledge that Austin has been, and is continuing to
be, one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. As more people rush to
reap the benefits of this weird oasis of a town in the vast desert of Texas,
decisions must be made. Being close to the downtown area of any city is an attractive
location due to the convenience of proximity to social activities and job
opportunities. As this town becomes more of a city, it is inevitable that a
pattern of densely packed environments will continue to erupt all over.
However, just north of downtown has long since been dictated by the expansive
University of Texas (Hook’em Horns!). Following west of the inner city are the
ever-affluent upper-class neighborhoods such as Clarksville and Westlake, which
have no need for gentrification. The south side itself has gone through a much
milder form of gentrification, that started slowly before the big boom of
central Texas, and is already a solid territory of the middle-class.
There are
several positive aspects that can be realized through this growth and change
time period. Neighborhoods become safer and cleaner. Businesses, following the
change in demands among the more stability socioeconomic crowds, move in and
bring more jobs with them. However, these benefits cannot overshadow the
growing pains that have thrust the low-income minority residents out of their
homes. While more money may be coming into these areas, the lower income
families are being pushed further east. The social class of the neighborhood
may be changing, but it is not the individuals whose social status is changing.
Gentrification is a controversial topic
in that it deals with the very nature of progress.
Isn’t the influx of wealth and efflux of poverty an event to be
celebrated? How can a community, previously in disrepair, suddenly flourish,
and this be a bad thing? Gentrification
is in equal parts the injection of wealth and the displacement of a
people. The unfortunate truth is that
for all the fruits of an urban evolution - artisan bakeshops, tapas bars, and
million dollar homes made out of recycled shipping containers - a community is
systematically uprooted and forced out of what may have been their
hometown. Generations of their family
may have lived there. Before these
poorer communities received the help they needed or achieved a natural growth,
they were displaced and brushed aside by a system governed by
“winner-takes-all.”
