The Invader of Austin, Texas
“I am not ready to admit defeat to gentrification.”
— Mayor Steve Adler
The city of Austin is in a long-standing war. No, there aren’t any battle tanks lining the streets. Instead, thousands of low-income minorities are feeling the wrath of an ever-growing wave of development and planning in Austin, Texas. This wave has hit the city immensely hard with no signs of slowing down. Those at risk are in position to be pushed away from the economically-booming capital.
It’s no secret that the city of Austin has seen exponential growth in population and investment in the past few decades that has made it stand among the rapidly growing cities of America. This growth has brought enormous amounts of development throughout the city in the form of high-rise buildings, luxury condominiums, and mixed-use development. These changes are benefiting the city immensely. However, not everyone is reaping the rewards of these newfound changes. With Austin’s history of racial segregation, lower income minorities in particular are being dealt a blow that is reinforcing the notions of what it means to gentrify a city. What does this mean for the current residents of Austin who are experiencing these rapid changes, and what can be done to dissuade the ongoing gentrification? First we have to take a look at gentrification from a national standpoint and talk briefly about its history.
Affluent Americans are migrating in droves to neighborhoods that were once filled with dilapidated and rundown buildings. Housing prices and property taxes go up and the residents that once filled these neighborhoods are being forced to leave the places they’ve known all their lives. Governing, a magazine dedicated to all things related to cities and their development, conducted a study (2015) which concluded that gentrification is accelerating in many U.S. cities. Since the year 2000, gentrification in neighborhoods increased to 20 percent, as compared to 9 percent in the 1990s (2015). Some of the top U.S. cities experiencing this increased level of gentrification include Portland, Washington DC, Seattle, and Austin. In Austin, nearly 39 percent of census tracts that are eligible for gentrification have already done so. Most of these tracts are evident as you drive through the Austin streets.
Most notably, the East side of Austin is the hotspot among conversations surrounding rampant gentrification. Once known as one of the most dangerous parts of the city, some of it due to word of mouth, East Austin has been overtaken by the mixed-use developments that have begun to spring up. These developments usually involve some form of lower-level mix of restaurants, cafes and bars, while the upper floors are mostly apartment living spaces. The levels of gentrification are seen in some of the contrasts between these new developments and the existing architecture that has yet to be overtaken. One side of the street shows a new and urbanized landscape, while just across the street sit the old and aging businesses and homes.
Austin hasn’t always been the uber-expensive, high cost-of-living city that is the case today. So what has caused this surge in home prices? The mass migration of people to Austin in the last decade has been one of the main culprits. According to a recent report done by RealtyAustin (2017), the average price for a single family home in Austin as of 2017 sits at right around 400,000, which was a 9.6 percent increase from just a year ago. These tremendous homes prices can also be attributed to the insufficiency in homes in the Austin area. Currently, the city is in dire need of the construction of 135,000 new homes to keep up with the ever growing population over a period of the next ten years. With this in mind, it is important to note that the current demand for new homes sits at 36,950, while there are only 27,700 homes that are about to enter the market. These disparities have caused increases not only in the home-buying market, but the home and apartment renting markets, as well. Currently, there are about 60,000 renter households with a median income of about $25,000 per year. At the same time, there are only 19,000 new units that are considered affordable that are available. Unfortunately, a large portion of black and Hispanic families are those dealing with this shortage of affordable housing.
A recent study conducted by the University of Texas (2017) has concluded that the Latino population in Austin is disproportionately housed in mobile homes, which serve as an affordable housing option in a city that is seeing a dramatic decrease in affordable housing. Along with this harsh reality, many of these mobile home hot spots are at risk of being redeveloped, forcing the residents to seek out other affordable housing options. One of the reasons behind this is that compared to the mean income in Austin — $57,689- the Latino average income sits at $41,276. (2017) This disparity is forcing a large number of Latinos in Austin to seek the most affordable housing options. Thousands of Latinos living in these mobile home parks are at-risk of being evicted from their homes and forced to vacate the premises. This is only one of the major examples that highlight the ongoing threat to low-income, Hispanic and African-American communities.
Admittedly, this begs the question: what is actually being done to curb the ongoing gentrification, rising home prices, and lack of housing availabilities? Austin city council members recently approved what is known as the “Strategic Housing Blueprint” that is intended to offer recommendations to alleviate the housing crisis and increase the amount of affordable housing. Recent trends have displaced many residents, as occurred when the company Oracle built a new corporate headquarters here in Austin. The new housing blueprint intends to lessen the effects of gentrification for coming years just as occurred with Oracle. The primary goal of the plan is to add approximately 13,000 new housing units on a yearly basis over the next ten years, which would total around 135,000 new housing units (2017). The plan also highlights the importance of regulating the purchase of land and reserving it for affordable housing. In this case, ten percent of apartments located in a given council district would be dedicated to affordable housing; those families making at least 30 percent of Austin’s median income, which rounds to about $24,300 for a family of four. The plan has yet to be implemented for this fiscal year.
The future of Austin is only going to get brighter. The population will continue to grow, businesses will invest more, and development will proliferate. The continuing effect this will have on low-income and minority communities will remain to be seen. Mayor Adler does not want gentrification to win, but how can we limit its effects? Who will be fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves?
