Where Do We Go From Here? Austin’s Struggle with Gentrification.
In the blink of an eye, Austin, Texas has changed, and not necessarily for the better. What once gave Austin its distinctive identity has been replaced by Lululemon, Starbucks, and Apple. A city historically known for ideological and cultural diversity is now struggling with gentrification. In 2016 Austin was the fastest growing city in the U.S. (Carlyle, 2016). In 2017 Austin was ranked as one of the fastest gentrifying cities (Pan, 2017). Gentrification, where city renewal is accompanied by affluent newcomers, higher costs and residential displacement, presents a challenge. The challenge is that city growth and revitalization are leading to cultural loss and increased homelessness. In the face of this challenge, we are left wondering — what is being done to stop Austin gentrification?
Part of Austin’s beauty is its diversity, and the loss of diversity due to residential displacement would be a tragedy. Residential displacement generally means lower-income families are “pushed out” of neighborhoods due to rising costs. Multiple studies confirm that people moving into gentrifying neighborhoods are more likely to be higher-income, college educated and white, while people moving out are more likely to be poor and people of color (Zuk et al, 2015). It’s important to recognize the hardship caused to those displaced and the cultural loss that could lead Austin toward a homogeneous, suburban identity that is not inviting nor unique.
East Austin is a perfect displacement example. Historically, East Austin was considered a segregated African-American and Hispanic community (Isenhour, McDonogh, & Checker, 2015). Due to population growth and limited space, city improvements were made. After these improvements, many local residents had to either move or find cheaper housing. This suburban exodus caused communities that weathered the hardships of racism and segregation to be torn apart (McGlinchy, 2017). For example, a local nonprofit reported in 2006 that 250 people were on an affordable housing list and in 2015 that number increased to 700 families (Mahoney, 2014).
Residential displacement also plays a role in homelessness (Zuk et al, 2015). Everyone who has been to Austin knows there are panhandlers on nearly every corner, simply trying to survive. Although the statistics vary from year to year, the Ending Homelessness Continuum (ECHO) served 7,498 “literally homeless” in 2017 (in Travis County), which was a 23% increase from those served in 2014. It appears Austin may be following a trend observed in other cities, such as Los Angeles, where the homeless population significanlty increased due to higher income residents leading to rapidly rising rental rates (Holland, 2018). There are many factors that can lead to homelessness, but rising home prices, unaffordable rents and insufficient housing continue to victimize those who are less fortunate.
The Austin situation isn’t hopeless though, given the recent Displacement and Gentrification report published by the the City of Austin. Austin is aggressively addressing gentrification and chose to work on 133 recommendations, based on a starting list of 541 recommendations. Some ideas the city focused on include building more affordable housing, implementing affordability restrictions on new developments, allowing priority housing for displaced residents and educating residents about legal rights.
The academic community has also published research to help cities address gentrification. Although there isn’t one simple solution, some ideas worth considering are as follows. First, cities should consider the integration of older, smaller buildings and mixed-vintage blocks. There is some academic support that older, smaller buildings and mixed-vintage blocks will lead to greater economic/social diversity and density (Powe et al., 2016). Second, cities should consider tenant right-to-purchase legislation. Laws such as this will help the displaced fight rich developers and may allow residents to stay in their homes (Lloyd, 2016). Third, cities should reduce regulatory burdens and new housing costs. Lowering development costs should reduce home costs or lower apartment rents for moderate- and middle-income households (Freeman & Schuetz, 2017). Finally, cities may want to consider changing zoning laws and allow increased densities, which should allow more people to live in a certain area (Freeman & Schuetz, 2017).
To further understand gentrification, I pursued a number of activities. My first activity was to travel to East Austin and to observe a neighborhood transformed by gentrification. While walking around East Austin, I noticed the area had a different “feel” from the rest of the city. Some Austin areas can feel as if they were plucked from Silicon Valley, but this area was still grasping to its cultural anchors. In conjunction with the cultural loss, there was a sense of community loss. Many of the older and long-term residents I spoke to mentioned that Austin used to be a much more tight-knit community. I also noticed areas of mixed construction, improved homes and mixed demographics. Some locations were striking, where one home was brand new and very expensive, and the adjacent home was borderline uninhabitable.
When a community has been torn apart and residents can no longer afford to live in “their” homes, where do they go? For some, there is no other option but the streets. The 2017 point-in-time homeless count released by ECHO indicated that on any given night there are approximately 2,000 homeless people living on Austin streets. So, in order to better understand the issue I traveled to the most visibly concentrated homeless population in Austin, which was downtown. I visited with a few individuals and was shocked to learn many of them haven’t given up hope of finding a better life in Austin. For some, Austin has been and always will be their home. For others, there just isn’t any other place to go. While it was disheartening to listen to stories of loss and hardship, there was an overwhelming sense of hope coming from these stories that inspired me.
Lastly, I visited with immigrants from my own community. I interviewed several people, including Taras (from Ukraine) and Nina (from Moscow) on multiple occasions at the Borderless European Market in the North Industrial area. Both Taras and Nina expressed their concerns about Austin affordability and they also discussed their plans to improve their quality of life. Taras said that his store relies a lot on the Eastern European immigrant community, and word of mouth, and the store’s success would be endangered should the community become displaced. It is my hope these immigrant and tight knit communities can survive and maintain a presence in Austin.
Another avenue that provided insight was on-line video content that was quite valuable. To better understand the issue of gentrification in Austin, I would suggest watching this video from vice
Or this report from ABC News
Gentrification is a complex and serious issue that is impacting Austin, Texas. Austin’s rapid growth and rising costs are displacing the less fortunate. Although there isn’t a simple solution, the City of Austin is addressing the issue through several different avenues. But, it is ultimately up to us to keep Austin from becoming the same as every other big city, to fight to preserve what we hold dear (Green, 2014) and to protect the less fortunate.
References
Carlyle, E. (2016, March 8). America’s Fastest-Growing Cities 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2016/03/08/americas-fastest-growing-cities-2016/
Demographics | Planning and Zoning | AustinTexas.gov — The Official Website of the City of Austin. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2018, from http://austintexas.gov/demographics
Freeman, L., & Schuetz, J. (2017). Producing Affordable Housing in Rising Markets: What Works? Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research, 19(1), 217–236.
Green, J. (2014, September 26). Is Urban Revitalization Without Gentrification Possible? Retrieved February 9, 2018, from https://dirt.asla.org/2014/09/26/is-urban-revitalization-without-gentrification-possible/
Holland, G. (2018, February 1). L.A.’s homelessness surged 75% in six years. Here’s why the crisis has been decades in the making. Retrieved February 9, 2018, from http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-homeless-how-we-got-here-20180201-story.html
Isenhour, C., McDonogh, G., & Checker, M. (Eds.). (2015). Sustainability in the Global City: Myth and Practice (1 edition). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Lloyd, J. M. (2016). Fighting Redlining and Gentrification in Washington, D.C. Journal of Urban History, 42(6), 1091–1109.
Mahoney, A. (2014, February 16). Experts disagree about effects of gentrification on long-time residents — The Daily Texan. Retrieved February 9, 2018, from http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2014/02/13/experts-disagree-about-effects-of-gentrification-on-long-time-residents
McGlinchy, A. (2017, June 12). Residents Of East Austin, Once A Bustling Black Enclave, Make A Suburban Exodus. Retrieved February 23, 2018, from https://www.npr.org/2017/07/12/536478223/once-a-bustling-black-enclave-east-austin-residents-make-a-suburban-exodus
Office of the City Auditor. (2018). City Efforts to Address Displacement and Gentrification.
Pan, Y. (2017, January 23). The U.S. Cities That Are Gentrifying the Fastest — You’ll Never Guess №1. Retrieved February 9, 2018, from https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/10-surprising-cities-that-are-gentrifying-the-fastest/
Powe, M., Mabry, J., Talen, E., & Mahmoudi, D. (2016). Jane Jacobs and the Value
Miriam Zuk et al., “Gentrification, Displacement, and the Role of Public Investment: A Literature Review,” Working Paper (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, August 24, 2015),
