Austin, Texas is one
of the most rapid growing cities in the United States. According to Francisco
Dominguez from The Daily Texan, every year, Austin has 40,000 new
residents. The more people that move here in Austin, the higher demand
for housing. Real-estate developers have found many opportunities for new
housing developments. Real estate developers have bought many properties in the
East Austin area. East Austin is known for low-income residents, crime,
and historical landmarks. Developers found that East Austin offers cheap land
that’s close to downtown (Dominguez). The new development has affected many
longtime residents. Many housing complexes have raised rental costs and
property values have increased. Most residents who have been affected by the
new development can’t afford the rent or some have been evicted. What is
happening in East Austin is called gentrification. Gentrification is when
wealthy people move to a lower income neighborhood, where they buy property or
convert old builds to luxury housing units, and this changes the culture.
Austin Mayor Steve
Adler decided he wanted to make sure all resident can continue to live in
Austin despite increase cost of living for the low and middle- class. Mayor
Steve Adler created a Task Force with local leaders to create city policy that
can guarantee that all residents would be treated fair. This task force was
created to combat gentrification in Austin. The Mayor’s
Task Force published a 70-page report on Institutional Racism and Systemic
Equities. This report was presented to the city council, the Council would vote
on whether to ask the city manager to devise policy based on the task force’s
recommendations. One of the recommendation the mayor’s proposed renovate
deteriorating market-rate housing and offer the upgraded housing to
lower-income residents, by creating a strike fund this would leverage private
dollars to make the changes. Another recommendation of the task force to combat
gentrification in Austin is to temporary suspend all rezoning and demolition of
single-family and multifamily homes in certain parts of East
Austin. Many people were evicted from their resident, houses were destroyed
and new apartments or business were constructed. Gentrification in Austin has
increased over the years and no one has tried to stop it, I'm glad the Mayor
wants to do something about it. I think City Council should approve the
recommendations the Mayor's Task Force suggested because it could stop
expanding Gentrification in all Austin. Developers should focus constructing
new apartment and business outside of Austin in open lands. I believe it would
be good to use funds to renovate houses, parks, community centers and
historical sites. Making Austin more beautiful without evicting residents,
lowering the cost of housing, and keeping Austin culture, everyone can live
happily. We hope in the next years Austin can continue to be known as
"Live Music Capital of the World," and stop being known to be one of fastest
gentrified city in the United States, so let support our local government
and be more involved in our community.
Dominguez, Francisco. "Austin's Growing
Population Is Gentrifying the City's East Side and Hurting Austinities in the
Process - The Daily Texan."
Austin's Growing Population Is Gentrifying the City's East Side
and Hurting Austinities in the Process. N.p., 31 Mar. 2014. Web. 26 April. 2017.
My fellow classmate Carolina, wrote a great post on her blog Politics & Tejas about gentrification issues in Austin. Those who have lived here in Austin for quite some time, and others like me who are still new to Austin know that gentrification is such a big issue. It is wrong to raise the living cost in areas such as East Austin just to increase business. As Carolina mentioned, 40,000 people move to Austin each year and with that rapid increase in population, we need to have affordable housing areas at least in some parts of town. In addition to that, I was unaware that Austin was the fastest gentrifying city in the ENTIRE country. That honestly took me by surprise and it just opens my eyes that much more about this issue.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that someone like Mayor Steve Adler cares about this issue and wants to make sure that there will be a place where Austin residents can stay. My classmate quoted from the author that "Mayor Steve Adler created a Task Force with local leaders to create city policy that can guarantee that all residents would be treated fair. This task force was created to combat gentrification in Austin." Along with Carolina, I hope that the City Council will approve these recommendations that Mayor Alder has suggested to ensure residents are provided with a living area that is affordable.
Not only will this reduce the expansion of gentrification, but it will return Austin to the way it should be. We can stop being known for the fastest gentrifying city in the U.S. and instead return to being known for our great food and music. However, in order to ensure this, we must all come together to stop gentrification once and for all.
Hello Carolina,
ReplyDeleteI find your blog post on Gentrification in our local government to be quite interesting. To my understanding my fellow classmate Caroline states that gentrification is a big concerning issue. She states that Austin is one of the fastest gentrification city in the entire country. each year about 40,000 new people come and reside in our beloved city. to find out that there’s only one place where Austin residents can find cheap housing. To know that Austin gets a large number of new residents a year plus the ones that already been living there can’t live on a nice affordable location it’s quite sad. In Carolina blog she states that Mayor Steve Adler cares about this saturation and is trying to figure out a way where Austin residents can stay at an affordable price. To know that there is still people like Mayor Steve Adler that wants the best for people is nice. He is working on a policy where all residents not just those with that make a high income but ‘ALL” be treated fairly. the hard part is not making the policy but actually having it approved. What most people care about is if their making a profit. The expansion of Austin is something that is going to be keep on happening but I do hope that they don’t forget about what’s more important and that’s the people because we are what makes our great city amazing.
Carolina wrote a very interesting and well informed blog when it came to talk about gentrification in Austin. She was able to explain why this is an issue that needs to be taking seriously and not so lightly. She states Developers should focus constructing new apartment and business outside of Austin in open lands. I believe it would be good to use funds to renovate houses, parks, community centers and historical sites. Making Austin more beautiful without evicting residents, lowering the cost of housing, and keeping Austin culture, everyone can live happily. We hope in the next years Austin can continue to be known as "Live Music Capital of the World," and stop being known to be one of fastest gentrified city in the United States, so let support our local government and be more involved in our community. I have to say I do agree with her and how they instead should be doing things differently and trying these ideas that she recommends that will better suit the expansion of Austin.
One of my fellow classmates wrote a blog over an article on “Gentrification in our local government” and I do agree with her statement. As someone who lives in east Austin I have noticed new individuals moving in and renovating old homes bringing the value of others around to increase. In her statement she states the Austin mayor Steve Adler is trying to fix the issue of gentrification and it’s interesting to know that his goal is to have a task force with local leader that will treat everyone fair in the east Austin community. However, as Austin continues to expand, so is the ideal of people moving into east Austin. I do believe it will be a continuous issue and it’s surprising to know that people refer to Austin as the fastest gentrification city in the United States. In addition not only will Mayor Steve Adler help the east community but it will also bring back to knowing Austin as the city of music and its festivals like Acl.
ReplyDeleteOverall I believe that if the mayor does accomplish having the policy approved then we can see a decrease in residents getting evicted, and if we adapt to the ideas she mentions in her blog we can then potentially help Austin in addressing the gentrification.