While watching Rosewood Courts: An Uncertain Future and A City Divided I was able to relate to so much of what was said and the emotions the people in the video was going through. I live with my aunt in the East side of Austin known as Montopolis. This side of town is not the side of town you would have found someone not of color at many years ago. However, now I am first hand starting to experience the gentrification and the way Austin is moving out those of lower income to build much bigger buildings and predominately for those who are white and have a very high social economic status. I see every day property builders try to come and buy my aunt’s house just to tear it down and make a newer and more modern house that will make them money. I have seen building pop up left and right in just the year that I have lived here. What they are doing is buying those who are vulnerable and majority of which are elder houses and buying them for very little of money. Then once they sell their house and receive the little amount of money they sold it for they are left to find another housing situation. However, Austin has made this pretty much impossible nowadays. Now the ones who sold their house are basically left with nothing and probably debt due to the high housing cost. Meanwhile, the ones who bought the house has made it into a condo and is making thousands and will continue to do it again and again all over East Austin taking advantage of those who are very vulnerable and of a lower social class. I find myself even having trouble to find affordable housing just to be in college. Austin has made what we call “West Campus” something so over priced and out of reach for some students we are left to live here in the East side where it is more affordable. This is another way of distinguishing those who are of means from those who cannot afford to live on West Campus. This is something very wrong and does not provide a great community for students with a lower social economic status. Living on the East side of Austin is not close to campus and most of the time events are held on campus so it is even more difficult to go to those events and interact with the UT community. This is just the way Austin made it for African Americans back then when they separated those of color from the whites just to get the necessary services such as school and housing. Austin is continuing down this route and has not made any changes even from many years ago. It is a city where those of lesser means continue to get put on the very bottom and not recognized. In twenty years I can only imagine what this city will look like then and just how much division there will be if Austin continues at this rate.
Reference
Zehr, D. (n.d.). Inheriting inequality: Austin's segregation and gentrification. Retrieved April 07, 2018, from http://projects.statesman.com/news/economic-mobility/
Zehr, D. (2015, January 18). Rosewood Courts: An Uncertain Future. Retrieved April 07, 2018, from http://www.mystatesman.com/news/rosewood-courts-uncertain- future/2AQ0caKscf0aYDDM5q4o3O/
Hi Alyssa!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post about housing in Austin. I fully understand where you’re coming from when you said “the ones who bought the house has made it into a condo and is making thousands and will continue to do it again and again all over East Austin taking advantage of those who are very vulnerable and of a lower social class.” I live in east Austin and have seen the major remodeling that is being done and the new building that are being made. I even heard that they want to tear down the Ballpark apartments and make them into nicer and more expensive apartments. My point is, how are they going to take away the semi-affordable housing for students, like it’s no big deal and they expect us to have so much money just to pay for somewhere to live. This ties into when you said “this is something very wrong and does not provide a great community for students with a lower social economic status. Living on the East side of Austin is not close to campus and most of the time events are held on campus so it is even more difficult to go to those events and interact with the UT community.” Although, I love the amenity where my friends and I live, I feel like we are not a part of anything that goes on at campus because of the hassle it is to get to events. (No parking, traffic)
Thank you, have a great summer!!
Hello, Alyssa! Thanks for providing this first-hand account of how the oppressive repercussions of gentrification disenfranchises the East Austin community. Your observations are spot on with what I've seen around East Austin as a person who used to work there. I didn't know developers were specifically targeting elders in the community for sake of taking advantage of them. This is a form of ageism and is disappointing for its perpetuation of capitalist greed exploiting marginalized communities. I found it interesting your account of how location affects student community at The University of Texas at Austin. If close by housing is a reality for so many students and affordable housing isn’t an option, I wish the university could do better by having student organizations surrounding residency for easier social meet ups. Isolation could severely damage motivation in academia when it feels like there’s nobody sharing one’s struggle. I've only lived far from campus (NW Anderson side) for one semester before I had to end my lease and move closer. The quality of life and student community engagement is different for those who have to travel far for education. The neighborhoods surrounding campus are historic for having inflated rent prices, and maybe the city could do better by providing affordable housing (SMART programs) on properties in the area. There have been some sociological studies I've read that correlates longer commute times to increased depressive symptoms. Displacing individuals from housing close to where their occupation resides continues disadvantaging marginalized identities by wasting their time. During their commute time, they aren’t making money or dedicating time to their trade.
ReplyDeleteHi Alyssa, I really appreciated you sharing your experience in witnessing the gentrification in Austin. I absolutely agree with your point on having to live far away from campus and how Austin is creating a wage division between students. Before coming to UT I heard from some people who went here in the 90s and warned me to not live in West Campus because it was horrible living conditions. Now, it seems like West Campus is all luxury apartments fit with pools and spas and more amenities than I could imagine. I am currently looking for apartments (I’ve been living North of campus) but everything is so expensive. There was actually a complex who charged MORE for students because apparently, we all have endless student loan money. With no effort to put a stop to these insane housing price increase I don’t think Austin will have much racial integration at all in a short time. As those articles said, these decreases in racial and socioeconomic integration has been and will continue to hurt the economic growth of this city. I believe one of the articles has a study that was showing that more racial integration proved to have better job opportunities and helped economic growth. I hope your Aunt can keep her house as long as she can but I know those increasing property taxes are probably putting a lot of pressure on her to sell as her neighbors had. Thank you so much for your post it was a good read.
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