economic segregation.
the degree to which people in different social classes live mostly among other people of their class.
Keep Austin Weird.
A slogan for most, a mantra for many. Austin is a city that celebrates the differences in its people, from skin color to sexuality, and from religion to politics.
Interstate 35 cuts down the center of the city, creating a deep division: the wealthy to the west while the poor are segregated to the east. while the west has access to the city's best resources, the east is often left without, deepening the divide between the classes in a city that claims to unite people of different backgrounds.
Evidence suggests that while these neighbors live relatively near to one another, they are experiencing the same city in very different ways.
Python Media explores the many facets of income inequality in the city of Austin as well as the factors that contribute to the growing gap between our neighbors and potential solutions to put a stop to the things that threaten to make Austin normal.
A slogan for most, a mantra for many. Austin is a city that celebrates the differences in its people, from skin color to sexuality, and from religion to politics.
Interstate 35 cuts down the center of the city, creating a deep division: the wealthy to the west while the poor are segregated to the east. while the west has access to the city's best resources, the east is often left without, deepening the divide between the classes in a city that claims to unite people of different backgrounds.
Evidence suggests that while these neighbors live relatively near to one another, they are experiencing the same city in very different ways.
Python Media explores the many facets of income inequality in the city of Austin as well as the factors that contribute to the growing gap between our neighbors and potential solutions to put a stop to the things that threaten to make Austin normal.
a rap exploration of austin's civil war.
“So while the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, economic segregation why don't we explore her.
Austin is the place to live depending who you ask. We've got Westlake then East Austin where money could be others' trash.
35 is the caution tape. Each side reading do not cross. But the rich are overflowing make themselves their own boss.
Gentrification: collapsing a culture. It's all about the money. They go after it like vultures.
Austin's Civil War, who's gonna win the rich or the poor? Is there a solution? Is there a plan?
How are we going to stick it to the man?
Tarrytown, westlake, they've got all the room
Maybe let the homeless in so they don't await their tombs
Personal chefs cook organic meals
While the other half is just looking for the deals
Open up your house maybe just once a week, to provide for those who are dying to just eat
These are just two ideas there's got to be more
To break down the barrier between the rich and poor
Austin's Civil War, who's gonna win the rich or the poor? Is there a solution? Is there a plan?
How are we going to stick it to the man?
Austin is the place to live depending who you ask. We've got Westlake then East Austin where money could be others' trash.
35 is the caution tape. Each side reading do not cross. But the rich are overflowing make themselves their own boss.
Gentrification: collapsing a culture. It's all about the money. They go after it like vultures.
Austin's Civil War, who's gonna win the rich or the poor? Is there a solution? Is there a plan?
How are we going to stick it to the man?
Tarrytown, westlake, they've got all the room
Maybe let the homeless in so they don't await their tombs
Personal chefs cook organic meals
While the other half is just looking for the deals
Open up your house maybe just once a week, to provide for those who are dying to just eat
These are just two ideas there's got to be more
To break down the barrier between the rich and poor
Austin's Civil War, who's gonna win the rich or the poor? Is there a solution? Is there a plan?
How are we going to stick it to the man?
one campus, two very different schools.
a brief history of interstate 35.
an expert opinion.
John Rees is the Research Director at Avalanche Consulting, an economic development firm based in Austin, Texas. His job is to transform raw data into meaningful insights about a city’s economy and people. Python Media spoke to Rees about some of the major challenges facing the Austin community. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Python: According to the Martin Prosperity Institute, Austin is one of the most economically segregated metro areas in the U.S. Economic segregation in this case being that working class and upper class people don’t live in the same neighborhoods. What do you think the long-term effects will be if this trend continues?
Rees: This is present in a lot of other communities, but the distribution is pockets, it resembles Swiss cheese. In Austin, you basically can draw a line down I-35, and on one side you have affluent, well-educated, typically Caucasian individuals and on the other side a lot more minorities, much higher rates of poverty.
Given that the future of this country from a demographic perspective is non-white--Hispanic, African American, and Asian especially--it’s hard to see how that’s not going to hurt us if those individuals have much lower education attainment, and that’s the primary source of your growth. The match just doesn’t work.
Python: Can you speak to the relationship between mass transit and work opportunities?
Rees: Traditionally that hasn’t been an issue because the city is physically not that large, and historically has been relatively affordable. You’re seeing that change quite significantly, and it’s only going to get worse because you still have employment heavily concentrated in places like downtown and around the Capitol, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a single family house for under $400,000 within 5 or 10 miles of those areas, and we have pretty abysmal public transportation.
One difference between Austin and other fast-growing regions like Houston or Dallas is those regions made a commitment to...build out infrastructure. Austin...seems to be incredibly schizophrenic about whether or not its growth is a good or bad thing. I think if you talk to this community half will say it’s a great thing that we get more shops, more restaurants, and the other half will say, “It’s terrible, all the places I loved when I first moved here are gone and traffic’s abysmal.” So, until we figure that out, and attendant land-use issues, traffic is kind of a sideshow.
Python: If you were Emperor of Austin for a day, your word is law, what’s one thing you would change about our city that you think would have beneficial long-term effects?
Rees: Drastically reduce land-use regulations. I think it needs to get a lot easier to build both single family homes and multi-family housing.
Python: Can you explain why there are such stringent land-use regulations in Austin?
Rees: In the 70s and 80s, Austin residents fled places like Dallas and Houston, or when they visited saw the ravenous levels of growth in those communities and didn’t want that to happen to Austin. So we haven’t really built road infrastructure to match or allowed a lot of housing development. We’re currently going through the CodeNext process, and the level of vitriol against elements of the plan that call for greater density is notable. There doesn’t seem to be an appetite for accommodating growth.
You have a situation in which hundreds of thousands of people are coming to work in the metropolitan area, but they can’t afford to live in the city so they’re moving to places like Pflugerville or Hutto...you have a population living farther and farther away from employment with no avenue to connect the two other than a single occupancy car.
All this goes back to: what kind of city do we want to be? I don’t think we know.
Python: According to the Martin Prosperity Institute, Austin is one of the most economically segregated metro areas in the U.S. Economic segregation in this case being that working class and upper class people don’t live in the same neighborhoods. What do you think the long-term effects will be if this trend continues?
Rees: This is present in a lot of other communities, but the distribution is pockets, it resembles Swiss cheese. In Austin, you basically can draw a line down I-35, and on one side you have affluent, well-educated, typically Caucasian individuals and on the other side a lot more minorities, much higher rates of poverty.
Given that the future of this country from a demographic perspective is non-white--Hispanic, African American, and Asian especially--it’s hard to see how that’s not going to hurt us if those individuals have much lower education attainment, and that’s the primary source of your growth. The match just doesn’t work.
Python: Can you speak to the relationship between mass transit and work opportunities?
Rees: Traditionally that hasn’t been an issue because the city is physically not that large, and historically has been relatively affordable. You’re seeing that change quite significantly, and it’s only going to get worse because you still have employment heavily concentrated in places like downtown and around the Capitol, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a single family house for under $400,000 within 5 or 10 miles of those areas, and we have pretty abysmal public transportation.
One difference between Austin and other fast-growing regions like Houston or Dallas is those regions made a commitment to...build out infrastructure. Austin...seems to be incredibly schizophrenic about whether or not its growth is a good or bad thing. I think if you talk to this community half will say it’s a great thing that we get more shops, more restaurants, and the other half will say, “It’s terrible, all the places I loved when I first moved here are gone and traffic’s abysmal.” So, until we figure that out, and attendant land-use issues, traffic is kind of a sideshow.
Python: If you were Emperor of Austin for a day, your word is law, what’s one thing you would change about our city that you think would have beneficial long-term effects?
Rees: Drastically reduce land-use regulations. I think it needs to get a lot easier to build both single family homes and multi-family housing.
Python: Can you explain why there are such stringent land-use regulations in Austin?
Rees: In the 70s and 80s, Austin residents fled places like Dallas and Houston, or when they visited saw the ravenous levels of growth in those communities and didn’t want that to happen to Austin. So we haven’t really built road infrastructure to match or allowed a lot of housing development. We’re currently going through the CodeNext process, and the level of vitriol against elements of the plan that call for greater density is notable. There doesn’t seem to be an appetite for accommodating growth.
You have a situation in which hundreds of thousands of people are coming to work in the metropolitan area, but they can’t afford to live in the city so they’re moving to places like Pflugerville or Hutto...you have a population living farther and farther away from employment with no avenue to connect the two other than a single occupancy car.
All this goes back to: what kind of city do we want to be? I don’t think we know.