Blog #3

I've never really thought about how East Austin came to be viewed as a “no man’s land.”  The first article discusses how the minorities were forced to move to East Austin in 1928 because the people wanted to remain as segregated as possible.  In order to make sure all minority residents moved to East Austin, they would do things like cut off utilities of black people living in Freedmen settlements.  The most surprising statistic I learned is that home values in East Austin have increased 117% from 1999 - 2005 compared to the 30% increase of the city as a whole.  The readings helped me to get a better understanding of gentrification, which is a shift in an urban community toward wealthier residents and/or businesses and increasing property values.  This process is not always positive—some residents are forced out of their houses because of the increase of property value.  It was no surprise to me to read more about the rich history of the East Austin area.  When people think of East Austin, they generally think of people with low SES.  I think we often forget that every old neighborhood has a story.  I believe in fighting to conserve the history of East Austin in whatever way we can.