Stories from the Eastside

Some of Austinist's more sheltered friends are terrified of venturing to the Eastside. When we first moved here, we were innundated with warnings of how I-35 forms the border between the "good" part of town and the inner-city; to many of these aspiring suburbanites, venturing across the divide is to welcome certain doom.

God, what twaddle.

To our surprise and delight, we've found the Eastside to be a vibrant, culturally literate neighborhood that - owing to the confluence of actual diversity and affordable housing - supports a thriving artist community alongside some of our city's longest established denizens. While most of us flocked here in recent years to escape the pretense so pervasive in the coastal cities, most of the folks on the Eastside have called Austin home for several generations.

One of our favorite music spaces was the Church of the Friendly Ghost, now shuttered but which doubtless will return better than ever. You couldn't ask for a more intimate and inviting theatre house than the quirky Vortex. And who can forget our frequent Austinist Happy Hours at the Longbranch Inn? But these hardly scratch the surface of things: the Eastside is dotted with hundreds of locally-owned shops, galleries, venues, bars, churches, and other neighborhood-defining spaces that it'd take dozens of weekends to explore them all.

This year's theme of the fourth annual Mayor's Book Club is Writing Austin’s Lives, whereupon through short stories, documentary films, and spoken word they hope to showcase the people and places that make up our hometown. Tonight's program focuses on the Eastside, and takes place at the Carver Museum & Cultural Center Theater. "East Austin Stories" will feature parts of the UT and community-produced documentary film series of the same name, several readings by authors from the Writing Austin’s Lives short story collection, and even a chance for you to share your own tales about the Eastside.

The free program seems an ideal opportunity to understand what diversity really means in our city, apart from being constantly bandied about by our politicians and city committees. You can check it out starting at 7:30 tonight.

Mayor’s Book Club Special Event
“East Austin Stories”
Thursday June 30
7:30 pm
The Carver Museum & Cultural Center Theater (map)
1165 Angelina St.
(east Austin off E. 11th Street)

* image from City of Austin site