King of the Hill Takes On Austin's Gentrification

well, yeah, I agree. that's why we need affordable housing programs that actually work. Anyway I'm white as hell but far from rich. I moved to the East side because it made economic sense for me. And I don't support increased rates of improvement like fixing sidewalks and roads and shit because I know that would raise taxes.

I try to do my part to sort of "leave it as I found it." And I think a lot of other people want the same thing. All I'm saying is it's not necessarily true that white people = higher taxes. The government isn't quite that racist anymore.

Sure. The problem is that there is no integration if only rich white kids can afford to live there.

that's a great point, YGarza. The only reason the east side got into such bad shape was because most of the wealthy blacks left after the civil rights movement started having enough of an effect that they could move into white neighborhoods in order to begin the process of ending segregation and bringing about friendship between blacks and whites. KLRU did a great segment of downtown where they discussed the history of the east side in detail. What's happening now seems natural to me. Shouldn't we have a common goal to integrate our communities?

I moved into a white neighborhood (I'm mexican). Would this be condered "reverse gentrification"? HaHa!

Well said apocatastasis... albeit 3 times.

same thing is happening in marfa, texas.

these people think they can crash an "obscure" place on the planet and take it over, while not taking in the local culture.

they probably don't even know what Tejano music is.

As a native New Orleanian who moved to Houston last year (and to Austin just a couple weeks ago), I'm all for the preservation of historic neighborhoods. I lived in Montrose for part of the time I was in Houston, and when you see how Houston throws away its character and its beautiful old homes, it makes you die a little inside. At the same time, it has to be balanced out with the rights and needs of citizens. Neighborhoods do not exist in vacuums, and the fact of the matter is, it's a free country.

Coming to Texas from New Orleans was somewhat of a shock. Back home, neighborhoods from the beautiful mansions Uptown to the bohemian Faubourg Marigny next to the Quarter actually have character. When I see the tasteless, sprawling apartments, subdivisions, and McMansions that characterize the outer, and sometimes inner, fringes of Texan cities, it's enough to make me want to barf. There is no soul in them, and I appreciate my living conditions enough that I refuse to live there. Thus, as a grad student looking for a place to live (and preferably without using my car), I'm looking in Hyde Park or East Austin.

From some of the attitudes I've seen around Austin, being against "gentrification" is little more than a code for "whitey go home." I have even seen graffiti to that effect, on the South Congress pedestrian bridge and on stop signs in East Austin.

I'll confess that I hate the Starbucks latte-sipping, BMW 3-series driving, credit card debt-laden bimbo with no class or culture as much as the next guy, but I'll be damned if anybody tells me or anyone else where we can and cannot live. People change. Languages change. Cities change. The world is in flux, and that's just the way it goes.

Live where you like, shop locally, keep up your home, and have pride in your neighborhood. For all the bad things New Orleans has going for it, it at least is an example of how this can be done... neighborhoods back in NOLA are not nearly as segregated as CNN would have you believe.

As a native New Orleanian who moved to Houston last year (and to Austin just a couple weeks ago), I'm all for the preservation of historic neighborhoods. I lived in Montrose for part of the time I was in Houston, and when you see how Houston throws away its character and its beautiful old homes, it makes you die a little inside. At the same time, it has to be balanced out with the rights and needs of citizens. Neighborhoods do not exist in vacuums, and the fact of the matter is, it's a free country.

Coming to Texas from New Orleans was somewhat of a shock. Back home, neighborhoods from the beautiful mansions Uptown to the bohemian Faubourg Marigny next to the Quarter actually have character. When I see the tasteless, sprawling apartments, subdivisions, and McMansions that characterize the outer, and sometimes inner, fringes of Texan cities, it's enough to make me want to barf. There is no soul in them, and I appreciate my living conditions enough that I refuse to live there. Thus, as a grad student looking for a place to live (and preferably without using my car), I'm looking in Hyde Park or East Austin.

From some of the attitudes I've seen around Austin, being against "gentrification" is little more than a code for "whitey go home." I have even seen graffiti to that effect, on the South Congress pedestrian bridge and on stop signs in East Austin.

I'll confess that I hate the Starbucks latte-sipping, BMW 3-series driving, credit card debt-laden bimbo with no class or culture as much as the next guy, but I'll be damned if anybody tells me or anyone else where we can and cannot live. People change. Languages change. Cities change. The world is in flux, and that's just the way it goes.

Live where you like, shop locally, keep up your home, and have pride in your neighborhood. For all the bad things New Orleans has going for it, it at least is an example of how this can be done... neighborhoods back in NOLA are not nearly as segregated as CNN would have you believe.

As a native New Orleanian who moved to Houston last year (and to Austin just a couple weeks ago), I'm all for the preservation of historic neighborhoods. I lived in Montrose for part of the time I was in Houston, and when you see how Houston throws away its character and its beautiful old homes, it makes you die a little inside. At the same time, it has to be balanced out with the rights and needs of citizens. Neighborhoods do not exist in vacuums, and the fact of the matter is, it's a free country.

Coming to Texas from New Orleans was somewhat of a shock. Back home, neighborhoods from the beautiful mansions Uptown to the bohemian Faubourg Marigny next to the Quarter actually have character. When I see the tasteless, sprawling apartments, subdivisions, and McMansions that characterize the outer, and sometimes inner, fringes of Texan cities, it's enough to make me want to barf. There is no soul in them, and I appreciate my living conditions enough that I refuse to live there. Thus, as a grad student looking for a place to live (and preferably without using my car), I'm looking in Hyde Park or East Austin.

From some of the attitudes I've seen around Austin, being against "gentrification" is little more than a code for "whitey go home." I have even seen graffiti to that effect, on the South Congress pedestrian bridge and on stop signs in East Austin.

I'll confess that I hate the Starbucks latte-sipping, BMW 3-series driving, credit card debt-laden bimbo with no class or culture as much as the next guy, but I'll be damned if anybody tells me or anyone else where we can and cannot live. People change. Languages change. Cities change. The world is in flux, and that's just the way it goes.

Live where you like, shop locally, keep up your home, and have pride in your neighborhood. For all the bad things New Orleans has going for it, it at least is an example of how this can be done... neighborhoods back in NOLA are not nearly as segregated as CNN would have you believe.

The simple fact is, Where else are you gonna move that will be close to downtown, South and North Austin? There's nowhere else.

"Is everybody a DJ?"

Amazing.

People are just finally shifting away from the 'burbs. There's a ton of inertia, of course, so you'll still see plenty of crap built out there, but the tide is definitely beginning to turn:

http://mdahmus.monkeysystems.com/blog/archives/000484.html

What we need, then, to rectify this imbalance between supply and demand is that more close-in places become more urban with infill. Get thee behind me, Laura Morrison and the McMansion Ordinance.

This rings true of almost every city, not just Austin. I was recently in Chicago and found that this had become the norm in more "hip", yet affordable parts of town. Just because King of the Hill is based in Texas doesn't mean every other city in the U.S. isn't experiencing the same thing, and it certainly doesn't mean it's only talking about Austin.

A lot of poorer areas in every city are being consumed by young people who can both afford the properties because they're cheap, and "fix up" older, less desirable houses to sell for much more than they purchased them for. As more and more people purchase inexpensive housing to "flip", the property values rise for the entire neighborhood, and they drive the low-income owners and families out.

I certainly hope the east-side Austinites take something away from this episode, even if it's just the realization that some people have nowhere to go.

"i'll look for donkey rides next time i'm peddling through the east side"

you better make sure that bicycle is sans gears!

As someone who lives outside of Austin, I still get it, the same rings true in many cities, LA being the king of hipsters overtaking the traditionally Hispanic neighborhoods. Sad yet hilarious episode.

the sad thing is that it is accurate.

kickball, the old red scoot inn v. scoot inn, etc...

i'll look for donkey rides next time i'm peddling through the east side