(Texas Monthly) What Nobody Says About Austin: Is Austin the state’s most segregated city?

[Bucky]

http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/what-nobody-says-about-austin

Interesting article. Sadly, some of its conclusions match up with my limited experience hanging out in DU's favorite Texas city (or at least the favorite city among DUers who've never been to Texas).

[Tom Ripley]

1. This is not surprising; the same situation exists here in "cool" Athens, GA.

[callous taoboy]

2. check out this judgemental map

http://austinist.com/2012/06/08/judgmental_austin_map.php

[Bennyboy]

3. This is not surprising, the same situation exists here in not so cool, Sacramento

It is almost like a minority petting zoo thing around here. Blacks, Asians and Hispanics south of Highway 50. Limited pockets of recent immigrants (Now mostly eastern Europeans) iving in the same buildings that the last group of immigrants lived in when they first got here...... What is weird is that the EU people move to the suburbs. So do Indians and Pakistani's and other middle eastern immigrants. but that is a mixture of all cultures, but not black culture or Hispanic culture.

Now black and hispanics are south of 50. The suburbs moved in around those nightborhoods and you can mark streets with a line as to where the ethnic neighborhoods are. I've lived all over the area and I've never lived south of 50 and refused to when the opportunity presented itself. (well at least THAT neighborhood anyway).

[Bucky]

6. I'm gonna have a hard time....

getting the phrase "minority petting zoo" out of my head.

[Bennyboy]

9. Well it is apt I think

The way white folks "go to" Minority districts to buy ethnic foods and eat authentic but do not socialize or cross paths in any other way. And it is something I am guilty of. I love going down to Franklin Blvd and eating at all the Mexican places or shopping a that incredible Asian market on the corner of Franklin and 12th avenue. 12th avenue is the dividing line between the 'hood and Curtis Park, where the white folk live, closer to downtown. Everything south of there is mostly minorities.

As someone who has worked in the subdivisions of Northern California, one thing I notice is that if you are a minority in the burbs, you pretty much have to give up your culture. There are no ethnic nothings, except for eastern Europeans and they have groceries and a firm grip on their culture. of course the kids are getting away from that and are very Americanized now, but the old guard still holds that kind of values and culture.

[KamaAina]

10. I read somewhere that Sac was considered the least segregated city in the U.S.!

All the others must be even worse.

[walkingman]

4. My experience working in Austin (long)

is both a positive and negative. I was transfered to Austin in '87 from Houston after the oil bust in Texas and was really excited to come to a place I had made a regular weekend trek from Houston for years. The music scene, the hippie scene, and the large number of college students as a percentage of the population. I liked Houston (although it was a lot smaller in those days) and loved the culture of Montrose (in the 70's) but expected even better things in this "Keeping Austin Weird" culture.

What I found was not what I expected. First of all, it was expensive compared to Houston and the people at my workplace were from the burbs and although were good folks - not progressive at all. The "tracks" in those days was I35 - everything east was taboo and in those days South Congress was the "hooker" part of town. There was a lot of very cool small businesses East and South but ethnically the city was very segregated.

I have seen all of that change in the last 25 years as the population has grown but more along income levels rather than ethnicity. Austin is still expensive and although there is a trend towards urban living most people just cannot afford it. IMO, along with this the cool factor has diminished and it mostly a holdover of days gone by. I think the lack of transportation planning (a big problem) is a direct result of lack of diversity. Most of the money is and was used for the wealthy parts of town.

Just my opinion - I still consider Austin probably one of the most progressive parts of Texas and for the time being the struggle continues to keep it that way. Sending more Californians this way has helped not hurt this city.

[callous taoboy]

5. Austin was great in the 70's / early 80's

One of the coolest places on the planet back then. Now, the coolness is in pockets, and it is getting way too over-priced and over-run by road-ragers and such.

[Texasgal]

7. I agree.

Austin is not perfect, we have along way to go still. Much like any other growing city.

[Bucky]

8. old Austin

How majestic it must've seen back when the Capitol was a lone giant rising up above the modest hills of central Texas. These are from the 1890s.

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

12. My dad has an old permit for parading cows

and cow-critters (that is what is on the permit) and other farm animals through the State Capitol grounds.

He saw one at a guy's office and asked about it. He was told that all you had to do was go to some office and pay a fee, so that is what he did. He got lucky since they stopped giving those out shorty after he got his.

I keep thinking I ought to find it and get it framed.






(The pictures just made me think about that old thing and I thought I would share.)

[LittleBlue]

11. Same is true in Seattle

The rich areas are mostly white, and the poor areas are mostly... you know, pretty much like every other city in America.