The Daily Hustle: 2/8/11

Photo courtesy Flickr user rutlo [CC]

Ora Houston is a longtime local activist, weighing in on dozens of local issues, including the city’s Comprehensive Plan.

Now, in a widely circulated letter, she calls attention to plan failings, essentially arguing the city may be replacing the grotesque segregation of its infamous 1920s-era city plan with a new, class-based form of segregation.

The Hustle doesn’t agree with everything written below, and as Houston writes, “I can only speak for myself.” However, the following’s an instructive insight into an oft-neglected view of city history, and an excellent jumping-off point into many of the issues at stake in the city’s planning efforts.

As always, we’re interested in your take, so leave a comment below.

The Story of my Austin:

Prologue: The History that people may not remember

Prior to the 1928 Comprehensive Plan adopted by the City Council, freed Negro slaves lived all over our fair city. People remember that Clarksville was such a community however; there were others like Kincheonville and Pilot Knob. This included the areas where Highland Mall, Brackenridge Hospital, and the Frank Erwin Center are located. The 1928 Plan forced the majority of Negroes east of East Avenue (now IH35) if they wanted to receive city services, water, utilities, elementary/secondary education, parks, pools, etc. This decision was based on the need to acquire land for the creation of a downtown, the State Office complex and the growth of the University of Texas.

Austin had become divided.

Eighty three years later, the decisions that were made in the 1928 Plan have repercussions and implications today.  Those decisions inform current land use, housing patterns, education, transportation, employment opportunities, parkland/ open spaces, and what natural resources are protected (or not).

The history of Austin informs the present and impacts the future. It should never be forgotten or softened.

Recent History: Two Austins and how they grew

Today is a 'chamber of commerce day' - beautiful! We can all agree on that. However, the 'chamber of commerce' description of Austin as 'liberal, vibrant, ethnic and culturally diverse, progressive' depends on which citizens of Austin you ask. 

The Austin that I remember was a community within a larger community – one primary Anglo and upper-income Latino, the other Black and mid- to lower- income Latino. My Austin had two institutions of higher education. Today there is only one. Black professionals lived and worked in the community. Business men and woman were able to make a living. An excellent (though segregated) educational system formed many individuals who have given back and continue to give back to the community and the nation. We had doctors, dentists, pharmacies, social clubs, night life and restaurants.

L.C. Anderson High School, home of the Yellowjackets, was the center of our community. The manner in which the Austin Independent School District chose to begin the process of 'integration' led to the ultimate closing the original Anderson High School. This closure literally broke the heart, back and soul of the community. A complete lack of respect was shown for the academic accomplishments of the students and the extracurricular achievements of the band, choir and athletic teams. That disrespect was profound then and continues, in many ways, today.    

When Bergstrom Air Force Base was at full strength, East Austin was diverse. When the Base closed, there was a change in the perception of ‘that’ part of Austin. The Media has never been kind to ‘my Austin’. It painted a picture that told us we had a poor quality of life - bleak, dire, filled with crime, full of crack houses and crackheads, with a multitude of abandon structures. Many people internalized that picture. Who would want to live in that community?

In the mid-1980’s, the University of Texas discovered that it needed additional land to expand. The institution needed to build a baseball field and parking lot. The land in the east was cheap. Blocks and blocks in the Blackland Neighborhood were declared ‘blighted’ and the University used the power of imminent domain, without fair compensation to home owners, to raze homes and force families out of the community.

With the new Federal Laws on homeownership on the books, members of the community who had the resources moved out. Beginning in the 1990’s, many of those same people who sold their homes discovered that they could no longer afford to purchase the house that they grew up in, that their parents or grandparents had built. Many children of the ‘60s and ‘70s cannot afford the property taxes on the homes they grew up in.

It is long past the time for the ‘two Austins’ to have an honest conversation about the 'view' that is projected by the ‘powers that be’ and the Media. The conversation partners must include ‘those that make the decisions’ and those ‘who don’t’. It would be great for those in control of the systems to spend time in the ‘other Austin’, not just drive through on a ‘sponsored’ tour.

Every system that impacts my Austin - the city, the state, AISD, APD, politics, judiciary, health and human services - seems to forget that not so long ago, some of our citizens were only welcomed to the 'Monopoly' table after everybody else had been playing for over an hour. Guess what? - all of the 'good' property had already been taken. The playing field has never been level, but now the ‘not so good’ property is up for grabs.

I can only speak for myself – from my vantage point, Austin continues to be segregated, liberal in voting patterns only. There are fewer Blacks in the City. Educational expectations and achievements are lower, across the board, than they were when I graduated from the original L.C. Anderson High School fifty years ago.

Modern History: The Story that we are writing now  

What makes Austin special? The people, singles and families, are the threads that knit this place we call home together. It is my opinion that the focus on more people living closer together in extremely tall buildings (density) is having unintended consequences. There are limited amounts of ‘reasonably-priced’ housing in the city (rental, lease, or home ownership) for people who work at the middle to lower income levels. Because some people really do not want to live over and under each other long-term or simply cannot afford to live in the heart of the City, we have increased urban sprawl, congestion and pollution. Let us not kid ourselves, folks are driving into the city more and more – the ‘Red line’ serves a limited number of people who come into to Austin to work.

The sprawl has begun to show us that public schools in the ‘urban core’ are experiencing a decline because families with children tend to have different housing needs. This has resulted in an increasing need for schools on the edges of the City, which means that the schools inside the City face serious challenges to provide quality education for the students who remain. Remember the closing and ‘re-purposing’ of Johnston High School, now Eastside Memorial High. Or Bowie High School which has a state of the art theater/performance complex while McCallum High School (the Fine Arts Magnet for the district) is only now receiving long needed upgrades to its theatre complex.

We are thankful for infrastructure upgrades like those found on East 7th Street. Of course they are about 20 years over due. Parts of the city have gotten sidewalks in the last five years and of course, bike lanes…while the bus stops have no coverage overhead to protect riders from sun, rain and cold. I know that my comments concern two different systems and the rationale for all of this is complex. However, through the eyes of a citizen of the ‘other Austin’ which has been neglected for years, things are being attended to because of gentrification.

The City Council made a decision in the ‘90s to use land in East Austin to enhance their vision of a ‘young, hip, vibrant’ Austin. This was accomplished by building condos and ‘McMansions’ that, overtly or covertly displaced the people and families who had lived there for years, some for generations. People moved to Pflugerville, Round Rock, Georgetown, and now Kyle, Buda, Hutto, Webberville, Bastrop, Elgin, Taylor…east of Toll Road 130. A third Austin is being created, with people and families that are disjointed from the whole.

Developers also overbuilt condos or renovated affordable apartments into high dollar condos and now many sit empty. Developers write off the loss, neighborhoods must contend with the eyesore of vacant unkempt properties, and people who are looking for housing, can’t afford to rent, lease or purchase a unit. Austin is projected to double in size in the next 20-30 years and we are being told that the only way to accommodate that growth is ‘up’ or deeper into other jurisdictions. OR the media can stop selling the benefits of moving to Austin while the City is transitioning. People, who live high above the city, live in their communities. There will be little if any connection to the lives and situations of those who live in the other Austins.

Epilogue: The Austin of the future

The City of Austin is in the midst of developing a Comprehensive Plan. New issues and concerns have emerged which require serious thought and complete reexamination of our community and how we live together. We must carefully consider how to move people efficiently and effectively - in, out and around the City. There is tension between people who see advantages and cost savings from building structures that are dense and tall and those who want to maintain the character of Austin’s neighborhoods. We must talk about ways to improve and finance the quality of life for the citizens who are currently living in Austin. Then there are things like health care, the elderly, dropout rates, employment, mental health and mental retardation, the quality of our air and water as more people move to Austin.

In 1928 the re-purposing of property was based on race, it is my opinion that this time it will be based on class. Are all of the things that we proclaim about our city true? Are we committed to creating one Austin that is truly diverse? Or will we have to say, “…the city use to be diverse.”

Albert Schweitzer stated, “Ethical practice, in medicine and in life, begins with a sense of solidarity with other human beings.” It is time for Austin to create a sense of solidarity with itself. The two must become one and those in power must think about and act in the best interest of everyone.

Ora Elliott Houston
27 January 2011

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