Service Learning: Destination East ATX

Hello! My name Ashley and I’m a third year Human Development Family Sciences/Pre-Med major. I’ve always been interested in what makes successful communities and how we can develop that model into one for all global/local communities. As an African American, I am specifically interested in understanding the cause of majority minority populations residing in underdeveloped communities where food deserts, homelessness, poor health care and lack of social services are typical. Most people would classify an area with those qualities as “the hood.”  The question of why areas exhibiting those qualities still exist in a country where wealth and money is plentiful still persists. Wealth inequality in the United States is a cycle that endures, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

The person I interviewed said from what they knew about East Austin was that "back in the 80s it used to be a bad side of town. Now, it’s being built up and many of the old residents are moving out of the area because they have too. The area may be too expensive for that person or because gentrification is driving them out."  From my own research I found that East Austin is now being classified as one of the “hippest hipster neighborhoods” in the country. This newly awarded title for the community comes long after a history of segregation a home to minority populations. East Austin yesterday was once a home for many in an era where being “given” a specific area to inhabit was common. East Austin was and still is split by I-35. An article by Luke Winkle from Vice, simply put that Austin was meant to be segregated (describing the I-35 boundary strategically built to separate the city).  East Austin was home to many but now it is actually losing African Americans and people of color due to gentrification. East Austin is now in the process of “re-branding itself” moving most if not all African Americans and other minorities out to make room for tech companies, apartments, cafes and art studios. It’s sad to see people lose what little they did have to a city who wants to be “hip.”