Project summary

Per Rosental's request Tuesday, here's a quick summary of what we've come up with so far and the direction we're headed with our reporting:

Signs of change are everywhere in East Austin. One sits in an empty lot, announcing the pending arrival of the Waterstreet Lofts on E. Cesar Chavez. Another has been hand-written across a construction sign: “Stop the gentrification of East Austin!”

Historically, the areas east of I-35 have been home to low-income, predominantly black and Latino families. Over the past 15 years, significant demographic shifts have taken place in several neighborhoods, most notably French Place, as their centrality and 'character' have begun to appeal to more affluent, predominantly white home buyers. Median home values and property tax levels have skyrocketed, which in is spurring more development and attracting new residents

Among new and long-time residents, there is a wide range of responses to the ongoing transformations of their neighborhood. Some new residents are aware of the larger transformation of which they are a part and have conflicted feelings about their roles therein. Others, including some developers and contractors, view the economic activity they bring to the neighborhood as a boon. Some longtime residents rue the decline of traditional communities and cultural practices, while others credit development with reducing crime and increasing economic prosperity and view the change to their neighborhood as an opportunity to strengthen their grip on a middle class lifestyle.

More than half a dozen major development projects currently are underway on the east side. Over the next five or ten years, this already-changing neighborhood will undergo a massive remaking, reshaping and rethinking. How will this transformation impact current residents from all walks of life? Is it possible to step back from this process and make a judgment about its desirability, as advocates on both sides of the issue often attempt, or are its effects so multifaceted and unpredictable as to make global valuations impossible?