The City of Austin is trying to bring black and brown families back to the East Austin area in an effort to slow gentrification in the region.
According to a report from the Mayor's Task Force on Institutional Racism and Systemic Inequities, in 2014, Austin was the most economically segregated large metropolitan area in the United States. Additionally, Austin was identified as the most racially segregated large metropolitan area in the United States. Austin's past racial segregation policies have contributed greatly to the city's current problem of segregation and gentrification.
"Throughout the 20th century, Austin’s people of color have experienced waves of settlement and displacement caused by the city and other government entities," according to the report.
In order to build the MoPac freeway in west Austin, the settlement of former slaves and their descendants, were removed. Blacks and Hispanic/Latinos were forced to move into the communities of Clarksville, St. John's and Montopolis between the 1870s and 1920s.
In 1928, Austin created a "Negro District" through the City of Austin Master Plan which forced blacks to move to East Austin and related policies prevented them from living in other parts of the city. Historically, the black neighborhoods of East Austin are in the areas east of East Avenue/IH 35, north of E. 7th Street, west of Airport Boulevard and south of Manor Road.
During the 1930s, the city had plans to expand city-related office buildings, and so therefore, built segregated housing projects as a way to strongly compel Mexican Americans living outside of East Austin, to move to the areas of bounded by East Avenue/IH 35 on the west, the river on the south, Airport on the east, and 7th Street on the north.
The Industrial Development Plan of 1957 pushed by the City Planning Commission, zoned all East Austin properties as an "industrial" zone, including single-family housing. The idea was to place and keep the most polluting industries in that area, thus making it difficult for residents living in homes to obtain loans for repairs to their homes, leading to their deterioration, "laying the groundwork for gentrification."
In 1962, Interstate Highway I-35 was built, creating an actual physical line of demarcation between East Austin and the rest of the city.
The city is now trying to implement policies to reverse the effects of those old policies. According to Austin Monitor, last March, the Austin Transit Partnership Board of Directors approved a $300 million grant for anti-displacement efforts. The grant will be funded by Project Connect tax revenues to be used to purchase affordable housing along transit lines, preserve existing housing and identify and implement anti-displacement strategies. Additionally, the Equity Office and Sustainability Office will be responsible for creating displacement mitigation proposals based on community input.
KXAN News reports that Austin is also implementing a program for residents to secure affordable housing in a gentrified area if they can prove generational ties, meaning they have to prove that they or an immediate family member previously lived in the area.
Qualifying applicants may be eligible to live in one of 28 city-owned properties. The properties are owned through the Community Land Trust, which provide housing to low and moderate income families and qualifying applicants can either rent or purchase the home.