When looking at all three of these communities Holly Street Neighborhood, Marlo Heights,
and Mueller Development in terms of the long-term effects on the original
(mostly low to moderate income) residents, they are all affected by
gentrification in East Austin but in different ways and a lot of the outcomes
overlap. In comparison all of the
neighborhoods are in the process of under going gentrification but in different
waves. In the long run all of the low to moderate income residents in two of
these areas will soon be pushed out of their original neighborhood and forced
to live else where. In all areas effected new homes are being built which leads
to higher property taxes for residents already there.
The Holly Street
community is being affected the most by gentrification. In this area there is
major home development because of the distance from Downtown Austin and the
demolishment of the power plant that will open up a beautiful view of the
Colorado River. New homes are being built which next to and cross from older
homes. In the end the new home construction causes will cause older residents
to sell out because they cant afford to keep their homes and the original
community will completely evolve into a new community.
Marlo Heights at
the present moment is the least affected right now. The changes that are
happening in that community are slower but the new homebuilders are taking into
consideration the older residents and trying to prevent higher taxes for
existing residents. As time goes on if this trend continues the older residents
want be forced out by newer homes being built but maybe by the modern new
apartment complex that will built right on the edge of their community.
The Mueller
Development is a completely different story within itself. The community isn’t
like the others. Mueller is a new community that is being built with very nice
homes and their own amenities. The issue here is that if they are allowed to
have their own amenities such as their own elementary and middle school along
with their own shops and even recreation area. In the end Mueller may become
sort of a gated community, which will limit the surrounding communities from
those resources.
After reading the articles about gentrification in Johannesburg I
found something’s to be similar to the U.S. and others to be different. Facts
that were similar to the U.S. were the side effects that come along with
gentrification such as residents being forced out of their homes because of the
change in the community. Another similarity was that the changes where
happening in areas where it was considered bad and low income and it was being
transformed into a modern new area with less crime and attractive homes and
shopping stores.
The interesting things that were different was that residents were
actually being forced out of their homes immediately, where here in the states
there is process that goes along with long term residents being forced to move
such as being bought out, selling out or moving because of high property taxes.
Another interesting fact that was different was how the developers where
actually trying to blend areas together that are separate. Here in the United
States in most communities that are undergoing this type of change, the
community that is being redeveloped isn’t usually being blended into the
existing community.
Some possible projects
ideas that UT can accomplish through student efforts and the Longhorn Center
for Civic Engagement will be to establish a SAVE OUR HOMES committee. This
committee’s goal will be to prevent current residents from having to move away
from their homes because of gentrification. The long-term goal would be for the
committee to not so much prevent the gentrification but to allow it to be more
natural like it is in the Marlo Heights community. While making the process
more natural the amount of property taxes could be lowered to reflect current residence
status. The committee will be having members of the community and the
city at large. The committee will gather once a week to discuss new properties,
old properties, and future developments
