Cohesive Communities
I thought that I had a pretty good understanding of the neighborhood from my research and my perceptions. I had the impression that the East Cesar Chavez neighborhood was, in Austin fashion, a historically diverse neighborhood with hippie roots. It has a seemingly organized neighborhood association with representatives of each section of the neighborhood allowed to be a part. There are plenty of schools, religious institutions, parks and gathering areas (like coffee shops, bars, restaurants and even a public library). Almost 20 years ago, the City of Austin developed and released a neighborhood plan that aimed to restrict zoning and planning that was compatible with the existing structures, give residents a voice in new developments, increase public transit and pedestrian options, reduce crime, and create opportunities. Everything I observed until this week was generally positive.
This week, though we were assigned to conduct an interview with a local stakeholder. That’s when a lot of my positive perceptions changed. Apparently, just because a neighborhood checks a lot of the boxes on the cohesive community guideline, doesn’t mean that it’s cohesive. I learned a new side of the community that’s not apparent just driving though. The neighborhood has deep Hispanic roots. Not too many years ago, East Cesar Chavez (ECC) was the primary concentration of the Hispanic population in Austin. Neighborhood and city leaders 20 years ago, released the Neighborhood Plan to ensure ECC retained its heritage. Though the plan is still in place today, the guidelines and rules are only loosely followed with no enforcement from the city. New buildings, including condos, restaurants and bars are being built all over the north side of the neighborhood. Most of these were built with no consideration of the plan and obviously contradict the second goal of the plan – which it to “Ensure that new structures, renovations and businesses are compatible with the neighborhood.”
There are four types of residential stakeholders in ECC – 1) residents, 2) rental property owners, 3) renters and 4) homeless people. The residents have no interaction with the renters and even less with the rental property owners. According to one resident, the majority of rental property owners are business-people from California and the renters are mostly students at the University. The homeless haven’t been around ECC for very long. Apparently wherever the wealth goes, so do the homeless. As ECC has changed and gentrified, the homeless have followed along. Their primary presence is around the interstate where they beg and wash car windows. The library parking lot and landscaping has been heavily burdened with homeless every time I’ve driven through.
This has helped me better refine my prospect for the neighborhood. ECC, and likely many other communities in the Austin area, needs a neighborhood advocate to organize the residents, business and community stakeholders. The city saw that need several years ago when it released the neighborhood plan. Since then though, the city has not been able to maintain its presence needed in the plan. I believe the city sees the need for communities like ECC to be supported as the city is growing so fast, but just doesn’t have the resources to see that it’s followed. The city needs to outsource this function to a non-profit or private organization that is designed to enhance identities and encourage diversity. Having this advocate speak for the residents and ensure they have a seat at the city’s table will meet a need of many ECC residents.
The neighborhood plan can be accessed here:
http://eastcesarchavez.weebly.com/about.html
This week, though we were assigned to conduct an interview with a local stakeholder. That’s when a lot of my positive perceptions changed. Apparently, just because a neighborhood checks a lot of the boxes on the cohesive community guideline, doesn’t mean that it’s cohesive. I learned a new side of the community that’s not apparent just driving though. The neighborhood has deep Hispanic roots. Not too many years ago, East Cesar Chavez (ECC) was the primary concentration of the Hispanic population in Austin. Neighborhood and city leaders 20 years ago, released the Neighborhood Plan to ensure ECC retained its heritage. Though the plan is still in place today, the guidelines and rules are only loosely followed with no enforcement from the city. New buildings, including condos, restaurants and bars are being built all over the north side of the neighborhood. Most of these were built with no consideration of the plan and obviously contradict the second goal of the plan – which it to “Ensure that new structures, renovations and businesses are compatible with the neighborhood.”
There are four types of residential stakeholders in ECC – 1) residents, 2) rental property owners, 3) renters and 4) homeless people. The residents have no interaction with the renters and even less with the rental property owners. According to one resident, the majority of rental property owners are business-people from California and the renters are mostly students at the University. The homeless haven’t been around ECC for very long. Apparently wherever the wealth goes, so do the homeless. As ECC has changed and gentrified, the homeless have followed along. Their primary presence is around the interstate where they beg and wash car windows. The library parking lot and landscaping has been heavily burdened with homeless every time I’ve driven through.
This has helped me better refine my prospect for the neighborhood. ECC, and likely many other communities in the Austin area, needs a neighborhood advocate to organize the residents, business and community stakeholders. The city saw that need several years ago when it released the neighborhood plan. Since then though, the city has not been able to maintain its presence needed in the plan. I believe the city sees the need for communities like ECC to be supported as the city is growing so fast, but just doesn’t have the resources to see that it’s followed. The city needs to outsource this function to a non-profit or private organization that is designed to enhance identities and encourage diversity. Having this advocate speak for the residents and ensure they have a seat at the city’s table will meet a need of many ECC residents.
The neighborhood plan can be accessed here:
http://eastcesarchavez.weebly.com/about.html