Healthy Habitat
East Cesar Chavez needs some work to be considered a healthy habitat. The neighborhood has retained some aspects of what used to be a healthy and has obviously made some strides in recent years to revitalize that habitat. The neighborhood is fortunately to have its south line right on the Colorado River, also known as Town Lake in Austin. This stretch of Town Lake, however, is down stream from downtown, and is almost a forgotten section of the constant-level waterway. The waterway serves as the backdrop to a nice, but not very busy park, Festival Beach. The area has baseball diamonds, hike & bike trails, a neighborhood pool and lots of green space. Just beyond the park though is an electrical grid to divert the power from a plant. This is an eyesore at the back of the neighborhood and gives the area an industrial feel. The park has wide open areas and a pavilion that looks to be able to host big events (thus the name Festival Beach, I suppose). Most of the green space was fenced off while I was there. That made it feel restrictive, but still more open and breathable than just having a lot of buildings. There were people out on bikes and running on the streets and trails. Both of those, however, connect with a much bigger road and trail system that have people running from downtown, south town or even further to the west. I’m not sure that the people were from this neighborhood. Regardless, the habitants have access to plenty of physical activity opportunities.
The neighborhood doesn’t have any hospitals or signs of a lot of private practice doctors, but it does house the RBJ Public Health Center. The center is a facility of the City of Austin, to offer affordable healthcare to residents. A brand new hospital, Dell Seton Medical Center, just opened a few months back and is only about a mile from East Cesar Chavez residents.
There are a few corner stores that have grocery offerings within the neighborhood and quite a few more substantial options in the immediate vicinity. Quite a few of these options are high-end and a lot of residents may not find them affordable. There is an H-E-B, however just to the north that has plenty of lower-cost, reasonable-quality items for residents to select.
Austin traffic congestion comes to a head at this neighborhood. While the city as a whole has some ridiculous traffic, this area doesn’t suffer too much. The once-quiet neighborhood roads do have some unwanted traffic, but nothing you wouldn’t expect in any downtown area.
The area won’t be considered for the safest places to live, but relative to downtown areas around the country the personal and property crimes indexes are not that high. The southern end of the neighborhood has a high unemployment rate. All other areas are relatively well-employed. This may be a sign of the gentrification that the neighborhood is facing.
The neighborhood doesn’t have any hospitals or signs of a lot of private practice doctors, but it does house the RBJ Public Health Center. The center is a facility of the City of Austin, to offer affordable healthcare to residents. A brand new hospital, Dell Seton Medical Center, just opened a few months back and is only about a mile from East Cesar Chavez residents.
There are a few corner stores that have grocery offerings within the neighborhood and quite a few more substantial options in the immediate vicinity. Quite a few of these options are high-end and a lot of residents may not find them affordable. There is an H-E-B, however just to the north that has plenty of lower-cost, reasonable-quality items for residents to select.
Austin traffic congestion comes to a head at this neighborhood. While the city as a whole has some ridiculous traffic, this area doesn’t suffer too much. The once-quiet neighborhood roads do have some unwanted traffic, but nothing you wouldn’t expect in any downtown area.
The area won’t be considered for the safest places to live, but relative to downtown areas around the country the personal and property crimes indexes are not that high. The southern end of the neighborhood has a high unemployment rate. All other areas are relatively well-employed. This may be a sign of the gentrification that the neighborhood is facing.