Greening the Juggernaut: Sustainability, Exponential Growth, and Its Consequences -- Ailiemara Kernan, Paul Tardie, Caroline Mallinson, and Beau Ballard-Wood
“Greening the Juggernaut: Sustainability, Exponential Growth, and Its Consequences” is a podcast dedicated to explore the effects gentrification can pose on economic and racial minority groups and how it has created inequity in East Austin. To understand the current situation, we looked into Austin’s long history and continuing patterns of gentrification, segregation, and environmental racism. Exemplifying these findings, we focus on how patterns of displacement are currently playing out with the addition of the Plaza Saltillo development in East Austin.
A section of shops and apartments in Plaza Saltillo (left) and a reference map of the location of the development (right)
Plaza Saltillo is a recent construction that was designed to bring more income to households in a high-density area while reaching sustainability goals mapped out by the city. This plan is not the first of it’s kind to claim to be a positive addition to East Austin, and it will not be the last. The ones most affected by this are Austin’s low-income residents and communities of color. Due to their proximity to entertainment and outdoor recreation, East Austinites are being pushed out of the neighborhoods they once called home and are having to relocate to surrounding municipalities that lack many of the transportation and recreation amenities being established where they once lived. This therefore establishing Austin as one of the most economically segregated cities in the United States.
Plaza Saltillo is a recent construction that was designed to bring more income to households in a high-density area while reaching sustainability goals mapped out by the city. This plan is not the first of it’s kind to claim to be a positive addition to East Austin, and it will not be the last. The ones most affected by this are Austin’s low-income residents and communities of color. Due to their proximity to entertainment and outdoor recreation, East Austinites are being pushed out of the neighborhoods they once called home and are having to relocate to surrounding municipalities that lack many of the transportation and recreation amenities being established where they once lived. This therefore establishing Austin as one of the most economically segregated cities in the United States.
Quoting Jason Thumlert in an article announcing this development, “Plaza Saltillo will connect East Austin with downtown and bring even more vibrancy to East Austin while enhancing the local flavor of that community.” A deeper look tells us that the improvements to connectivity, housing, and commerce are selectively beneficial, specifically as the area is increasingly becoming unaffordable for those who need these services most. A variety of efforts are required to address and mitigate these issues, most of which have led to lactlusture and subpar measures that maintain marginalization. While there has been collaboration with leaders from local groups like PODER who work in maintaining the health of East Side communities, the success of their efforts have been diminished by an imbalance of power.
Plaza Saltillo sets an unfortunate repetition of history for the city of Austin. We spoke to Andrew Busch, author of City in a Garden: Environmental Transformations and Racial Justice in Twentieth-Century Austin, Texas, which details Austin’s history of developing areas for affluent Austinites through dispossession and imposition of environmental hazards on Latino and African-American residents. He talked to us about possible courses of action Austin can take and how the city will change if we do nothing to prevent harmful policies. We also spoke to Eliot Tretter, author of Shadows of a Sunbelt City: The Environment, Racism, and the Knowledge Economy in Austin, a book about how the University of Texas and local government have played a role in shaping the city as a hotspot for commerce that requires strategic displacement to fulfill its desires.
Lastly, we spoke to local business owner Jim Shapiro of Austin Metal and Iron to see how this construction is affecting his business. As a third generation co-owner of a recycling facility in operation since 1913, Jim has seen the benefits of new construction and the shortcomings in transportation, making this story a continuation of a tale of two Austins.™
Lastly, we spoke to local business owner Jim Shapiro of Austin Metal and Iron to see how this construction is affecting his business. As a third generation co-owner of a recycling facility in operation since 1913, Jim has seen the benefits of new construction and the shortcomings in transportation, making this story a continuation of a tale of two Austins.™
Bibliography
Busch, Andrew M. City in a Garden : Environmental Transformations and Racial Justice in Twentieth-Century Austin, Texas. Chapel Hill, The University Of North Carolina Press, 2017.
Tretter, Eliot. Shadows of a Sunbelt City : The Environment, Racism, and the Knowledge Economy in Austin. Athens, The University Of Georgia Press, 2016.
Anderson, W. (2021). Work starts on Plaza Saltillo development — office tower, hundreds of apartments to rise in East Austin. Bizjournals.com. https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2017/06/28/work-starts-on-plaza-saltillo-development-office.html
Formby, B. (2018, September 18). Report says gentrification threatens to displace Austin’s low-income residents, communities of color. The Texas Tribune; Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2018/09/18/gentrification-threatens-austins-low-income-residents-and-communities-/
PLAZA SALTILLO TOD STATION AREA PLAN City of Austin Neighborhood Planning and Zoning Dept. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. (n.d.). Retrieved December 5, 2021, from https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Planning/Urban_Design/Plaza_Saltillo_Final_SAP_Lo_Res.pdf
Research & Planning Division, “Travis County Poverty Brief using 2019 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates,” Travis County Health and Human Services, 2021. Last viewed 12/9/21. Web. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/6bb1e1d2b8a34acc8ed5f5fa79ab41b4
Arena, O. (2015, February 7). Plaza Saltillo. The End of Austin. https://endofaustin.com/2015/02/07/plaza-saltillo/
Tank Farm: Organizing for Justice. (2021, June 16). ArcGIS StoryMaps. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0d6e3273366041e48625aa05f4e21822
Widner, C. (2018, September 19). The slow train to Plaza Saltillo. Curbed Austin. https://austin.curbed.com/2018/9/19/17861438/plaza-saltillo-neighborhood-development
Busch, Andrew M. City in a Garden : Environmental Transformations and Racial Justice in Twentieth-Century Austin, Texas. Chapel Hill, The University Of North Carolina Press, 2017.
Tretter, Eliot. Shadows of a Sunbelt City : The Environment, Racism, and the Knowledge Economy in Austin. Athens, The University Of Georgia Press, 2016.
Anderson, W. (2021). Work starts on Plaza Saltillo development — office tower, hundreds of apartments to rise in East Austin. Bizjournals.com. https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2017/06/28/work-starts-on-plaza-saltillo-development-office.html
Formby, B. (2018, September 18). Report says gentrification threatens to displace Austin’s low-income residents, communities of color. The Texas Tribune; Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2018/09/18/gentrification-threatens-austins-low-income-residents-and-communities-/
PLAZA SALTILLO TOD STATION AREA PLAN City of Austin Neighborhood Planning and Zoning Dept. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. (n.d.). Retrieved December 5, 2021, from https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Planning/Urban_Design/Plaza_Saltillo_Final_SAP_Lo_Res.pdf
Research & Planning Division, “Travis County Poverty Brief using 2019 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates,” Travis County Health and Human Services, 2021. Last viewed 12/9/21. Web. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/6bb1e1d2b8a34acc8ed5f5fa79ab41b4
Arena, O. (2015, February 7). Plaza Saltillo. The End of Austin. https://endofaustin.com/2015/02/07/plaza-saltillo/
Tank Farm: Organizing for Justice. (2021, June 16). ArcGIS StoryMaps. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0d6e3273366041e48625aa05f4e21822
Widner, C. (2018, September 19). The slow train to Plaza Saltillo. Curbed Austin. https://austin.curbed.com/2018/9/19/17861438/plaza-saltillo-neighborhood-development