Unreal renovations.

Reading about gentrification hits very close to home. My hometown is El Paso, and my mother owns a small house in a predominately Latino neighborhood. The houses around our neighborhood are older than most, and many are either apartments or duplexes. Thanks to the 2008 recession, the low interest rates it brought, and my mother's good credit score, she was able to purchase that house for 50k dollars and pay a relatively affordable mortgage. This has been a salvation for us because as head of household, she can afford having her own home despite her min-wage paying job. 

Recently however, part of a middle school we live very near by was demolished and a new children's hospital will be built in that space. Additionally, a new shopping mall and several other chain stores are sporadically popping up in a our neighborhood, where mostly family owned businesses were the only ones that existed. 

At first, my mother and I enjoyed the sense of renewal these establishments brought to our area, especially as she and I love to shop together. 

At the turn of the new year however, after celebrating a new year to come, my mother got a notice from her bank about an increase in property taxes that where going to be implemented to her mortgage, unexpectedly increasing her monthly payment. Although she can still afford this new payment, it did take us by surprise, and as I now being to understand gentrification, I am no longer left wondering why my mother's taxes went up.

Literally just down the street form our house, a band new, "hip" shopping mall, located between houses, was built and the construction of a cutting edge hospital within walking distance if my home is also happening. 

Now I just will wait and hope that my mother and I will not be pushed out of our affordable house because the monthly payment skyrockets once more stores open up and the hospital is finished. It is a "wait-and-see" situation for us now. 

Gentrification around the world as seen on these articles as well as my recent visit to South Africa as been very similar. Affluent people are attracted by urban life and new developments are brought to once neglected ares of inner cities. These developments do bring a new "feeling" to the neighborhood but only superficially improve the area as a whole. While people have fun enjoying of new developments, the original residents are being pushed out of their houses by rising prices, and can't even take part of the recreation because they are not able to afford such services. This is seen in South Africa for example, where just down the street from the new developments, residents still live neglected of services such as portable water and electricity. This can also be seen in Austin, where older residents can't enjoy of the new "organic" places on Manor street and are still left neglected despite the "renovations" or "improvements" made to the area. 

Gentrification in Austin is very similar to that of other parts of the world, in my opinion. New establishments pop up in once neglected inner city areas. People are attracted to this urban life and decide to move back to the city and raise prices in the area as they build cutting edge houses. The thing that does differentiate Austin, at least in my experience, is that there are conscious gentrifiers that are aware of their neighborhoods' history and demographics and are willing to live more modestly to prevent prices from rising. At least in my home town, I have not seen conscious gentrifiers and I think that Austin should be commended for this. 

Our tour to East Austin was my initial and most influential educational experience about gentrification. As mentioned earlier, I have seen the effects of gentrification in my own home town, but I just never knew the reason behind the changes happening in my neighborhood. Traveling around East Austin and watching similar changes I have seen back home, connected the dots together and educated me on this very important, close to home issue.