Austin, Texas: East Side - where hipsters, Hispanics and bicycle fanatics meet

[Dan]

Hey, it almost rhymes!

Anyhow, it's late, so I won't type much. Here's the East Side of Austin, or at least the section immediately east of downtown. Like so many other East Sides in so many other American cities, Austin's East Side was considered the rough part of town. With the high price of real estate close to central Austin, and an influx of hipsters and others who are more tolerant of gritty urban conditions, the East Side is experiencing rapid gentrification, yet still maintains much of its old barrio flavor.

There is still something of a stigma attached to Austin's East Side, though. The city sprawls to the north, south and west, but to the east, farms, fields, and undeveloped land lay just minutes from downtown.

The East Side seems to be home to a large number of bicycle activists, with bike stores, clubs and organizations being a common sight. Why they are drawn to the East Side, or whether I'm experiencing selection bias, I don't know.

[FueledByRamen]

East Austin.....love it!

[Rygor]

You're right about the bikes. I also love the proponderence of murals on the walls. Some of them are quite good and/or strange.

[steel]

I have to say that this is very very very different than my what impression of hip cool Autin was up until now.

[mendelman]

Many of these pictures make me think of a little rural crossroads hamlet not a central urban neighborhood of a major city and State capital.

Apart from being a full-on barrio until recently, this area has to have been a low income/industrial area from inception.

It looks pretty cool though.

[Mud Princess]

Cool. I've never been there, but it looks like a much more interesting place than I'd imagined.

[Veloise]

Veloise likes these.
Something about the Dia de los Muertos influence has great appeal for me. For many years my aunt had a huge spreading prickly pear in her North Dallas front yard.

[jordan4012]

Dang, looks very alluring there!

Love the style

[GButler]

Seeing the pictures of those old houses reminds me of the discussion thread here about the New Geography article on aging housing stock, and reminded me of an advantage cities with older housing have.

Though the older housing may not measure up as far as amenities, having an abundance of it allows for an interesting mix of people. Those who can afford it, build newer townhomes or modernize the older homes while the older housing maintains accessibility for those who can't. The result is an eclectic and interesting mix of different walks of life, like the neighborhood depicted in the pictures above. That is at least until the townhomes get overbuilt and displace the bungalows...

[jordan4012]

Seeing the pictures of those old houses reminds me of the discussion thread here about the New Geography article on aging housing stock, and reminded me of an advantage cities with older housing have.

Though the older housing may not measure up as far as amenities, having an abundance of it allows for an interesting mix of people. Those who can afford it, build newer townhomes or modernize the older homes while the older housing maintains accessibility for those who can't. The result is an eclectic and interesting mix of different walks of life, like the neighborhood depicted in the pictures above. That is at least until the townhomes get overbuilt and displace the bungalows...

Yeah I agree, the atmosphere it creates is very interesting indeed.

[wahday]

Man, I sure do miss Austin, now. I lived there in 1994-1996. A lot has changed (I have been back since) but these images capture that hard to pinpoint element that made it such an interesting place to live. I want to go to there (but not during the height of the summer...)

[Masswich]

Love seeing the pictures of Austin, a place I have never been. While it shares much of the hipster reputation of some east coast burgs, boy does it look different.