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Good callout, but it's important not to fudge the numbers here. Using this source[0], it seems like the population doubled, not tripled, from 911K to 1.84M. If

Good callout, but it's important not to fudge the numbers here. Using this source[0], it seems like the population doubled, not tripled, from 911K to 1.84M. If we use that 10% to 7.5% drop, the city's black residents went from 91K to 138k. Hardly tripled, in fact only a 50% increase compared to over 100% population size increase. So the comparative growth was half as fast. I'd still say thats notable to the article's cultural context, though it doesn't support the claim of people being forced out inherently. None of these numbers will give information on who was forced out. You'll need migratory data for that. [0] https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/22926/austin/population#:~:text=The%20metro%20area%20population%20of,a%204.19%25%20increase%20from%202017 https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/22926/austin/population#:....

chrisco255 6y ago
Difficult thing is sometimes you look up a source for a city's population and they will show you the exact population of the city limits and sometimes they will show you the population of the metropolitan area. The article rounded up the actual census data from 9.5% to 10% for the 2000 numbers, but left the 2017 number at 7.5% (fudging with precision). At any rate, if someone moves from East Austin to Del Valle or Manor, are they 'forced out of Austin'? Even if that move affords their family a larger living space? These are satellite communities only a couple miles further out of the city center. No doubt East Austin has gotten much more expensive in the past 10 years, as the article underscores. There's still quite a bit of low income housing, but it's certainly making up a smaller portion. As the downtown corridor jumps across I-35 and expands east, more and more high rises are being built in East Austin, where older ranch houses and traditional neighborhoods used to exist. The thing is, many of these older ranch houses on the east side aren't even in great shape and don't really fit modern standards. They have character, sure, but raising a family in a small, wooden, 2/1 or 3/1 1950s ranch house with bad upkeep is not necessarily a desirable thing. Migratory data alone is not enough to interpret the story.
- adjkant 6y ago
  100% in agreement on the nuance here. I used metro area above rather than city limits, and that will 100% not capture some of that neighborhood level migration away from the cultural center of the city. I think that's important to capture and wish the article did with more detail, but I think this point was meant to be an aside to a more qualitative story. I have no doubt the gentrification story of Austin has been covered in nuanced detail before this, so I hope people don't write off the article due to this.
- irrational 6y ago
  Yeah, I choose to live in the metro area, but not in the city limits, because the taxes are much lower.
- selimthegrim 6y ago
  Manor, in fact, is I think where many of the Black (and perhaps Latino) residents have gone.

chrisco255 6y ago

Difficult thing is sometimes you look up a source for a city's population and they will show you the exact population of the city limits and sometimes they will show you the population of the metropolitan area. The article rounded up the actual census data from 9.5% to 10% for the 2000 numbers, but left the 2017 number at 7.5% (fudging with precision). At any rate, if someone moves from East Austin to Del Valle or Manor, are they 'forced out of Austin'? Even if that move affords their family a larger living space? These are satellite communities only a couple miles further out of the city center. No doubt East Austin has gotten much more expensive in the past 10 years, as the article underscores. There's still quite a bit of low income housing, but it's certainly making up a smaller portion. As the downtown corridor jumps across I-35 and expands east, more and more high rises are being built in East Austin, where older ranch houses and traditional neighborhoods used to exist. The thing is, many of these older ranch houses on the east side aren't even in great shape and don't really fit modern standards. They have character, sure, but raising a family in a small, wooden, 2/1 or 3/1 1950s ranch house with bad upkeep is not necessarily a desirable thing. Migratory data alone is not enough to interpret the story.

adjkant 6y ago
100% in agreement on the nuance here. I used metro area above rather than city limits, and that will 100% not capture some of that neighborhood level migration away from the cultural center of the city. I think that's important to capture and wish the article did with more detail, but I think this point was meant to be an aside to a more qualitative story. I have no doubt the gentrification story of Austin has been covered in nuanced detail before this, so I hope people don't write off the article due to this.
irrational 6y ago
Yeah, I choose to live in the metro area, but not in the city limits, because the taxes are much lower.
selimthegrim 6y ago
Manor, in fact, is I think where many of the Black (and perhaps Latino) residents have gone.