The City of Austin withdrew its controversial CodeNEXT redevelopment scheme for one reason above all others: The community didn’t trust the land developers who took control of the plan and shaped it into their own. After more than a decade of explosive growth, local residents have learned to think twice about the motives of those who profit from it.

That goes double for the families who called Austin’s East Side home for generations. Those that haven’t already been forced out have seen their neighborhoods gentrify beyond recognition.

The City of Austin has done little to combat the problem. Since 2001, our city council has passed more than 500 resolutions on gentrification and displacement, but no meaningful action has taken place.

That’s beginning to change!

Last week, Community Not Commodity joined a group of longtime East Austin grassroots leaders in City Hall in support the People’s Plan Budget, a funding proposal that fights gentrification in meaningful ways without drawing a dime from general revenue.

The Austin City Council then passed a budget amendment doing just that. Here is what the measure will set aside:

  • $25 million for a City of Austin strike fund to purchase Class C apartments for low-income residents
  • $28 million for the City of Austin to rapidly provide manufactured and other housing on city land
  • $2 million to produce and implement 20 Neighborhood Combined Conservation District and 15 Historic Preservation District plans in gentrifying areas, and $1 million to survey historic housing and structures in these areas
  • $1.5 million for right-to-stay programs, assisting people with home repair, legal services, and other support services devoted to the prevention of displacement
  • $800,000 to create an Anti-Displacement Office to ensure that the City of Austin has an effective and accountable anti-displacement program

Help us keep fighting displacement and gentrification! Make sure to follow us on Facebook, along with groups like the Austin NAACP, PODER, and La Raza Roundtable. Then consider donating to our effort.

Together we can build an Austin for everyone!