The word “gentrification” does not appear in Imagine Austin or in CodeNEXT. This seems odd, given that Austin has had multiple commissions over the past seventeen years meant to study and address the issue. The policy analyses and recommendations made by these task forces and commissions have been sitting on the shelf gathering dust. So […]
Continue ReadingAn impressive propaganda campaign has been orchestrated by pro-CodeNEXT boosters to confuse the public mind about the potential consequences these proposed changes to how Austin regulates land development will produce. The time has come for some historically grounded critical thinking that can help cut through the misinformation, half-truths, distortions and lies that have been promulgated […]
Continue ReadingCertain members of Austin’s black bourgeoisie are perturbed. They are perturbed because the recent political fight over the future of the Montopolis Negro School has exposed some of their ruling class privileges and has also unveiled some of their neoliberal elitism. More to the point, the 2015-2017 fight to preserve the Montopolis Negro School–much of […]
Continue ReadingMap of Austin’s Urban Freedmen’s Communities, Circa 1900 Austin last took a hard look at its historic preservation program in the early 2000’s, where a joint task force made up of Planning, Zoning and Platting, and Historic Landmark Commissioners made some recommendations to upgrade but not fundamentally alter the city’s program as originally established by […]
Continue ReadingThe subject of this blog post, dear gentle reader, is a May 1, 2017 op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman by Volma Overton, Jr., son of the Austin civil rights icon: Commentary: Bills would accomplish what UT hasn’t — secure Muny’s value I have great regard for Volma Overton, Jr. But this opinion piece is not […]
Continue ReadingThanks to my long-suffering and loving wife and children I was able to attend yesterday’s Austin City Council Audit and Finance Committee hearing. The centerpiece of the meeting was the presentation of the city auditor’s most recent audit of the historic preservation department. Jo Clifton of the Austin Monitor also attended the meeting and filed […]
Continue ReadingMost local observers understand that the way Austin does historic preservation—actually how it does not do historic preservation—is in need of a significant upgrade. The city has simply grown too large for the small town approach pioneered by the late Betty Baker in the mid 1970’s. At it’s Thursday, January 26, 2017 meeting Austin’s city […]
Continue ReadingDear Mayor Adler: As a strong supporter of yours I watched the recent establishment of a task force on institutional racism with considerable interest. I would respectfully like to bring an example of institutional racism to your attention. At issue is the property located at 500 Montopolis Drive. It is one of the most important […]
Continue ReadingLast week’s meeting of the Austin Historic Landmark Commission was once again a wash. Only seven commissioners showed up, enough for a quorum but not enough for the supermajority required on the 500 Montopolis Drive matter. A supermajority is required because the present property owner opposes the historic landmarking of the school property. The item […]
Continue ReadingOn Monday November 21st at 7:00 p.m. the City of Austin’s Historic Landmark Commission will meet to consider historically zoning the last remaining rural Negro school in Travis County, the Montopolis Negro School. A photograph of the school is in my 2014 book Austin’s Montopolis Neighborhood. The school was founded in about 1891 at a […]
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