Uprooted: Residential Displacement in Austin's Gentrifying Neighborhoods, and What Can Be Done About
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Uprooted: Residential Displacement in Austin’s Gentrifying Neighborhoods and What Can Be Done About It 2018 The University of Texas Center for Sustainable Development in the School of Architecture & the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic in the School of Law Heather Way, Clinical Professor, The University of Texas School of Law Elizabeth Mueller, Associate Professor of Community and Regional Planning, The University of Texas at Austin Jake Wegmann, Assistant Professor of Community and Regional Planning, The University of Texas at Austin With Research and Writing Assistance from: Amelia Adams, Nicholas Armstrong, Ben Martin, Alex Radtke, and Alice Woods, graduate students in the Community and Regional Planning Program at The University of Texas at Austin This report was commissioned by the City of Austin, via a resolution adopted by the Austin City Council on August 17, 2017. The report reflects the research and opinions of the individual authors only and does not present an official position of the University of Texas. Uprooted: Residential Displacement in Austin’s Gentrifying Neighborhoods and What Can Be Done About It © 2018 Heather Way, Elizabeth Mueller, and Jake Wegmann This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ For electronic access to the report, displacement maps, and other information related to the gentrification and displacement study, visit https://sites.utexas.edu/gentrificationproject Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 1 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 2 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 11 Part 1 Background on Gentrification and Displacement ..................................................... 14 Part 2 Identifying and Mapping Gentrifying Neighborhoods in Austin .............................. 18 Understanding and Identifying Vulnerability to Displacement ..........................................19 Summary of Gentrification Mapping Methodology ..........................................................22 Findings: Where is Gentrification Taking Place in Austin? .................................................28 Vulnerability Map ..........................................................................................................30 Demographic Change Map ..........................................................................................31 Housing Market Change Map ......................................................................................32 Gentrification Typology Map ........................................................................................33 Neighborhood Drilldowns .................................................................................................34 Introduction ..................................................................................................................34 St. Johns-Coronado Hills Neighborhoods Drilldown ...................................................37 Montopolis Neighborhood Drilldown ..........................................................................41 Part 3 Case Studies of Local Efforts to Mitigate Displacement in Gentrifying Neighborhoods ......................................................................................................... 47 Introduction .......................................................................................................................48 Ten Cross-Cutting Lessons for Cities from Three Gentrifying Neighborhoods .................49 Columbia Heights, Washington, D.C.: A Case Study of Affordable Rental Housing Preservation and Tenant Ownership in the Face of Large-Scale Displacement Pressures .................................................................................54 Guadalupe Neighborhood, Austin, Texas: A Case Study of Early Intervention and Evolving Strategies to Create Permanently Affordable Housing for Vulnerable Residents with Historical Ties to the Neighborhood .......................................56 Inner North/Northeast Portland, Oregon: A Case Study of Community-Driven Strategies to Mitigate and Remediate the Displacement of African-American Residents ...........................................................................................................................58 Part 4 Strategy and Policy Overview: Addressing the Displacement of Vulnerable Residents in Gentrifying Neighborhoods ................................................................. 60 Introduction .....................................................................................................................61 Goal 1: Vulnerable renters in gentrifying neighborhoods are not displaced from their current homes and neighborhoods ..................................................................62 Goal 2: Vulnerable homeowners in gentrifying neighborhoods are not displaced from their current homes and neighborhoods ..................................................66 Goal 3: The existing affordable housing stock (subsidized and non-subsidized) in gentrifying neighborhoods is preserved so that the units are in good condition and remain affordable to low-income residents ................................................73 Uprooted: Residential Displacement in Austin’s Gentrifying Neighborhoods, and What Can Be Done About It i Goal 4: City planning and land use decisions incorporate inclusive and equitable anti-displacement strategies, and low-income persons and communities of color are empowered to participate early and meaningfully in land use decisions that shape their homes, neighborhoods, and communities .....................................................80 Goal 5: Vulnerable residents are able to remain in or return to their communities by accessing the affordable housing opportunities in their neighborhoods .....................84 Goal 6: New affordable housing options are created to serve current and future vulnerable households in gentrifying neighborhoods ............................................86 Displacement-Mitigation Tools Off Limits in Texas ............................................................91 Local Strategies to Fund Affordable Housing Development ............................................93 Table: Strategies and Policies for Addressing the Displacement of Vulnerable Residents in Gentrifying Neighborhoods ..........................................................................97 Part 5 Policy Drilldown: A Framework for Evaluating Anti-Displacement Policies............ 103 Introduction to Framework for Evaluating Anti-Displacement Policies ..........................104 Policy Drilldown Table: Analysis of Anti-Displacement Policies for Austin ......................107 Policies .............................................................................................................................108 Local Housing Voucher Programs ..............................................................................108 Homestead Preservation Center ................................................................................110 Neighborhood Stabilization Overlays ........................................................................112 Affordable Housing Preservation Network and Inventory ........................................114 Neighborhood-Jobs Pipeline Programs .....................................................................116 Preservation Investment Funds ..................................................................................118 Community Capacity Building ....................................................................................120 Adding Internal Accessory Dwelling Units to Existing Homes ..................................122 Appendices (Online version only, https://sites.utexas.edu/gentrificationproject) Appendix 1. Austin City Council Resolution 20170817-55 ............................................... 126 Appendix 2. Prior Austin Reports on Gentrification, Displacement-Mitigation Tools, and the Changing Face of Austin’s Neighborhoods .......................... 130 Appendix 3. Methodology for Mapping Gentrifying Neighborhoods in Austin and Neighborhood Drilldowns ...................................................... 133 Appendix 4. Case Studies of Local Efforts to Mitigate Displacement in Gentrifying Neighborhoods ..................................................................... 149 Columbia Heights, Washington, D.C.: A Case Study of Affordable Rental Housing Preservation and Tenant Ownership in the Face of Large-Scale Displacement ...................................................................................................... 150 Guadalupe Neighborhood, Austin, Texas: A Case Study of Early Intervention and Evolving Strategies to Create Permanently Affordable Housing for Vulnerable Residents with Historical Ties to the Neighborhood .........................166 Inner North/Northeast Portland, Oregon: A Case Study of Community-Driven Strategies to Mitigate and Remediate the Displacement of African-American Residents ..............................................................................................................183 Appendix 5. Property Tax Relief Tools for Austin’s