Affordable housing in growing cities across the nation is becoming harder to find because traditionally low-cost areas are being renovated and refurbished, causing property values to skyrocket.
Juan Haro, a representative of Movement for Justice in El Barrio, will speak today about ways to combat this process, known as gentrification, as part of the 12th annual Race, Class and Gender Formation in the Borderlands Lecture Series put on by the UT Center for Mexican-American Studies. The lecture is at 7 p.m. in Calhoun Hall, Room 100.
The Movement for Justice in El Barrio was founded in 2004 to stop companies from buying out housing developments in East Harlem, the northeast part of Manhattan. This process would force thousands of immigrant families out of their homes and cause property values to rise, making the area unaffordable to many of its current residents.
Haro's organization has had much success in preventing gentrification in East Harlem and slumlords from evicting the families that occupy the area, said Pablo Gonzalez, an anthropology graduate student who is organizing the event.
In East Austin, low-cost housing areas are being replaced by high-rise condominiums, causing the cost of living to increase. Because of this, many residents can no longer afford to buy new homes in the area, Gonzalez said.
"Property values are going up all over Austin but mainly in East Austin," said Danielle Hunt, an information specialist at the Travis Central Appraisal District.
Gonzalez said the department asked Haro to speak about the effects of gentrification and share strategies about how to stop it.
If the process continues in Austin, housing could become extremely unaffordable to many residents, especially students, he said.
"Development doesn't always mean a good thing," Gonzalez said.
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