Annotations for Gentrification: Displacement

Hello everyone! Welcome to Austin Avengers, a podcast where we will talk about the real issues reshaping our city and the people at the center of it. My name is Noah, and today we’re diving into a conversation that’s long overdue: gentrification in South and East Austin, and how we can actually fight back and slow it down with policy. If you’ve lived in Austin for a while, you’ve seen the change: once-affordable, vibrant neighborhoods are now dotted with luxury highrises and high-end brunch spots. I know I have, I’ve lived in South Austin my entire life. South and East Austin neighborhoods once known for their diversity, creativity, and cultural richness are now barely recognizable. And the people who built that culture? They're being pushed out. Displaced with nowhere to go. - In this introduction, I use my personal experience, inclusive language, and an urgent tone to build credibility and emotionally connect with listeners, setting the stage for a critical conversation about gentrification’s impact on my community.

We need to be brutally honest about what’s happening. Gentrification isn’t just about new coffee shops and cool apartments, it’s about displacement. Families, small businesses, and communities that gave Austin its soul, its entire character, are being pushed out by rising rent and unchecked development. And if we don’t act fast, we’ll lose the very thing that made Austin so special in the first place. - In this part, I use direct, urgent language and strong emotional appeals to emphasize the seriousness of gentrification, challenging listeners to recognize its real consequences and take action before it’s too late.

This is the exact situation residents in Austin are facing too. Once again, Austin’s own studies show the same thing: historically Black and Latino neighborhoods, especially in what’s called the “eastern crescent”, are losing their cultural identity at a rapid pace. Additionally, city-funded reports have already warned that without bold policy action, these communities will all disappear altogether, putting Austin’s cultural identity at risk. - In this part, I connect national research to local realities, reinforcing my argument with place-specific evidence and a warning tone to stress the urgency of protecting Austin’s cultural and racial heritage before it’s lost entirely.

Explain gentrification to pao and asked her for any personal encounters.

A third of neighborhoods are at risk to displacement. A crazy statistic that revelas the disparity of this issue, and hopefully the reader can view this in shock.

"This is gentrification in real time, and it’s displacing people every single day. But we have a secret weapon called SMART housing.". This explains the exigence of the podcast as it shows the issue of displacement and the solution of SMART housing being used to combat it.

It is personal. Because when your hometown doesn't feel like home anymore, what can you do? But here is the truth - gentrification doesn't have to mean displacement. Other cities have come up with better ways to deal with this. There are ways. So, let's discuss a few of these that could work in Sugar Land. First, inclusionary zoning. This is when developers are required to provide a percentage of new housing as affordable. So yes, build that new apartment complex *but make part of it affordable to people already living in this area.* The second solution is community land trusts. These, nonprofit organizations buy land and then keep the land forever for affordable housing. This way, the land truly stays in the community and housing prices don't go way up.

Because at the end of the day, we’re talking about people being pushed out of the communities they love. Their schools. Their churches. Their memories. Their stories. That’s not just “progress”—that’s loss.

There's not enough new housing in upscale areas, and that has caused prices to go sky high. They can't afford the best, and there isn't enough of it anyway. This is too bad for them, but unfortunately, their solution is to move into our traditional neighborhoods, many of them low-income, and try to bring them up to their standards. ---- Logos is demonstrated in this passage, setting the causation for the problem presented.

This is a phenomenon identified by Lori Goodman in her research for the Urban Institute. This, my friends, is called gentrification. This process replaces low-income housing with remodeled, expensive luxury. ---- Ethos is utilized here by reference to scholarly articles. There is some logos as well with the definition of gentrification.

The corner barbershop becomes a little lemon, and the community institutions weather under a flood of half-caffeinated lattes. And worst, the existing residents get squeezed out of their own neighborhood. If we want to keep Austin Austin, we've got to find a way to stop this gentrification. --- Pathos is at work here trying to create the emotion of indignation at the unfairness of gentrification.

Let's welcome our newcomers, but put them where they are happiest, among their peers. Don't get me wrong, if someone new wants to live in a traditional neighborhood and loves it for how it is now, that's great, but let's keep out those who just want to destroy and rebuild. Here at Keepin' Austin Austin, we think we have one solution to this problem. --- This passage introduces the logos of the podcast, generally mentioning the podcast's solution. At the same time, it continues to use pathos to disparage the newcomers. The reference to the authority of the podcast inspires ethos.

Specifically, we'd forbid developers from making affordable housing into luxury. Let's talk about what zoning is and how the City can use it to implement these policies. According to Kenton, writing in Investopedia, zoning refers to municipal or local laws and regulations that govern how real property can and cannot be used in certain geographic areas. Ethos is used by referring to the published expert's definition. Logos is used in the further advancement of the proposal.

In this part of my proposal, zoning would be deployed to significantly limit the expansion of housing stock in traditional neighborhoods. By restricting growth, there wouldn't be enough places for the wealthy newcomers to live, even if they wanted to. --- This passage continues to use the logos to describe the proposal and then use logos in another way to make a logical argument to support the proposal.

However, there is a potential pitfall here. Fewer apartments that are harder to find could create scarcity that makes traditional low-income housing more so often, and even more expensive once they are remodeled into luxury. We propose to attack this problem by limiting the ability of developers and new residents to make existing rental units more upscale and desirable. Nothing can be built in Austin without a building permit that describes the work and the cost of the work. The City could set a limit on how much you could spend upgrading apartments and avoid these pitfalls. --- Logos is deployed here to highlight a possible problem and then demonstrate the proposal has a solution. This also invokes this because the speaker is shown to have carefully thought through the implications of the proposal and therefore the speaker has more credibility.

Walt Whitman adopts the satirical perspective of a reformer, using evocative language to lament the changes in Brooklyn due to a steady and rapid gentrification. The modern reformer '[raises] the devil' and 'breaks things'.

Personal Anecdote & Problem Illustration, Uses a personal narrative to build Ethos and evoke Pathos. The Seoul statistic provides initial Logos, illustrating the broader problem of Displacement.

Introducing myself and the topic I'm focusing on: Gentrification in Austin, TX, specifically how local South Congress businesses have been facing displacement. By bringing awareness to the issue through a podcast, it brings out the emotion in listeners, intriguing them to continue listening and expanding their knowledge on the topic. I use my personal experience and tone of voice to connect with the audience and help them understand how this issue affects real people in their community.

Providing context on why local shops have been experiencing displacement: How the rise of tech companies and the influx of new residents have played a key role in gentrification in Austin. Not only affecting local shops but also long-time residents, hoping to connect with current Austin residents and make them reflect on whether or not they have seen, heard, or have contributed to this problem. Through thoughtful narration, this part of the podcast could challenge listeners to consider their role in this issue.

How Austin’s “weird” factor has always been a point of pride, especially in areas like South Congress that helped shape its identity. In this part of my podcast, I use a reflective tone and cultural references to show how gentrification is slowly erasing the city’s unique character. This rhetorical approach connects with long-time residents and listeners who value Austin’s culture, encouraging them to think about what’s being lost as the city continues to prioritize new high-end retailers.

The risk of losing Austin's image because of local shops being displaced: Highlight the shift from local businesses to high-end retailers to show how South Congress is losing its unique charm. The rhetorical use of pathos helps listeners understand the loss of authenticity, urging them to consider the consequences of gentrification. Through a reflective tone, I engage both residents and potential stakeholders, by making them feel responsible for protecting Austin’s image and culture before it’s erased.

The relationship between local businesses and long-time residents:Highlighting the emotional and cultural value of small businesses by emphasizing how much they provide to the community and the personal connections they’ve built. By using pathos, it helps listeners understand that losing these businesses is about more than economic problems, it’s about originality and belonging. This connection resonates with long-time residents and anyone who values Austin's culture and community.

Introduction of East Austin’s current gentrification and What kind of growth are we supporting?

The downsides of gentrification explain why the problem needs to be solved, because of reasons such as displacement, harm on families, connect to Pathos, as the audience sympathize with residents facing these issues

Homes are getting more expensive and long-term residents are being kicked out.

Visualization of gentrification provides context and generates sense of empathy.

Describing the housing crisis in specific cities brings upon the sense of urgency to audience.

It feels like the neighborhood is shifting from being a place people live and build lives in to a place people visit and spend money. And this isn't just about a couple of new stores or buildings being created. What's happening on South Congress is part of a bigger issue, and that issue is gentrification. That's exactly the reason why, today, I want to break down what gentrification actually means, how it's showing up on South Congress, and what Austin can do to address it in a fair way. So let's start with the basics. Gentrification occurs when a neighborhood begins to attract wealthier people, and as a result of that, prices increase.

That might sound simple, but the impact is complicated. The people who already live there, often working-class families, people of color, and older residents, find themselves priced out. Rent goes up. Property taxes go up. Small businesses can't afford their leases anymore. So even though the neighborhood might look “nicer” on the surface. I explain gentrification in a way that's clear and easy to follow, while also using emotion and real-life examples to show why this issue matters and how it's changing South Congress for the people who live there.

But when we let gentrification erase the communities that built that culture, we lose more than just old buildings. We lose people, stories, and connection. The Guardian, one of the sources, stated “Without strong, targeted policies, the damage from gentrification is often irreversible, leaving cities more unequal and culturally sterile.” So what can be done? In my Project 3, I argued for two main policy approaches. First is rent control. Second is anti-displacement support for local businesses and homeowners.

Let's talk about rent control. It's not some radical concept. It's just a way to limit how much a landlord can increase rent in a year. That gives people a little more stability. It makes it harder for sudden price hikes to displace people from their homes. I combine emotional appeal with evidence and a clear call to action by showing how gentrification erases not just places but people and culture, then shift into a solutions-based approach using my own research and credible sources to argue for fairer housing policies like rent control.