9
EZTHEWASHINGTONPOST.
SATURDAY,AUGUST1, 2020gentrification,” said Bates. “Here
in the West and in places with
serious displacement, this policy
is anti-segregative. The market by
itself was resegregating our city.”
With displacement and gentri-
fying continuing to play out
across the country, it could be a
topic in the 2020 presidential
election, and it’s possible that
generational ties policies could be
rolled out in other cities if they
prove successful in Portland and
Austin. Former vice president and
Democratic presidential candi-
date Joe Biden unveiled a
$640 billion housing plan that
aims to, among other things, pro-
tect tenants from eviction, ensure
that no one pays more than 30
percent of their income on hous-
ing and creates a renter’s tax cred-
it.
[email protected]Johns neighborhood where Van-
Brakle grew up, is working on a
project to build affordable hous-
ing on a city-owned site that used
to be a Home Depot. He said
Austin will try to reach former
residents who have moved else-
where through churches and
community groups they may still
be involved in.
“The land this neighborhood
sits on was originally owned by
the St. John Regular Baptist Asso-
ciation, one of the largest associa-
tions of Black churches in Texas,”
Casar said. “Many of those
churches still exist and are very
active. So while members maybe
left, they are still connected or
still in touch with friends who are
connected.”
VanBrakle, who is eligible be-
cause both she and her parents
lived in Austin, would like to ap-
ply for an owner-occupied home
once she’s able to get more finan-
cially stable.
“It’s a potentially powerful pol-
icy, particularly in the context ofmore present in Manor, and even
while missing home VanBrakle
said she is proud of her adopted
city’s Black mayor and Black
schools superintendent.
According to the Census Bu-
reau, Austin’s population was
10 percent Black in 2000; it fell to
8.1 percent in 2010 and to 7.6 per-
cent in 2017. Many former resi-
dents have moved to suburbs
such as Pflugerville and Round
Rock, which don’t always have
strong public transit.
Austin council member Greg
Casar, who represents the St.$400,000s, which is out of her
price range. VanBrakle instead
bought a house in suburban Man-
or for $165,000 but misses the old
vibe of her street and wishes she
could move back.
VanBrakle said she feels the
distance from urban convenienc-
es even more amid the pandemic.
There are limited dining options
and only a Walmart in town for
groceries. Instacart doesn’t deliv-
er to Manor, so she’s had groceries
dropped off at her mother’s house
and then driven to pick them up.
“I remember crying one day,
thinking, ‘I don’t want to leave
Austin, I was born and raised here
and I should be able to stay,’ ” said
VanBrakle, a member of Austin’s
African American Resource Advi-
sory Commission. “For me, as a
Black woman, it’s about the cul-
ture. It’s not just about gentrifica-
tion and the moving in of other
people who were not there before.
When we lose the culture, we lose
the history of the neighborhood.”
Some of that culture is nowplementing affordable housing
preference policies is often pass-
ing legal muster.
The Fair Housing Act prevents
making race a basis for housing
preference. Even if the intent is to
bring people back to where they
used to live, cities have to be
careful in how they design the
programs.
“One complication of fair hous-
ing is you can acknowledge a
problem is caused by racial dis-
crimination, but you can’t design
a solution that is racially specific,”
said Lisa Bates, an associate pro-
fessor at Portland State Universi-
ty’s Toulan School of Urban Stud-
ies and Planning.
Cherelle VanBrakle said she
feels Austin’s policy is more than
fair. She grew up in the St. Johns
neighborhood in a house her par-
ents bought in 1987 for $60,000.
Now in her early 30s and working
for a federally qualified health
center in Austin, she said her
parents’ house and most others
on the block would sell in the
Cover Story
MONTINIQUE N. MONROE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
C herelle VanBrakle, 32, holds her daughter Marley Cooper in front of her c hildhood home in the S t. Johns neighborhood. V anBrakle moved to s uburban Manor b ut would like
to move back. “I remember crying one day, thinking, ‘I don’t want to leave Austin,’ ” she said. “‘I was born and raised here, and I should be able to stay.’ ” To view a photo gallery on
Austin’s efforts, go to
washingtonpost.com/realestate.“For me, as a Black
woman, it’s about the
culture. It’s not just
about gentrification.”
Cherelle VanBrakle, who is hoping
to move back to the St. Johns
neighborhood where she grew up