I-35: A City Divided

Though I have lived in Austin since I was four years old, I was virtually unaware of I-35's effects on the city when I was younger. Growing up in West Austin, I was ignorant about socioeconomic and racial inequities in the city. I first discovered the demographic division caused by I-35 when I was eleven. I had purchased Small Steps by Louis Sachar, and the context he gave for the novel struck me. I was surprised and a little ashamed that I, an Austinite, was unaware of the social dynamic in my own backyard.

"Interstate 35 goes from the Mexican border all the way up to Lake Superior, and some of the heaviest traffic is along the two-hundred-fifty mile stretch between San Antonio and Dallas. The steady flow of cars and trucks divides the city of Austin in half, not just geographically, but also economically, and to some extent, racially."

-Small Steps by Louis Sachar

Small Steps is Austinite Louis Sachar's first young adult novel dealing with the themes of racial and economic oppression on a local, observable level. Small Steps is the contrasting companion of Sachar's book Holes, which depicts a wrongfully sentenced white boy from the "wrong side of the tracks," who eventually makes it out of his desperate situation. Theodore, the black main character of Small Steps, finds that he cannot escape the assumptions people make about him based on his East Austin address, forcing the readers of Holes and Small Steps to acknowledge the racial discrepancy. Sachar admits in an interview that Theodore and Stanley endure equal suffering in Holes, but Theodore creates a more complex character because he does not return home to wealth and a fresh start. Small Steps creates the opportunity to explore life on the other side of Austin's racial barrier, I-35.

Interstate 35, according to the Texas Freeway history website, was originally a two lane highway that was not intended to be incorporated into the interstate system. In the early 1950s, I-35 was known as US-81, and there was no difference between West side and East side. As you can see from the photo, both sides of US-81 featured businesses and houses of similar appearance. 

Soon after the interstate underwent construction in 1959, the city became divided by East and West, and East and West began to imply certain racial heritage and socio-economic status. Today, I-35 physically separates the less affluent East Austin from the booming, bustling scene of West Austin and downtown. The infrastructure, though "building" the city, was destroying it and cutting off its circulation, causing its growth to stunt in East Austin.

I-35 detaching the East side from the lights of downtown.
Source: www.nytimes.com

The inequity between the East and West sides and the division caused by I-35 is an issue in the forefront of most socially-aware Austinites' minds. The Austin blog, Questions of Quantity, has multiple posts discussing quantifiable evidence of the divide and debate over a solution.  When the blogger searched Google Maps for SAT tutors and orthodontists in Austin, she found that all those businesses are located west of I-35, while businesses for trailer home rental are located on the east side. The people of Austin are not only divided by I-35, but they are limited by it. In Austin's case, the roads of the city physically separate its natives from certain places and opportunities. Even the picture above illustrates interesting contrast between the east and west: the West side is the focus of the photo, and it's full of light and life, while the East side is dark and barely in the picture.

 Though the pictures can accurately portray the discrepancy between the east and the west, there is a plethora of quantitative proof as well. According to the US census data the Questions of Quantity blogger found, the average median income for an East Austin household in 2000 was $15,678, while the average was $48,950 for Austin overall, which is almost three and a half times more. 34.1% of households in East Austin are single parent households, which is shocking compared to Austin's overall percentage of single parent households: 8%. Yet another divider, according to the 2000 census, is the gap in education. In East Austin, 54.4% of adults never finished high school, while in Austin overall, only 15.2% of adults lack a high school diploma. 

My personal experience with this astounding education gap began when I began to volunteer with Breakthrough Austin in my sophomore year. Breakthrough helps kids who will be the first in their families to attend college achiever their academic goals. Through the mentoring program St. Stephen's does with Breakthrough, I became more acutely aware of the discrepancies between my Austin experience and the experience of most of the students.

One of the projects I did with my students was a Google Maps project in which we chose locations historically important to East Austin and those locations on the east side that are important to the Breakthrough students. Over the course of three months, we researched, refined our map, and prepared a walking tour. On the day of the tour, I got to see the places my students had researched for so long and watch them present what they had learned with the confidence and certainty of someone much older. That Saturday, I was truly inspired by their hard work and dedication to their academics. I also enjoyed being in a part of Austin I rarely spent any time in. This project not only expanded my world, but it gave me hope that one day, the people of Austin will overcome the physical, racial and economic divisions the city has placed on them.