JDean Da Man

To determine the real impact of the East 6th food carts one must look at both their impact on their area and the impact of the food cart reveloution on as a whole in relation to austin. In this respect my decision is split. It became apparent to me through the interviews conducted that the East 6th food carts specifically do not particularly benefit immediate area they reside in.

The carts there mostly cater to patrons who have just left the bars around the area and are looking for something to help sober them up. As it was put to me by a vendor of an ice cream cart, you have to have extra money to spend if you're buying eight dollar ice cream. Being startup local business also does not help the prices of the products the venders sell. In order to sustain the business, the prices must be raised. Because East Austin is historically a lower income neiborhood this means that local people to the area might not be able to afford the product. This leaves the food carts to those, as the vendor put it, with extra money to spend, as the only group who can enjoyably use the food carts. In this way the food carts on east 6th are catering to the gentrification of nearby downtown.

 As new high-rises go up and living in the city becomes the in vogue place to be the price of living in the city skyrockets. This pushes out the residents that could afford to live there in the past and creates economic homogeny that is ripe for the East 6th food carts to exploit. The vendors I talked to said there was a decent mix of races that visit the food carts but it is clear the economic diversity is slim. The vendors themselves and were not from the East Austin area. The carts are not employing residents of East Austin and in this way not giving back to their immediate environment. One of the more interesting aspects of one particular cart was a disclaimer sign bolted to the side reading "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone". Prominently displayed with a picture of Big Brother below it the sign continues the trend of catering gentry. It is a physical reminder that if the institution deems you unsavory they will not serve you or tolerate your presence. 

Continuing the trend of catering to the gentry is the physical location of the carts. While they are on the other side of the highway the carts are very close to downtown. Clearly a conscious decision by the owners the location exemplifies the ideology of these trucks. They intend to be trendy by placing themselves in the up and coming east austin, but not too far in which is still considered a bad part of town, while still making themselves extremely accible to those living downtown. It is unfortunate that a group of local businessmen have not been able to find a way to better their immediate surroundings.  The elevated prices, location of the carts, and prominent display of the dissillouisioning sign all show how these food carts are not intended to help their community, but instead maximize profit by feasting on the excess of Austin's new gentry.