East Side Pride

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Gentrification. Opportunity. Athletics.

East Austin and The University of Texas, longtime neighbors, have a complicated and nuanced relationship that goes back decades and defies easy generalization. Take a guided tour from one of the city’s great photographers through a part of town where UT is a force of change in the community and yet the horns are beloved as the home team.

East Austin is a working-class neighborhood, although it’s barely hanging on as such. There are still quite a few shops that serve the local Latino and African-American communities and employ a number of East Austin residents. However, they’re rapidly being crowded out by new businesses serving new residents.

Coffee shops, art galleries, and urban lofts are replacing auto repair shops, hair salons, and Mexican restaurants. Depending on whom you ask, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. No one is upset that the gangs have moved out of old East Austin. And certainly many residents benefit from rising property values, even though the commensurate rise in property taxes creates real issues for working-class families on a fixed income.

What might seem initially surprising is the oversized presence of The University of Texas in East Austin. Besides the UT facilities located there—Disch-Falk Field, UT Press, and the UT Elementary School—UT’s real presence in East Austin is manifested in the sense of pride the community feels for its local university, particularly its sports teams. When I began photographing in the heart of old East Austin in 2006, I quickly noticed that UT logos were virtually everywhere, which surprised me given how expensive branded gear can be.

This photo essay, on UT’s image in East Austin, tries to represent the complicated dynamic between two old, proud neighbors who have long felt worlds apart.