East Riverside Drive
East Riverside Drive is located south of the Colorado River and southeast of Downtown Austin. This lively community is characterized by the juxtaposition of the old and the new. Over recent years, the community of East Riverside has experienced an exponential amount of growth and development. Luxury apartment buildings have popped up, and the area is teeming with trendy shops and restaurants. With a high number of working-class families residing in the area, this rapid expansion creates challenges to offer affordability and equity for the existing residents of the community.
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East Riverside Drive se encuentra al sur del río Colorado y sureste del centro de Austin. Esta animada comunidad se caracteriza por la combinación de lo antiguo y lo nuevo. En los últimos años, la comunidad de East Riverside ha experimentado una cantidad exponencial de crecimiento y desarrollo. Han aparecido edificios de apartamentos de lujo y la zona está repleta de tiendas y restaurantes de moda. Con una gran cantidad de familias de clase trabajadora que residen en el área, esta rápida expansión crea desafíos para ofrecer asequibilidad y equidad para los residentes existentes de la comunidad.
History
The corridor along East Riverside Drive is on the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Tonkawa, the Apache, the Ysleta del sur Pueblo, the Lipan Apache Tribe, the Texas Band of Yaqui Indians, the Coahuitlecan and all other tribes not explicitly stated. Additionally, we would like to acknowledge and pay respects to the many other tribes, Indigenous Peoples, and communities who have been or have become a part of these lands and territories now known as Texas.
“Montopolis is actually older than Waterloo, it was incorporated before the City of Waterloo was incorporated. At one time there was talk of putting the capital of Texas in Montopolis but
Austin kind of enveloped Waterloo and Montopolis.”
Delwin Goss, longtime resident
Montopolis. Source:
Burditt’s Prairie, located north and east of Felixi Ave and Valdez St, is one of Travis County’s original Freedmen’s communities. Its origins date back to 1844 when Jesse F. Burditt, an early Euro-American settler and supporter of the Texas Revolution, established a cotton plantation in the Village of Montopolis which was established in 1830. Burditt’s Prairie Cemetery and the Montopolis Negro School and surrounding historical landscapes are being preserved by the work the Burditt Prairie Preservation Association
Listen to Fred McGee and sixth-generation Texan, Adama Brown,
discuss their efforts to save the final resting place of “my family members, ancestors, were slaves who worked the Burditt plantation.”
Gravestone in Burditt’s Prairie. Source: Burditt Prairie Preservation Association
Until the mid-20th century, the East Riverside-Oltorf area remained primarily rural. In the 1970s, the City of Austin partnered with the University of Texas to build off-campus housing for students between East Riverside and Lakeshore Drive.
Aerial View of Town Lake, May 20,1968 Source: 68-A236-01, Neal Douglass Collection, Austin History Center, Austin Public Library
Following the closure of Bergstrom Air Force Base in 1993, the demographics of the neighborhood began to change. In the 1990s, the East Riverside-Oltorf neighborhood became one of Austin's most popular sites for immigrant households, primarily from Mexico, Latin America, and Asian countries.
Caminos Legacy Mural created by Caminos Students, 2017 Source: austintexas.gov
Life on the Corridor
“Montopolis is huge. It's a huge area and it encompasses both sides of Riverside. Metropolis goes from Riverside to 183. And from Ben White to the river.”
Daniel Llanes
“There is a strong community that lives around the area, because of the school district. There's always a fluctuation or ever-growing or changing population due to the fact that a lot of college students live here. We have new businesses that are being built attracting a new population. People are putting roots down here to be near work in their businesses. Town Lake that's not too far from us. So it's now starting to attract a different population that wants to be close to downtown.”
Roman Morgan, local resident
Wickersham Apartments Source: Civic Arts
Listen to Daniel Llanes discuss the many changes to the community around the Riverside corridor. “These days it is in rapid transition, and it is the epitome of gentrification. But we can think of these corridors for cultures before cars.”
Source: Civic Arts
La Resistencia and Red Salmon Arts was displaced from their location on Cesar Chavez, but has made a new home just off Riverside Drive. Red Salmon Arts is a grassroots cultural arts organization, with a thirty-year history of working with the indigenous neighborhoods of Austin. It is dedicated to the development of emerging writers and the promotion of Chicana/o/x/Latina/o/x/Native American literature, providing outlets and mechanisms for cultural exchange, and sharing in the retrieval of a people’s cultural heritage with a commitment to social justice.
“You know when Carnival is going. You can hear it in the distance, you can always hear little rumblings of salsa music being played.”
Roman Morgan, local resident and dancer
Source: Austin Chronicle , Minh
“The main thing that I go to Riverside for is the food, the restaurants, there's just incredible variety. There's a couple of great Asian restaurants and of course always, Mexican restaurants. Tacos and sauerkraut is the default in Central Texas.”
Daniel Llanes
Source: Google Maps
“We're very fortunate to have lots of amazing food and in the surrounding area. A couple of taco trucks that we frequent…I don't think we could survive without because they are amazing. They fuel those all day events. Riverside is great, I mean, just the vibe and the culture, the trail for nature, accessibility to food and, other bars and venues.”
“W
e're very fortunate to have lots of amazing food and in the surrounding area.
A couple of taco trucks that we frequent…I don't think we could survive without because they are amazing. They fuel those all day events. I mean, just the the vibe and the culture, the trail for nature,
accessibility to food and, other bars and venues.”
Anthony Stevenson, Come and Take It Live Owner
Source: Austin Chronicle/Jana Birchum
Meaning ‘little girl’ in an Indigenous language of Paraguay, Cafe Nena’i is run by the mother-daughter team of Elena Sanguinetti and Gladys Benitez. Their homemade pastries and empanadas celebrate South American culture with influences from Paraguay, Argentina, Cuba and Venezuela.
Source: Cafe Nena’i
Escuela de Montessori de Montopolis has provided high-quality Montessori education to the families of Austin for over 30 years. The school serves 2 1/2 to 6 year olds with dual language education. They teach with the belief that all children deserve the benefits of high quality early childhood programs regardless of family income.
Source: Austin Monitor
“There's quite a few elementary schools here. So even though the neighborhood is changing in such a fast way, there's still a big sense of community that surrounds the schools in the area.”
Roman Morgan
Source: Alison Elementary
Montopolis Friendship Community Center began in 1956, organized by the Women’s Societies of Christian Service of the Methodist Churches of Austin. The center partners with area schools, offers a scholarship to neighborhood teens, manages a thrift store and hosts the Central Texas Food Bank Mobile Pantry.
“We have Florence Ponziano here who is like the Mother Teresa of Montopolis. On one hand Florence is known internationally on another hand a lot of people don't know who she is. She worked with children from at risk families and she worked with seniors. Her art is kind of reminiscent of what she does with kids. She finds broken cast off things that nobody wants and she turns it into beautiful works of art, you know, that just glow with color and light and sunshine. “
Delwin Goss, longtime resident
Artwork by Florence Ponziano of Florence Comfort House. Source: Florence Comfort House
Renowned artist Peter F. Ortiz Jr., born and raised in Montopolis, has had work exhibited throughout the United States, Mexico and Italy. His mural ‘Unity and Pride’ located on the western wall of the new Montopolis Recreation Center honors the diverse roots of the home community. The Rec Center has programs and activities for toddlers, youth, teens, and adults 50+.
Texas artist Fidencio Duran tells visual stories that transforms personal and community memories into celebrations of culture, history, and the beauty of everyday life. His mural entitled “‘Building Leadership in the Community” in the Montopolis Recreation Center gym celebrates this Riverside neighborhood.
‘Reach for your Dreams’ a sculpture of carved limestone is the focal point of the entrance to the baseball fields of the Montopolis Youth Sports Complex. It honors the children of Montopolis and the history of ball playing from the early Aztec ball players to Father Delaney, who helped start the neighborhood sports league. Artist Ambray Gonzales carved each figure in the deep relief inspired by the youthful drive to strive for the best and imagery that originates with the predominantly Hispanic Montopolis community.
“Reach for Your Dream” by Ambray Gonzales .Source: City of Austin
Named after Roy G. Guerrero, known as the patron saint of Austin Parks, Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metropolitan Park is a large, 400 acre park located along the south bank of the Colorado River immediately downstream of Longhorn Dam. Roy G. Guerrero had a 34 year career with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department. He began as a part time employee and ended his tenure as Assistant Director of the Department. To the Austin community, he became know affectionately as "Mr. G.", the man in city government that could always be counted on for assistance and support, and was known as a creative and innovative leader.
“The hike and bike trail that surrounds Lady Bird Lake, I really enjoy that. If I just need to kind of escape and get out, I'll head down and I'll just kind of sit by the water and you know, decompress for a second you know, get the daily stresses out and come back - back to work.”
Anthony Stevens
Source: City of Austin
“On Lakeshore is a cathedral of trees which I love to pass under every time I go towards Riverside.”
Daniel Llanes
Source: Civic Arts
“For better or worse, you know, it's that sense of movement in this area, maybe people moving out, maybe people move in, that juxtaposition of new and old.”
Roman Morgan, local resident
Source: Civic Arts
East Riverside has also served as a place to those experiencing homelessness to set up temporary shelter.
Source: Civic Arts