More exploring

I did a few more hours worth of photographing murals today in East Austin. I'm getting diminishing returns the farther north I go, but I'm still seeing a few here and there. I got a couple shots at Sam's Bar-B-Que restaurant, and later I swung back by to try the food. I asked for the mutton, I believe the first time I've tried it, and it was alright but not my cup of tea. I prefer brisket, so I told them I'd be back to try that. I recognized the woman from one of the short documentaries aired one night Phil and I went to "East Austin Stories". Sure enough, she confirmed that was her, and told me a scene from The Life of David Gale was filmed there as well.

I'm continually surprised by what I find over there, and today was no different. There's a retirement community that looks plopped down out of the sky, clearly aimed at upper class seniors, which is just huge, a little neighborhood all to itself. In fact, the east side is commonly thought of as being the low-rent part of town, but let me tell you, there are some rich people living over there, and it's all the more striking when you see little enclaves of beautiful houses and brand new condos next door to the poorer one-story houses.

A few weeks ago, I saw graffiti that said something like "Go back to California", and the word "gentrify" has appeared once or twice. It's a very real problem when so many low-income families are concentrated in that part of town, where they have access to so many of the city's amenities and services close at hand. They obviously don't want to give those things up, and why should they?