Download the map.The vulnerability map reveals the tracts—drawn in varying shades of red—that are home to unusually high proportions of vulnerable people as measured by the five vulnerability factors described in the previous section (people of color, lack of higher education, low income, renters, and children in poverty). Tracts that are wholly or partially inside the city limits but that were not analyzed (University of Texas, the airport, etc.) are shown in a cross-hatched pattern. Tracts that are wholly or partially inside the city boundary that did not register as having unusually large vulnerable populations are shown in dark grey.
The tracts that are shown as vulnerable are classi ed as Vulnerable (salmon), More Vulnerable (pink), and Most Vulnerable (dark red). In general, the geographic pattern closely follows what has come to be known as the “eastern crescent.” This is an area shaped like a backward letter “C” that begins due north of downtown Austin just outside of U.S. Highway 183, and follows the highway as it heads southeast and then due south before bending to the southwest and mostly ending due south of downtown and Oltorf. The eastern crescent has come to be known as the new geographic pattern of social disadvantage in Austin, supplanting to some degree the conception of the city’s advantaged and disadvantaged areas as lying to the west and east, respectively, of Interstate 35. It is noteworthy that in spite of many years of intensive gentri cation immediately east of downtown in Central East Austin, disadvantaged populations remain in these areas.
The pockets of deepest disadvantage lie in and near the Rundberg area in North Austin, Daffin Gin Park in Northeast, Rosewood in East Austin, Montopolis in inner Southeast, and Franklin Park in Southeast just south of the Ben White highway and immediately east of Interstate 35. These pockets mostly lie a considerable distance from downtown; aside from Rosewood, which is within three miles of City Hall, the next closest is Montopolis, about four miles away. These patterns show that while the process of social disadvantage in Austin moving to the outskirts is not entirely complete—vulnerable populations can still be found near downtown, to the east—it is well underway. Compared to even 20 or 30 years ago, a higher share of disadvantaged people in Austin are in locations that are distant from the various economic, cultural, and other opportunities offered by Austin’s urban core—including the University of Texas, the state capitol, and central business district.