Thread by @GregCasar

🧵 I don't think @evan7257 is critiquing Austin itself. He's condemning a caricature of Austin & the broken housing politics that comes with it.

The solution isn't to bash #ATX. It is to *celebrate* the real Austin & tackle our challenges. 1/7
texasmonthly.com/news-politics/…

It's often left out of the #ATX story, but *hundreds of thousands of working class people live here.* And Austin is majority people of color.

We can keep the working/middle class in Austin! But that means rewriting our zoning code while also rewriting the story of our city. 2/7

Oh, Austin music? It's phenomenal. Yes, @WillieNelson is truly great, but #ATX has new voices that clearly need to be lifted up more.

There's @ginachavez, @mobleywho, @jackievenson & so many whose music *should be* what the whole world thinks of when we say "Austin." 3/7

Something @evan7257 probably shouldn't have said: "the people who run Houston’s taco trucks actually speak Spanish."

Austin has a BIG immigrant community. Instead of minimizing it, we should champion & support places like Rundberg's taco mile. 4/7
austin.eater.com/22453149/best-…

We're not giving up on #ATX.

We’ve passed a historic mass transit plan with Project Connect.
We’re going to house 1000s of people experiencing homelessness.
And now we will struggle & commit to big change to tackle affordability, because we *must* for the people of our city. 5/7

The story of Austin is written by everyday people. We can ensure our future is just as inclusive, committed, and creative as our people. But we must act fast to ensure families can afford to be a part of this city. 6/7

Thanks to @evan7257, @TexasMonthly, & @Forrest4Trees for pushing us to look at ourselves & do better.

You're invited to eat at @MiTrailita any time.
Oh, and Build the Ike Dike. 7/7