Southeast

The Southeast, Austin neighborhood, also known as Dove Springs, is a neighborhood that has long had a well-deserved reputation for being a high crime area overwhelmed with drugs and prostitution, but there are some positive changes in the works. Just to the west of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, there are more vacant lots here than anything and the few residents of the area have to deal with incoming and outgoing planes at all times of the night and day. While the airport itself does have some Austin flavor in the form of popular eateries and dining unique to the city, if you're not leaving or coming back from a flight, there is no reason to be caught here.

While there are some hotels and dining options here, most of the people you'll meet here are traveling to and from the city for business or pleasure. There are the Capitol Metro bus and rail lines to take you to other parts of the city that are much more attractive and safe.

Southeast Austin, or Dove Springs, is at a pretty critical point right now. The area has long been saddled with a reputation for high crime and high poverty, but it has also seen major changes in the past and major changes are underway now, as well.

Real estate, either rentals or purchases, is extremely affordable. The neighborhood is predominantly Hispanic—in fact, it is home to more people of Hispanic descent than any other Austin neighborhood. While its residents tend to be living at the poverty line, juvenile crime has been falling and high school graduation seems to be on the rise. A new breed of community-minded activist types have infiltrated the area as well, and were even instrumental in having a clinic built in the past couple of years, allowing residents to get treatment locally without having to travel to other parts of Austin.

Public transit is strong, and again, housing is affordable, which may make it an appealing choice to many different types of people. While crime is still a problem, it does seem to be on a downward trend, and previous successful positive changes make it seem more than possible Dove Springs could experience a strong revitalization, given enough time.

There is little to say about Southeast Austin. It is right next tot the airport and has to suffer from the constant noise of low flying airplanes. It is mostly giant vacant plots of land that have had nothing done to them with a small strip center or warehouse here or there. There is a small cluster of cookie cutter reproduction houses along McKinney Falls Pkwy, each with a very small yard and no trees in sight. Closer to the airport just off of where E. Riverside Dr. begins are several blocks of run down wooden shacks and mobile homes, many of which have half torn down fences and broken down cars in the front yard.

Immediately outside of the airport is a hotel and Waffle House and due to the dirt cheap rental and selling prices of property being right next to the airport, some government agencies have their offices here including the Travis County Tax Office and the Texas Workers Compensation Office. usually neighborhoods in the general southeast area tend to have higher crime rates, but there are so few people here at such a low density that there really is little room for criminal activity. Most crime statistic sights do not even include the Southeast Austin neighborhood. Anyone that does for some reason decide to live here definitely needs a car to get around and this area does have the advantage of having direct access to both Hwy 71 and Hwy 183. This neighborhood, if it can be called so, could be any under occupied district in an city, as there is no visual evidence of this being part of Austin.