East Austin Run Down

Why did these homeowners let their property go to disrepair? If you can barely pay the property taxes or the heat bill you can't pay for the upkeep and when your wages stay the same, well then you're done for. I think those people could at least pull some money out of the sale. Or they got property seized due to liens. I don't know. Think about all the others who rented and were poor and never owned. This is east of I-35 in Austin and that's where the segregation line began a century ago. When I see these houses I feel that sense of historical inequities regarding race. I also see how some people prospered in the face of it and made good homes for themselves. And how today is not that world but a new one with privilege based on social class more than race.