East Austin — east of Interstate 35 — is where the city's creative energy has largely relocated over the past two decades. What was historically Austin's African-American neighbourhood, and then a low-income district, has been transformed by rapid gentrification into the city's most concentrated zone of independent restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and music venues.
The tension in East Austin is real: longtime residents have largely been displaced by rising rents, and the neighbourhood's current character reflects that transformation. But for a visitor, it is undeniably the most interesting part of the city to eat, drink, and walk in. East Cesar Chavez and East 6th Street (not the same strip as the downtown entertainment district) are the main corridors. The density of good food is extraordinary: taquerias, ramen shops, natural wine bars, and coffee roasters within a few blocks of each other.