Austin American Statesman reports that, Arnold Oil is moving out of East Austin and will move into a industrial area near the airport.
Co-owner Jim Arnold said the company needs more space and that what started as a two-man operation has outgrown Central East Austin, and vice versa. “I said there will come a time when this business will no longer have a place in East Austin, and that time has come,” Arnold said Tuesday. “We need to expand … and this doesn’t belong in East Austin on Friday nights and Saturday nights. It’s a changed place.”
The area east of I-35 in Austin, continues to change economically and culturally. Since the 1990 the area has renovated older housing stock, added housing and new businesses. A study by the UT-Austin LBJ School done in 2007 documents some of these changes. Recent activity has only continued the trends identified in the study.
Here are a few of the highlights:
- There is a significant demographic change in the racial and ethnic composition of East Austin
- There is overall increase in median family income and decrease in poverty levels in East Austin
- East Austin’s population is becoming younger and better educated.
- There is a substantial increase in housing values