The East Cesar Chavez District is deeply rooted in the culture and heritage of East Austin, and has long served as a center of Austin’s Latino/a business, arts, and advocacy. In recent years the District’s proximity to Downtown Austin and nearness to amenities such as Ladybird Lake and Festival Beach Park have spurred major economic and demographic changes to the area. Long rich with small, local businesses, East Cesar Chavez has become a hotbed of new business formation, with major strengths in restaurants, artistic and culturally-oriented retail, boutiques, and coworking spaces. On East Cesar Chavez pinata stores can be found a few blocks from a small tech office, and new restaurants focused on high cuisine and elegant dining are located a quick walk to traditional restaurants that have anchored the neighborhood for decades. iv The businesses in the East Cesar Chavez District are fully aware of the changes in the area. They recognize that these changes bring both opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, the growing retail strength of the District brings new customers and increased chances for shared prosperity. At the same time, rapidly increasing property taxes and commercial rents put tremendous financial pressure on precisely the legacy and eclectic businesses that form a core part of the East Cesar Chavez identity. Through the City of Austin’s Economic Development Department’s Souly Austin Program, the East Cesar Chavez District Merchants Association and participating stakeholders have contributed tremendous time and leadership to outlining and acting upon key priorities for the businesses in the district. Business leader want to embrace new opportunities while preserving the small-scale, friendly atmosphere of East Cesar Chavez. They want to preserve and deepen the cultural heritage of the District, including increasing support for legacy businesses. They want to beautify the District with distinctive gateways, public art, and gathering spaces, looking back to earlier plans to supporting new plaza development. Businesses want to encourage foot traffic and biking in the District to reduce the burdens of congestion and parking for their often historic buildings. Most importantly, they want to build a strong association of businesses that brings together their community to support a diverse, inclusive, and creative business district. Souly Austin’s core mission is to use a place based economic development approach to create and retain strong and vibrant, culturally rich and diverse business districts throughout Austin. It is through this lens and approach that the assets that the Austin community and visitors value can be retained and shared and leveraged for economic and social growth.