AUSTIN, Texas — For Pelons Tex Mex owner Tasha Miller, Red River Cultural District is special not just because her business is located there, but also because of its significance to the city.
"The Red River District is one of the few Austin areas, it's one of the last few, that are sticking to that – Austin original live music, and it's eclectic live music," Miller said.
But Miller said business owners like herself face challenges like rising rent and never fully recovering from the pandemic.
"Food costs are going to continue to go up. Liquor costs area going to continue to go up. But I think the problem that we see is that the foot traffic is not being pushed to the Red River District anymore the way it is pushed to Sixth Street and it is pushed to Rainey Street," Miller said.
Hot Summer Nights, the free district-wide music and arts festival happening from July 18 to July 20, was created to help businesses and artists like Stephen Flynn, who is also the general manager for Empire Control Room & Garage.
"It's slow for my staff, it's slow for bands playing around town. July is tough for us as a business," Flynn said.
But district leaders have been pushing city leaders for more financial support. Austin City Council passed an initial resolution asking staff to find funding, but discovered there wasn't any. Then, city council passed a follow-up ordinance to establish the funding stream.
The district's council member, Zo Qadri, sent KVUE a statement on securing funding:
"Revenue from fees is normally placed into a transportation fund and typically spent the year after it is collected for a variety of public works projects. The ordinance we passed sets aside $150,000 per year from that revenue source this upcoming fiscal year, starting October 1st, for the exclusive purpose of merchant association efforts in the Red River Cultural District."
"It is a step and it does make a big difference, but it is not enough. Not when you look at how much the city gives to other cultural districts, it is just proportionately larger than what we've been able to receive," Miller said.
Miller and Flynn are just a couple of many Austin business leaders asking the city to do its part to keep Austin uniquely Austin.
"I absolutely fear that if we continue down this road, a lot of the businesses that you see today you won't see next year, and those businesses will be replaced with bigger-named businesses that don't have the local interests necessarily at their full heart. They're not going to know Austin and have loved Austin like the business owners who've been here for years and years and years," Miller said.