'Summer Pup Block Party' Scheduled In East Austin

EAST AUSTIN, TX — Grocery Pup, an Austin-based fresh dog food delivery company, has scheduled an upcoming "summer pup block party" next week in East Austin — a part of the city where a recent study showed now has more dogs than children as a result of gentrification.

Grocery Pup, along with Austin Eastciders and 365 Things Austin, are organizers of the Sunday, June 10, event that will feature live music, cocktails, doggie ice pops and Grocery Pup food samples. Here's the planned rundown, according to their press release:

• Samples of Grocery Pup’s full product line: Porky’s Luau, Bitchin’ Beef Stew and Turkey Pawella.
• Live music from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• Doggie Ice Pops from pupsicool.
• Drink specials + a new Austin Eastciders cocktail.
• Backyard games.
• Pools for the pups to cool off.
• Bites from The Ginger Armadillo food truck.

Entry to the Summer Pup Block Party is free, organizers said, and dogs of all sizes are welcome to attend on-leash. Attendees who place an order with Grocery Pup at the event will receive 30% off their order, a complimentary doggie goodie bag and an Austin Eastciders cocktail, officials added.

Pre-registration is encouraged, but not mandatory. To RSVP, please visit the Eventbrite page.

Related story: With Gentrification, East Austin Goes To The Dogs: UT Study

The location of the canine-centered event may not be accidental. The event comes days after Institute for Urban Policy Research and Analysis researchers at the University of Texas at Austin presented more focused findings in an addendum to their previous, highly publicized March 2018 report titled "Those Who Stayed." On Wednesday, researchers expounded on the dearth of children in East Austin in gentrification's wake — arguably the most talked-about finding from the March report — as a key bellwether of subsequent residential displacement.

The upshot: As families are displaced by gentrification in East Austin, a new, upwardly mobile demographic has moved in. Invariably, the influx of new residents are the pet-owning sort, as evidenced by the now-ubiquitous sight of the upwardly mobile lured to now-trendy East Austin walking their dogs. In the focused neighborhood of the study, dogs now outnumber children 2-to-1, according to researchers.

Increasingly rare, researcher found, is the erstwhile sight of children who once were a common East Austin sight, their presence diminished as families no longer able to afford their bolstered real estate tax bill resulting from commercial-development-driven property values.

The summer pup block party will surely be a fun-filled event for dog lovers. But beyond its festive artifice, it's also a sign of the times illustrative of the doggedly unrelenting force of gentrification.

EVENT DETAILS

WHAT: Summer Pup Block Party

WHEN: Sunday, June 10, from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Austin Eastciders Collaboratory, 979 Springdale Rd Ste. 130, Austin, TX 78702

ABOUT GROCERY PUP (provided promotional copy):

"Grocery Pup is an Austin-based fresh dog food delivery company. What makes Grocery Pup different from your average dog food? They start with a vet-designed menu, toss in a transparent and easy-to-understand ingredient list, and mix it all together in a USDA-certified human-grade kitchen in Texas. The result? Life-prolonging meals that are as healthy as they are delicious, all conveniently sent right to your door. Or as Grocery Pup likes to call it: dog years delivered.

"The subscription-based company was founded in 2017 by co-founders and pup parents, Ruth Stedman and Javier Marriott, and inspired by their four-legged companion Lola. After struggling with the multitude of dog food options made with low-cost fillers and indecipherable ingredients, they decided to develop a healthy, better-for-your-dog brand."

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