The East Side has been up-and-coming for a little while now—in two words, it’s come up to be both hip and urban. In a few more words—a cultural, artsy, funky, colorful, and much safer than it was decades ago. It’s walkable,and boasts a good coffee-shop-to-capita ratio (though the food truck ratio is competing with this number), local farmers’ markets, galleries, dive bars, fine dine, fantastic live music, and, if you’re lucky, neon green birds often referred to as “parrots.” While East Austin is an older neighborhood comprised mostly of mid-century bungalows and cottages, a construction boom has added condominiums and new construction to its inventory; collectively, this, for now, makes the East Side a great place to buy affordably—before it blows up like Travis Heights.