The article uses this statistic as the bedrock of its claim that Austin is in trouble re segregation. First, it's a statistic of income based segregation, not race -though I realize the two often go hand-in-hand (unfortunately) :

Secondly, Austin is TENTH on the list behind cities like New York, DC, Philly etc. -Not saying it's good to be "tenth" but it's also not terribly surprising given the large hispanic population. When people hear/read the word segregation they tend to automatically think "black" in the US based on our history. You mention that West Austin is black/hispanic while South Austin is more hispanic. Seems the income inequality is largely hispanic vs. white in Austin compared to other cities. -just a guess.

You are right, it's largely an economic thing and imo has less to do with businesses/white people intentionally segregating and more to do with businesses grabbing up cheap realestate and giving jobs to the educated. So, as always in these types of conversations the solution lies in educating our populace -ALL OF OUR POPULACE.

By the way, I've noticed that many other cities, Durham included, have adopted the keep ____ weird motto. Copy-cats. I love Austin, had a great time at scrimetime's wedding there. South Congress (SOCO) is a blast.