"A 'cesspool' under Montopolis bridge - access being ruined by trash, glass and pollution, some say"

This site in East Austin is one of the most used and abused marginal spaces in the city. I have monitored it for ten years and, in particular, I have followed the fortunes of this bald cypress tree growing from the concrete footer of Montopolis Bridge.

On some weekends you can find hundreds of people gathered to swim, fish, drink, bbq, and hang out. The Austin newspaper proclaimed this site a "cesspool" in an article yesterday [without saying if the pun was intended]. The article set off a racist/classist/enviro flame war in the comments after the article, revealing the social tensions over urban margins and cultural expectations/differences about how to engage nature. [and also how racism and environmentalism can be entwined]. Read for yourself http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/08/19/0819watch.html

No report about what the cypress tree thought...