Direct cash, anti-displacement efforts, and conservative backlash in one of America’s most rapidly gentrifying states — and how Austin is stepping up. By Annie Flom Texas in 2021 is a ball of contradictions. Rapid population growth, gentrification, and demographic shifts are reshaping the state at a dizzying pace. According to the 2020 Census, Texas experienced the largest population growth of any state since 2010. Texans of color made up 95% of that…