TAYLOR, Texas—The sun blazed down on the field stretching into the distance behind Pamela Griffin’s house in July, just as it has every summer for decades.
Molasses flowed quicker than change happened in this town of about 18,000 outside of Austin—until Big Tech came calling, creating a surge in residents and development.
The field evoked childhood memories for Griffin and her family, who are black. Her relatives have lived in the neighborhood since her grandmother bought the land that was outside of town. Back in the 1960s, racial minorities weren’t allowed to buy property in the city, she said….