An eclectic residential and commercial neighborhood in Austin, Texas. Dawson is generally considered the site of the first major push southward from the Colorado River (now dammed as Lake Austin) after World War II. Despite booming development through the late 1990s in South Austin, the neighborhood has largely avoided gentrification, but vehemently fends off the local sex trade and frequently clashes with the Texas Department of Transportation over development of state highway 71, also known as Ben White Boulevard within the Austin city limits, which runs along Dawson's south border. Other boundaries include Oltorf (north), South Congress (east) and South First (west).