SXSW's $380M economic impact shows return to prepandemic heights

This year’s South by Southwest appears to have had a local economic impact on par with the years prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, which nearly wiped out the popular music, tech and film confab in 2020. An analysis from Greyhill…

City planning revision of density bonus programs

Members of the city’s Housing and Planning Department say they will be hiring a consultant with expertise in creating and using incentives known as density bonuses to help them untangle the city’s myriad, often competing, development programs. Most of those…

Jury deadlocked in murder trial of Austin police officer who shot Michael Ramos

The trial of the Austin police officer accused of murder in the 2020 fatal shooting of Michael Ramos ended in a mistrial on Wednesday morning. This is the second time the case has ended in mistrial. The first time came…

ABOR report highlights striking disparities in housing affordability

A new report from one of the city’s leading real estate groups is bringing fresh, detailed data that shows how unaffordable housing has become for most local residents. Austin Board of Realtors’ “The Truth About Austin’s Missing Housing” uses industry…

children at day care

Council approves property tax relief for child care centers as federal funding dries up

Following the success of Proposition 2 at the state ballot box, City Council has sprung to action enacting property tax relief for child care facilities across the city. The proposition, which saw 76 percent approval among Travis County voters, amends…

Cap Metro study to identify constraints and opportunities in completing remaining segments of Red Line Trail

At its State of the Parkway event on Monday, the nonprofit Red Line Parkway Initiative met with regional leaders and grassroots organizers to discuss continued work on the 32-mile trail along the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Red Line. The Red…

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City loses second suit over development rules

A group of citizens who sued the city over four ordinances designed to make it easier to develop new housing projects have apparently prevailed on three of the four laws. That means the city will have to go back to…

Idle lands: Austin joins cities looking to put real estate assets to best use

By next spring, the city is expected to have a detailed plan for how to turn its underutilized real estate assets into money-producers, in an attempt to add General Fund revenue and counteract state limits on property tax increases. Austin…

Austin near-miss incident subject of discussion at U.S. Senate hearing on nationwide airport safety “crisis”

February’s near-miss incident at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was the subject of discussion at a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing last week on nationwide airport safety concerns. Aviation industry executives and government officials testified on how to improve safety at the…

Travis County bush

At the county, mentoring and advocacy service comes back to life

After a rocky start, two local nonprofits reunited this year to create a program that supports Black and Latina girls. Nonprofit groups Measure and Hearts2Heal first met with the Travis County Commissioners Court in July 2021. They proposed using American…

Reclaimed water rule postponed till April

On Thursday, City Council voted to postpone adoption of a long-planned ordinance requiring certain large developments to hook up to the city’s reclaimed water system. Bill Bunch, executive director of the Save Our Springs Alliance, asked Council not to agree…

Council approves $15M purchase of the Salvation Army shelter property

The former Salvation Army Downtown Shelter will continue to serve people without homes for years to come, following City Council’s decision to purchase the property for $15 million. The purchase includes the 130-bed shelter on Eighth Street and a retail…