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Most Popular Stories
- City eyes fund to preserve affordable housing, capitalize on overbuilt apartment market
- Austin ISD eliminating jobs at its central office to reduce budget deficit
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The mayor's bond proposal is the "Smart Corridor Resolution." So, what makes a street smart?
Cars, buses and trucks idle at the four-way intersection at Guadalupe Street and West Dean Keeton Street. A horde of prospective students takes to the crosswalk, the timer counting down. Traverse this intersection long enough and you might soon understand…
Roads • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Jun 22, 2016
Austin loses Smart City bid to Columbus
It appears that United States Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx has decided that Austin is not a Smart City. On Tuesday, Ohio’s two members of the U.S. Senate announced that their state capital, Columbus, won the U.S. Department of Transportation’s…
Austin • By Caleb Pritchard • Jun 22, 2016
AE proposes raising residential service charge
The independent consumer advocate that the city hired to represent the interests of Austin residents and small businesses as it reviews electricity rates is crying foul. John Coffman, who heads the advocate team, accuses Austin Energy, the city-owned utility, of…
Energy • By Jack Craver • Jun 22, 2016
Council direction on bonds still unclear
Both Mayor Steve Adler and City Council Member Ann Kitchen have come up with new versions of their proposals for a transportation bond election in November. Adler’s revised proposal would still request voter approval to sell $720 million in general…
Transportation • By Jo Clifton • Jun 22, 2016
City faces lawsuit over short-term rental ordinance
A group of homeowners and renters are suing the city of Austin over its effort to regulate short-term rental units, or STRs, like those you’d find on sites such as Airbnb or HomeAway. The suit claims several problems with the city’s…
Courts • By Syeda Hasan • Jun 21, 2016
AISD approves $1.3 billion budget
Trustees with the Austin Independent School District approved a $1.3 billion operating budget for the upcoming 2016-2017 school year in an 8-0-1 vote Monday night, with District 1 Trustee Edmund Gordon abstaining. It is the largest budget AISD has ever…
AISD • By Courtney Griffin • Jun 21, 2016
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With funding still in question, Council approves sidewalk plan update
City Council last week gave nearly unanimous approval to an update of the 2009 Sidewalk Master Plan. The 9-0-1 vote comes in the middle of the ongoing debate over a small batch of mobility bond proposals that could go before…
Transportation • By Caleb Pritchard • Jun 21, 2016
Commission OKs drainage discount for rain barrels
The city’s Environmental Commission endorsed a proposed ordinance last week that will give property owners the chance to lower their drainage fees if they make efforts to reduce runoff from their properties. Austin Water utility already provides a one-time rebate…
Water • By Jack Craver • Jun 21, 2016
Poll may reflect Council vulnerability
According to a poll conducted for the Austin Monitor, a majority of those polled in City Council Member Don Zimmerman’s district — 52 percent — approve of how Council handled the Uber/Lyft election issue. At the same time, 51 percent…
Local Politics • By Jo Clifton • Jun 20, 2016
Environmental Commission votes narrowly against Grove PUD
After six hours of testimony from neighbors at a previous meeting and a two-and-a-half-hour question and answer session with city staff and project developers at its most recent one, members of the city Environmental Commission remained deeply divided over a…
Planning • By Jack Craver • Jun 20, 2016
Charter school agreement held up by environmental dispute
A debate over development standards for charter schools is close to being resolved, but reaching a final agreement hinges on finding a solution to a dispute over environmental regulations. The city has been working to close a loophole that effectively…
Land Development Code • By Cate Malek • Jun 20, 2016
Reporter's Notebook: It's about mobility, apparently
Pods, people… City Council’s ongoing discussion about potentially visiting upon voters this November a massive mobility bond has drawn from the woodwork advocates of just about every different mode of transportation. A public hearing during last Tuesday’s Mobility Committee meeting…
