Nearly 100 people crammed into a back room of a South Austin lodge to hear Mayor Steve Adler tackle some boring stuff. Made up mostly of members of the Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association, the audience sat in cushioned beige chairs looking at times angry, confused and tired. When the seats were full, neighbors leaned against […]
Audrey McGlinchy, KUT
Posted inHousing
Rents rise despite new housing keeping pace with growth, study finds
Developers that want to build low-income housing in wealthier neighborhoods should engage more with neighborhood groups to convince them of the merits of affordable housing. That’s one recommendation in a study published today by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. The study assessed the state of low- and middle-income housing in Austin with input […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Second draft of CodeNEXT allows more housing in more places, city says
Austin is releasing a second draft of CodeNEXT, the city’s rewrite of its Land Development Code, today. “We are really excited about the new draft coming out,” Peter Park of Opticos Design, a consultant hired by the city, told City Council members during a preview of the new draft last week. Park said the second […]
Posted inHousing
Harvey ‘washed us back home’: Is Austin too expensive for those relocating after Harvey?
Wendy Rivera sat in a metal folding chair outside the shelter for Hurricane Harvey evacuees in Southeast Austin. She shared a 44-ounce convenience store soda with her husband, Ramiro. Ramiro, tall, soft-spoken and tattooed, used his body and a white towel to shade the two from the demanding sun. “We’re pretty wiped out,” said Wendy. […]
Posted inPublic Safety
How one immigrants’ rights group is preparing for ‘sanctuary cities’ law
Candelario Vazquez, 34, stood in front of a 20-person audience. None of the adults and children, some of them squirming in their hard plastic chairs, asked to be in his audience. “Good morning, friends,” said Vazquez, who works for the immigrants’ rights nonprofit Workers Defense Project. He wears glasses and has specks of gray in […]
Posted inThe Code
Regulation Vacation: City collects taxes from unlawful Airbnbs
Becca Dobberfuhl has a name for her Bouldin Creek home. “It’s all this rusty, rusty, rusty color,” she said. “And the house is a modern house and it has a box-like look to it so we call it the ‘Rusty Box.’” Users of short-term rental company Airbnb can pay to stay in the “Rusty Box” […]
Posted inCity Council
A Council member wants to officially rename Robert E. Lee Road. What would it take to do it?
Following a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville over the weekend, Austin City Council Member Greg Casar is calling for the renaming of Robert E. Lee Road in South Austin and Jeff Davis Avenue in North Austin. Over the weekend, someone spray painted over street signs for Robert E. Lee Road. The city said it […]
Posted inAustin
Mayor Adler wants a task force on gentrification. We’ve had plenty of those.
For five weeks in 2001, Karen Paup spent her afternoons with other Austin residents talking about the city’s changing east side. The group included a pastor, a developer and a now-professor at New York University. “We shared anecdotes, we looked at data,” said Paup, who works for Texas Housers, a nonprofit focused on low-income housing. […]
Posted inBudget
Budget proposal would raise Austin property taxes, increase permitting capacity
Austin homeowners could see higher property tax bills next year. Under the city’s proposed $3.9 billion budget, most residents with a median-value home ($305,510) would pay an additional $118 in property taxes compared to last year. Utility fees would rise, too – with median-value homeowners seeing an additional $60 annually in fees. The proposed budget […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Texas lawmakers may alter property tax collection. But how does it even work?
During a recent committee hearing on a property tax bill, a state lawmaker made an unusual comment: He praised Travis County. “Travis County has the best record on reducing tax rate,” said state Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), the author of Senate Bill 1. The bill, which has passed out of the full Senate and may […]
Posted inBicycles
B-cycle is expanding. So why are all the new stations near downtown?
B-cycle, Austin’s bike-share system, recently added three new stations as part of an 18-station build up over the next 18 months. All of these new stations will be close to or in downtown, adding to the company’s existing 51 docks. An expansion might seem like an opportunity to finally build a station outside of B-cycle’s […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
As city debates how to keep the peace, an expert explains how to keep things quiet
City Council members have delayed a vote on the so-called “agent of change” proposal, which would establish rules aimed at easing tensions between neighbors and music venues over amplified sound. An early version of the rules asked both new businesses and established venues to commit to “build accordingly to accommodate for sound.” But some found […]