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- For the first time in 20 years, more people are leaving Travis County than moving in
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- Travis County approves ambitious ‘Marshall Plan’ for northeast planning district
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Stories by Jack Craver
Housing advocates want a bigger housing bond
With Austin facing an affordable housing crisis, city leaders are hoping that taxpayers will OK tens of millions of dollars to fund the construction of low-cost apartments and houses as well as repairs to homes for Austin’s low-income and working-class…
Bonds & Propositions • By Jack Craver • Aug 31, 2017
Council looks to Waller Creek TIF for homeless funds
City Council is looking to tax increment financing, a tool designed to address urban blight, as a way to address homelessness in downtown Austin. Council is considering extending the life of the Waller Creek Tax Increment Financing Reinvestment Zone for…
City Council • By Jack Craver • Aug 30, 2017
Council considers new affordable housing app
As Austin faces a dire shortage of housing for its poor and working-class population, City Council is looking for every way to get developers to build units that rent at well below market rate. In many cases, developers offer to…
Housing • By Jack Craver • Aug 25, 2017
Council debates best use of HOT dollars
Some City Council members are clearly more convinced of the role that the Austin Convention Center plays in driving the city’s tourism industry and economy than others. The day after several Council members signaled support for a proposal by Council…
City Council • By Jack Craver • Aug 24, 2017
Council approves ambitious renewable energy goals
City Council overwhelmingly approved a plan Thursday that sets big goals for Austin Energy, the municipally owned electric utility, to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels over the next decade. The update to the Austin Energy Resource, Generation and Climate…
Energy • By Jack Craver • Aug 18, 2017
Council to tackle two displacement resolutions today
While Mayor Steve Adler is touting a new task force on gentrification as a fresh opportunity to come up with ideas to address economic displacement, some of his City Council colleagues stress that it will only be a worthwhile effort…
City Council • By Jack Craver • Aug 17, 2017
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City employees likely to see raise in 2018
Good news for city employees: City staff wants to give them a raise, and some members of City Council are interested in pushing for an even bigger pay hike. On Wednesday, the city’s human resources director told Council members that…
City Hall • By Jack Craver • Aug 17, 2017
Environmentalists swarm City Hall in push for carbon-free electricity
In what was clearly the largest turnout for a City Council meeting yet this year, hundreds of activists showed up at City Hall Thursday night to speak out on Austin Energy’s proposed update to its resource plan. Following a rally…
Energy • By Jack Craver • Aug 11, 2017
Ethics panel reluctantly approves final hearing for former police monitor
The city’s Ethics Review Commission voted Wednesday to move to a final hearing over whether former police monitor Margo Frasier violated city ordinance by using her city computer for activity related to a private consulting business she ran. The commission…
City Hall • By Jack Craver • Aug 10, 2017
Unhappy with pools plan, Council members push for a new task force
Unsatisfied with an Aquatic Master Plan that they say endangers many of Austin’s most beloved pools, some City Council members are pushing for a new pools task force to explore ways the city could raise more money to preserve its…