And now let us celebrate Freak Out Day

After one day of chill, the urbanist group AURA has released a statement on the new CodeNEXT maps, declaring the current plans to have “near fatal flaws.” The April 19 statement reads, in part, “AURA members, along with many other community advocates and Austin taxpayers, are in disbelief that the City of Austin spent $6 million and over two years only to maintain the status quo. The nominal differences between current and future land maps are a slap in the face to the Austinites who have spent hundreds of volunteer hours in the hopes of improving our city.” The full statement is available online here, but the stated concerns roughly boil down to missed opportunities for more housing and density and a concern that the rewrite enshrines some of the more convoluted aspects of the current code, failing to deliver on the promise to make it clearer and more concise.