Daily Newsletters

Where we go from here depends on how behavior changes in the coming weeks.

There was no justification to shoot at Ramos, let alone shooting into a car that includes another person.

While COVID has made the case for transit tougher, it has only strengthened the case to start prioritizing pedestrians and cyclists over cars. 

It's not just a matter of reducing infections.

They're hoping to use fears of COVID and tax hikes to sink Project Connect.

Four Council members say Chief Manley has more questions to answer.

The initial reactions to the report on Friday were reminiscent of the response to the Mueller report. In both cases, cheerleaders for the accused seized on the inconclusive nature of the report as vindication or exoneration while ignoring many of the report's troubling revelations. 

Could City Council just approve a bunch of code amendments without facing court challenges?

Council's first all-virtual meeting went relatively smoothly.

It's still not clear which projects will be allowed to go forward.

The coronavirus may very likely be the knock-out blow to long-struggling local media outlets that depend on ad revenue.

The county and city issue shelter in place orders. Here's what they do.

The only way to realistically reduce traffic is to reduce demand. The only way to do that may be a global pandemic.

Yesterday Police Monitor Farah Muscadin and APD officials outlined a new policy for releasing video footage of officer-involved shootings and other cases involving use of force.  

What's clear is that legitimate concerns have already damaged this year's festival. That could be a terrible blow to the local economy.

So far none of the media reporting on the vandalism either know or are willing to say what it is obvious: this was perpetrated by Defend Our Hoodz, the same crowd of wannabe revolutionaries who have disrupted City Council meetings over the 4700 E. Riverside project, harassed Pio Renteria & Alison Alter at their homes and recently attacked the home of an employee of Presidium, the developer responsible for the Riverside project.

Fears that the new code will eviscerate Austin's heritage tree ordinance are unfounded. In fact, it's builders who are worried about new tree regs.

A gravel mine just west of SH 130 will turn into a major mixed-use development.

Street parking should not be discouraged. People should be encouraged to do it –– and to pay for it.

Despite its liberal reputation, most of Austin's political leaders are decidedly moderate. That may change as national progressive movements gain steam.

It would be a disservice to the community to pass up on the chance to get tens of millions of dollars for the building, particularly when local government is strapped for cash due to revenue caps.

Muny represents an egregious waste of resources for both the city and the university. I've played there a few times myself and enjoyed it, but it's insane to think that its preservation should be a top priority for city leaders in the midst of a housing crisis, a mobility crisis and a pending fiscal crisis due to revenue caps.

Preservationists on Council propose amendments that will reducing new housing.

Pro-reform Council members push for more housing in the new code over the resistance of city staff.

Activists say that at the very least they would like the city to have a written policy that makes immediate release the assumption, rather than the exception. If it turns into a legal battle over state law, so be it. 

Here's a look at how the current code has been so effective at limiting the cheapest form of housing available.

Here are a number of ways that city staff has watered down the land development code rewrite.

Staff did a good job of mapping transition areas in the first draft. In the second draft, they bowed to political pressure from both Central/West Austin anti-growthers and anti-gentrification voices on the East and reduced overall housing capacity. The impulse to block or slow redevelopment is somewhat intuitive. In a city with rapidly rising housing costs, blocking new development, which is always more expensive than the old stuff, seems to make sense. The problem is that when land values are as high as they are in Austin, single-family homes are always unaffordable.  

City staff is bowing to pressure and reducing housing opportunities in the new code.

The Trump tax cuts have been very harmful to the Low Income Tax Credit program. Investors are paying less for the credits due to their reduced incentive to lower their tax liability.

Zoning entitlements don't mean jack if they're accompanied by other development regulations that make it harder to build.

Yesterday at the Council Housing Committee city staff reported that they had looked at building permits over the past 10 years and found that less than 2% of all units in that time had come in 3-10 unit developments. 

What a missed opportunity. I would love to see 100 units on that site that would provide walkable access to Lamar. Why are we mandating that whatever gets built here list for over $1M? 

I hope that whatever the transportation department comes up with (whenever we're able to see it), that it finds a way to recognize/reward development that is likely to generate fewer car trips based on proximity to amenities/employers & transit access.

Although this resolution was theoretically prompted by the legal limbo created by hemp legalization, it's also obvious that the lead supporters believe decriminalization, if not legalization, is simply the right thing to do.  

The big question is how we're going to fund both the study and other scooter cleanup efforts. There's naturally an inclination among some on Council to shift as much of the cost as possible onto the scooter companies.

Ideally, the EDC could partner with Cap Metro to acquire, develop and lease land along transit routes, with the goal of providing transit-supportive density (commercial & residential) as well as generating much-needed revenue for the city, which could be used to fund any city priority (social services, public safety etc). 

The idea isn't new -- not even to Austin. Cap Metro briefly eliminated fares around 1990 and saw ridership skyrocket. But the idea was quickly abandoned. There are obvious pros. And some pretty big cons.

It's great that we now have a national holiday dedicated to a champion of civil rights, human rights and peace, but it's also frustrating to see MLK's message sanitized, warped and coopted by political leaders who have dedicated their careers to working against everything MLK stood for.  Greg Abbott, for instance, took a short break from demonizing our community's most destitute to give a shout-out to King. Trump, who launched his political career by spreading a racist conspiracy theory about America's first black president, is also pretending to respect Dr. King. 

Legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana is far superior to decriminalization. But the city doesn't currently have that option. It will be up to the state to do that, which I trust it will do in the not-so-distant future. 

CAMPO is a "metropolitan planning organization," an entity mandated by the federal government to plan and coordinate the dispersement of federal transportation funds in major metro areas. The organization is managed by a 21-member board that consists mostly of elected officials from various jurisdictions with the planning area.  The composition of the board greatly inflates the power of small, rural constituencies at the expense of Austin and Travis County. Caldwell County is less than 1/20 the size of the city of Austin but it has 1/4 as many representatives on the board. 

It's now 99% certain: Project Connect will include two light rail routes. What only a few months ago appeared to be a pipe dream among transit activists now has the backing of Cap Metro and city leadership.  Indeed, what Cap Metro is envisioning is in many ways more ambitious than what activists have been pushing for.

Alison Alter raised $61.6k in the last two months of 2019, putting her in a very strong position as she approaches reelection in November. This is an unprecedented haul for a Council candidate a year before the election. Last year at this time Paige Ellis led the pack with a grand total of $4,000 raised. Kathie Tovo, an incumbent with a devoted base, had only raised $1,050. 

A big bond might not be enough for high-capacity transit. There are other ways to get the money.

It's always hard to say how much a major construction project will cost, but it's already clear that the new Convention Center will cost considerably more than originally estimated.

The great majority of residential lots in this city are zoned to allow duplexes. So why don't we see more of them? 

A rundown of the notable changes Council has proposed for the 2nd draft of the new code.

Ann Kitchen's brief affair with housing reform appears to be over for good; she is now voting reliably with the preservationist bloc.

A direction to allow garages and attics to be partially exempted from FAR calculations was approved without a vote.

The housing debate pits old vs young. But both sides are overwhelmingly white.