Austin's housing 'goals' are likely nonsense
Our performance is bad, but the goals are worse.
Last month a housing nonprofit hired by the city released a "report card" documenting the city's progress in meeting the goals established in the 2017 Strategic Housing Blueprint.
The report by HousingWorks, and the news coverage that followed, concluded that the city is falling short of many of the blueprint's goals. But the reality is actually much worse: the blueprint itself has always significantly understated Austin's housing shortage.
Considering the political context in which the blueprint was drafted, this is unsurprising. Like many city plans, it has much more to do with the whims of the 11 dilettantes on the Council dais than it does with expert analysis.
