Parkland dedication fees go way down
A big construction cost driver is going down.
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A rare comment on national politics
I watched a bit of the Speaker circus in D.C. today. It's rich to see the "establishment" Republican members of Congress who supported Trump's efforts to overturn a democratic election clutch their pearls about extremism, dysfunction and politics that are unmoored from reality.
The big change in parkland dedication fees
For YIMBYs and urbanists, this year's legislative session was deeply disappointing. None of the bills aimed at curbing zoning restrictions (minimum lot sizes, ADUs, height restrictions) passed, ironically due mostly to opposition from Democrats, the party the great majority of Austin YIMBYs support.
But there is at least one new law that will reduce the cost of building new housing. But I don't see a lot of victory laps from local YIMBYs because it's kind of a touchy subject.
The issue is parkland dedication. The amount of land or money that developers will be required to give the city is going way, way down.
