Stories by Audrey McGlinchy, KUT
The University of Texas says it will help low-income students pay for housing
University of Texas students whose families earn less than $125,000 a year may be able to get money to cover a portion of their on-campus rent for one academic year. University officials teased the new program in an op-ed in the Austin American–Statesman last…
Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Apr 20, 2023
Austin Energy's general manager, Jackie Sargent, steps down
Austin Energy General Manager Jackie Sargent has retired – effective immediately – according to a memo from interim City Manager Jesús Garza. Sargent served as the public utility’s top executive for nearly six years. Sargent was the highest-paid city employee, earning…
City Hall • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Apr 3, 2023
Austin tried and failed to rewrite its land code. Republican lawmakers might do it for them.
In Austin, 5,750 square feet is a magic number. It’s one-tenth of a football field. Half of an Olympic standard swimming pool. And precisely the size of the American dream. “If you’re driving around urban Austin, through Hyde Park, Clarksville,…
Land Development Code • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Mar 22, 2023
Council fires City Manager Spencer Cronk in wake of winter storm response
Austin City Council members have fired City Manager Spencer Cronk, the city’s chief executive. The vote Wednesday followed criticism of his leadership during an ice storm that left hundreds of thousands without power earlier this month. “I ran (for mayor)…
City Council • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Feb 16, 2023
In Texas, you can be forced to sell your condo
It was outside the mailroom where Deborah Michals learned she could lose her home. One night this past summer when Michals walked outside her condominium in North Austin to check her mail or catch up with a neighbor doing laundry…
Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Jan 25, 2023
After years of negotiation, renovations begin on Austin’s oldest publicly owned homes
Alexis Henderson stands in the kitchen of her former home at Rosewood Courts in East Austin. The place is abandoned now, save for a couple of items. A rag on the stairwell. A video game decal on the bedroom wall.…
Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Dec 16, 2022
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Kirk Watson, who first led the city two decades ago, is elected mayor of Austin again
Lee esta historia en español By a razor-thin margin, Austin voters chose Kirk Watson as the city’s next mayor, electing him to navigate soaring housing costs and contentious fights playing out over how to build for the city’s growing population. Watson squeaked…
Elections • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Dec 13, 2022
City Council approves 10% raise for city manager, Austin's top executive
Citing a much-delayed cost-of-living adjustment, Council members on Thursday bumped Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk’s salary from $350,000 to just over $388,000. The move represents an 11 percent increase in pay and the first change to Cronk’s base salary since…
City Council • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Dec 13, 2022
Austin is holding runoff elections for mayor and City Council. Why don't people vote in these races?
Beto O’Rourke. Sure, you’ve heard of him. Greg Abbott? Duh. Herschel Walker. You’ve probably heard of him, too. (If you haven’t, here you are.) But what about Celia Israel? Ryan Alter? Linda Guerrero? Walking out of a coffee shop in North…
Elections • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Dec 8, 2022
Austin's program to sell homes to people affected by gentrification off to slow start
The city of Austin has not yet sold one of the two dozen homes it began marketing six months ago to low-income families affected by displacement and the influx of wealth into neighborhoods. This is the city’s first attempt at using…
Housing • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Nov 28, 2022
Israel and Watson will head to December runoff in the race to elect Austin's next mayor
Lee esta historia en español More than half of Austin voters could not agree on one candidate to be the city’s next mayor, so voters will return to the polls in a month to determine the winner. Celia Israel had…
Elections • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Nov 9, 2022
Homes in Austin’s white neighborhoods are valued much higher than ones in communities of color
People of color in Austin can expect their homes to be worth nearly three times less than homes owned by white residents, according to a new report. Researchers with Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Illinois-Chicago found that,…
