At the end of the workday in downtown Austin, streams of construction workers start pouring out of the city. They spend their days building the condos and office buildings that will make up the new Austin, but they go home to surrounding suburbs and cities where they can afford to live. Much has been made […]
Cate Malek
Posted inParks
City begins work on new urban trails
Two new urban trails are set to begin construction next March, providing more options for Austinites who prefer to go carless. Teams should complete work on the Upper Boggy Creek Trail, serving neighborhoods on the east side, in November 2017. And work on a new section of the 30-mile Violet Crown Trail North, located in […]
Posted inBudget
Task force to investigate HOT tax spending
City Council will spend the coming weeks looking into whether Austin’s Hotel Occupancy Tax (or HOT tax) should continue to be used only for tourism, or if there are better uses for the rapidly growing tax revenue. At their meeting on Aug. 18, Council members unanimously passed a resolution to form a task force to […]
Posted inZoning
East Austin neighborhood fights church over redevelopment plan
It was meant to be a practical plan for a local church to get out of debt. But when St. James Missionary Baptist Church requested that part of its property be rezoned in order to build new condominiums, it tapped a nerve in rapidly gentrifying East Austin. Members of a historically African-American neighborhood near the […]
Posted inBudget
City responds to call for more street and sidewalk maintenance
Austinites who have complained about the state of the city’s streets may soon see an improvement, if a proposed tax increase is approved as part of next year’s budget. In a survey conducted by the city last year, members of the public rated street maintenance among their top priorities for increased funding. As a response, […]
Posted inFire
City Council sounds alarm over locker rooms for female firefighters
A multiyear project to provide locker rooms for Austin’s female firefighters has stuttered past its deadline, causing frustration among both firefighters and City Council. At a budget work session on Aug. 10, Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr promised to redouble her efforts to finish construction of locker rooms at six fire stations where installation was […]
Posted inCity Hall
City Manager Marc Ott steps down
After almost nine years as the most powerful person in local government, City Manager Marc Ott resigned his post today. Ott has accepted a position as executive director of the International City/County Management Association in Washington, D.C., beginning Oct. 30. In his new role, Ott will be leading an influential association of local government managers from […]
Posted inBudget
Environmental Commission recommends funds for river watchers
The health of Austin’s rivers is carefully monitored on a regular basis by a team of experts. But some of those experts are much younger than many people may realize. Austin Youth River Watch has been training at-risk high school students to check the levels of pollutants in the city’s natural waterways since 1992. The […]
Posted inResources
Austinites to receive incentive for storing rainwater
Property owners who have gone above and beyond in their efforts to store rainwater will start to receive a discount on their drainage fees next year. The Watershed Protection Department has proposed the change in an attempt to create an equitable system for assessing the monthly drainage fees paid by property owners. The new system, […]
Posted inEnvironment
City arborists need reinforcements
It’s easy to imagine that Austin’s trees are a natural feature of the city, but the abundant greenery lining the streets is actually protected and maintained by a tiny army of arborists. And, with new buildings being built every day, these tree experts are struggling to keep up. “We work extra hours because we’re passionate […]
Posted inAustin
Coalition fights to add worker protections to expedited building permit process
The people who are building Austin can no longer afford to live in it, labor advocates say. Although they’re working on the big construction projects that are pushing Austin’s growth, construction workers in Austin have few protections, and many are living on or near poverty wages, pushing them to move outside of Austin to areas […]
Posted inBudget
Austin police short-staffed and underprotected, advocates say
In the aftermath of two shootings in Austin last weekend, City Council should increase police numbers as well as invest in better body armor, advocates say. Those shootings, along with a fierce national debate over the role police should be playing in communities, gave added gravity to a discussion over Austin’s shortage of police officers and […]