The city’s Music Commission may consider a proposal from a local advocacy group to designate a specific portion of grants from a new city grant program to be awarded to working musicians, who are increasingly finding it harder to afford living in Austin. At Monday’s meeting, the commission heard a presentation from representatives from Austin […]
Chad Swiatecki
Chad Swiatecki is a 20-year journalist who relocated to Austin from his home state of Michigan in 2008. He most enjoys covering the intersection of arts, business and local/state politics. He has written for Rolling Stone, Spin, New York Daily News, Texas Monthly, Austin American-Statesman and many other regional and national outlets.
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Three consultants enlisted to fix city’s arts, music grant programs
Amid criticism over problems with the rollout of new grant programs for artists and musicians, the Economic Development Department has hired three outside consultants to study and recommend how to improve their performance. A memo released last week by Sylnovia Holt-Rabb, director of EDD, detailed plans for improving the experience for applicants to the new […]
Posted inWhispers
Anderson to step down from Trail Conservancy role
The Trail Conservancy has announced that CEO Heidi Anderson will step down from her position at the end of the year. She has not announced what her next role will be. In the interim, COO Hanna Cofer will serve in the top spot for the nonprofit organization that oversees the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail, which also […]
Posted inHousing
Panelists debate potential housing supply impacts from HOME initiative
Advocates for more housing options in Austin see hope in recently passed changes in city land use policy intended to increase density, but still hope for more progress in increasing the overall supply of housing available for middle- and lower-income residents. Last week’s A Home for Everyone panel discussion brought together leaders from a variety […]
Posted inWhispers
Austin’s real estate is a ‘supernova’
A national report from Urban Land Institute has named Austin as No. 5 in a ranking of the top real estate markets, joining Nashville, Tennessee; Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; and Boise, Idaho, in the “supernova” category of desirable markets. Those cities are seen as strong magnet communities drawing people and companies more quickly than […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Council votes to eliminate off-street parking requirements
City Council voted Thursday to eliminate requirements for minimum amounts of off-street parking on new construction projects, marking a shift in the city’s push to increase the amount of housing stock while decreasing development costs. The amendments to the city’s building code passed 8-2, with Council members Alison Alter and Mackenzie Kelly voting against. The […]
Posted inWhispers
Community event lends a hand to those who have served their time
TimeDone Texas, a statewide program to organize and empower Texans living with a past record, is hosting a community empowerment event at noon, Saturday, at Givens Recreation Center on East 12th Street. Organizers will help participants advocate for more progressive public safety policies. Those in attendance can also receive information about housing options, employment assistance, […]
Posted inEnergy
City considering capital projects, private development as sites for underground power lines
Austin Energy and various city departments are studying how to bury selected sections of overhead power lines underground to reduce the impact of extreme weather disasters. The burying of lines, which in many cases also serve equipment for private communications companies or other utilities, is one of the solutions suggested after the February winter storm […]
Posted inWhispers
ATP names two vice presidents
Austin Transit Partnership has named Brad Cummings as its new senior vice president of procurement and contract management and Haley Garcia as its new senior vice president of program controls in the planning, community and federal programs department. Cummings most recently served as vice president of business services for Dallas Area Rapid Transit and was […]
Posted inWhispers
Texas Hill Country talks water
Cities and counties from throughout the Texas Hill Country recently met to identify best practices for addressing water needs throughout the fast-growing region, which includes Travis County. October’s One Water in the Texas Hill Country conference – organized by the Hill Country Alliance, the city of Boerne and Cibolo Center for Conservation – highlighted a […]
Posted inWhispers
St. David’s grants $7.8M toward housing
St. David’s Foundation has granted $7.8 million to various Central Texas organizations that provide services for the homeless and boost affordable housing in Austin. The grants are part of a new initiative to ensure that homelessness is rare, brief and nonrecurring in the region. Three of the main recipients are: Austin Community Foundation, receiving $2.5 […]
Posted inCity Council
Council has its eyes set on preparing for 2024 total solar eclipse
With Austin in the direct path of a rare solar eclipse that will take place April 8, 2024, city departments will soon begin preparing for many thousands of astronomy tourists who are expected to travel to Central Texas to get the best view possible. With the eclipse not expected to reoccur in the area for […]