Sections

About Us

 
Make a Donation
Local • Independent • Essential News
 

The Austin Monitor thanks its sponsors. Become one.

Housing

Austin launches displacement prevention pilot program

Austin will soon have a network of displacement prevention organizers connecting vulnerable communities with the city programs and resources they need to stay in their homes and communities. The city announced the program’s launch on March 30, during a press…

Salvation Army’s downtown shelter is closing, leaving gap in services for single women

Maria Pérez heard she was weeks away from homelessness from an unlikely source. It wasn’t a case manager or anyone from the administrative staff at the Salvation Army downtown shelter, where she’s been staying for weeks. “I heard it from…

3D home printer opens $1M competition as 'affordability moonshot'

Austin-based 3D-printed home manufacturer Icon is looking for designers and college students from all over the world to propose advancements in architecture that could bring the cost of homes under $99,000. The company announced its Initiative 99 contest on Wednesday…

Doggett celebrates federal funding to benefit Foundation Communities

At a Tuesday press conference, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett and Foundation Communities celebrated $3.5 million in federal funds that will go toward three of the local housing nonprofit’s programs serving low- and middle-income families in Austin. “Before affordability was a…

More than 70 percent of Austin ISD employees are burdened by housing costs, survey finds

Lee esta historia en español More than 70 percent Austin Independent School District employees are burdened by the cost of housing in the city, according to an online survey the district conducted this year. Many of the respondents said the…

Salvation Army’s handling of downtown shelter closure draws Council criticism

The Salvation Army’s handling of the closure of its downtown shelter was the target of criticism at City Council’s Public Health Committee meeting on Wednesday. Critiques came from Mayor Kirk Watson, members of City Council, and clients of the shelter…

Subscribe to our newsletter

HACA shifts voucher allocation to let housing groups assist homeless

The Housing Authority of the City of Austin has shifted 300 of its housing vouchers to be more available to those experiencing homelessness, in a move aimed at helping the city reduce the number of people in chronic need of…

Council sets its sights on affordable student housing

City Council newcomer Ryan Alter is making headway, kicking off his tenure with a call for more robust housing in the increasingly unaffordable neighborhoods around Austin’s college campuses. Alter’s resolution, which passed unanimously, directs city staff to explore partnerships and…

Affordability calculator helps to demystify financing realities for low-income units

The complicated math involved in planning and financing affordable housing projects in Austin has become a little easier, thanks to a first-ever affordability calculator intended to help political leaders and housing advocates better research how developments are assembled. The calculator,…

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…

Want to know how the city enforces density bonus agreements? Read on.

This week, the Community Development Commission learned more about how the city ensures the reduced-rent housing units created through its density bonus programs go to people who meet the income eligibility requirements. At the commission’s Jan. 10 meeting, Commissioner Karen…

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.…

Back to Top