City Council is set to vote this week on whether to adopt the city’s first-ever housing plan. The plan aims to address Austin’s growing affordability crisis by setting goals for new housing production. But apart from encouraging more affordable housing, there’s also the question of where exactly it should go. The Strategic Housing Plan sets […]
Imagine Austin
The city’s comprehensive plan, adopted in June 2012.
Posted inLand Development Code
CodeNEXT could allow new music districts and creative spaces around Austin
Affordability – for both the city’s mostly lower-income artists and the venues and galleries where they work – will be the creative community’s biggest concern as Austin rolls out and gradually revises its CodeNEXT plan, a comprehensive rewrite of the Land Development Code. Release of the first draft is set for January. At Monday’s meeting […]
Posted inPlanning
New section of Guadalupe named activity corridor, despite neighborhood concerns
City Council designated a new section of Guadalupe Street as an activity corridor despite some neighborhood concerns, making its higher concentration of businesses, people and services official. The change came as part of a package of amendments to the Imagine Austin comprehensive plan, the city’s detailed 30-year plan that was adopted in 2012. The majority […]
Posted inDevelopment
As city overhauls development code, Central Austin neighborhood works on its first plan
The city of Austin is working with people who live in the North Shoal Creek area to develop their first-ever neighborhood plan. The effort could help determine the future of that part of Austin and the rest of the city. Zora Mae Hise has been living in the North Shoal Creek neighborhood for about 50 […]
Posted inPlanning
Guadalupe amendment moves to Council without endorsement
Sometimes it’s easier to say what something isn’t than to say what it is. For example, not many people know what an “activity corridor” is under the Imagine Austin plan. But, for the time being, a section of Guadalupe is most certainly not an activity corridor, at least not officially. And though the city would […]
Posted inPlanning
“Pork chop” battle continues between districts
At the intersection of Morrow Street and Lamar Boulevard, a concrete barrier prevents District 4 residents to the east from heading due west into District 7. But the divisions between those who want to see the barrier removed and those who would like to see it remain aren’t as straightforward. In the grand tradition of […]
Posted inZoning
How much can a city zone?
You don’t need a badge and a gun to have police powers. Just ask the members of the Zoning and Platting Commission, who on Tuesday listened as Assistant City Attorney David Sorola gave a presentation outlining the extent of the volunteers’ authority. “The courts have said that zoning is a valid use of the police […]
Posted inRadio
Austin Monitor Radio: Imagine Austin BBB
This is the complete audio from the Monitor’s July 27, 2015 BBB, a discussion about Imagine Austin, CodeNEXT, and the economic implications of it all. Panelists are Steven Yarak, Jeff Jack, Jim Robertson, and Jim Duncan. The audio is embedded below. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/217470737″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Posted inDevelopment
Panelists discuss growth policies at BBB forum
The cranes crowding Austin’s skyline reveal that the city is growing quickly. But is it growing in a sustainable way? And what policies and strategies can city leaders adopt to ensure that it does? These are some of the questions that a group of growth policy advocates discussed Monday during a forum at the North […]
Posted inCity Council, Development, Planning
Council discusses future of Imagine Austin
Since its launch, Imagine Austin has inspired debates about affordability, growth, neighborhood autonomy and more. City Council continued this tradition Thursday in a special meeting with city staff and housing stakeholders about the comprehensive plan. The discussion touched on several major issues, including the relationship between the plan and the city’s many official neighborhood plans, […]
Posted inAustin, Development, Housing, Resources
Consultant outlines affordable housing study data
Affordable housing advocates and residents gathered at City Hall on Monday to weigh in on the findings and recommendations of a July report that outlines Austin’s affordable housing needs and fair choice impediments. According to the 2014 Comprehensive Housing Market Study, the city has lost a significant amount of affordable housing since 2000, though it […]
Posted inCity Hall, Development, The Code
Accessory dwelling unit change stalls in committee
The City of Austin wants to make it easier for residents to establish accessory dwelling units — or ADUs — such as garage apartments on their property in order to create more housing in the city center. At Tuesday’s meeting of the Planning Commission’s Committee on Codes and Ordinances, residents spoke out against the changes primarily […]