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☆ It took an Austin developer 4 years to build 4 small homes that he made no money on as the city struggles to bridge the gap between tiny apartments and pricy houses
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

AdvertisementFor decades, the city's restrictive zoning and land-use policies have made missing-middle housing almost impossible to build. But there aren't many options, particularly for homeownership, between mostly high-end apartments and prohibitively expensive single-family homes. But he's concerned the law won't do enough to shorten the permitting process for missing-middle housing construction. The HOME Act will encourage the construction of smaller single-family homes and promote density, making housing — particularly homeownership — more affordable. Turner just wants the city to "level the playing field" for developers who are willing to build missing-middle housing.

Persons: —, Scott Turner, Turner, Austin's, Austin, Eliza Relman, that's, he's, Brennan Griffin, Joe Sohm, Brandon Bell, Greg Anderson, Anderson, there's, It's, Nicole Nabulsi Nosek, I've, townhomes Organizations: Service, Business, Riverside Homes, Austin, Austin Business, Texas, HOME, Austin Habitat, Humanity, Texans, Reasonable, Democrats Locations: Austin, Austin , Texas, Texas, Manor, Georgetown, City Hall

☆ People priced out of Austin and Orlando are moving to these cheaper cities
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Dan Latu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Austinites are heading an hour away, to Killeen, according to real-estate consultancy John Burns. Orlando residents are decamping to Lakeland, Florida, trading nightlife for space, John Burns said. The Austin metropolitan area similarly grew 2.7% in 2021 and 2022, adding 63,000 people, according to the city of Austin. In 2021, 1,607 households moved from Orlando to Lakeland, while 250 households left Austin for Killeen, John Burns said in its analysis, published March 5. The primary reason is affordability, Austin real-estate agent Lisa Copeland told Business Insider.

Persons: John Burns, —, Orlando, Redfin, Killeen, Austin, Lisa Copeland, Copeland, Jordan Prais, It's, Prais, Lakeland's, it's Organizations: Service, Orlando, Austin, John, John Burns Research, Consulting, Business, Lakeland, Florida Children's Museum, Army Locations: Killeen, Orlando, Lakeland , Florida, Austin, Killeen , Texas, Lakeland, Central Florida, Austinites, Texas, Fort Hood

☆ Biden's laws are pouring billions into new infrastructure and it could be a rare opportunity to make communities safer and more sustainable
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The American Society of Civil Engineers gave it a C-minus in 2021 and said the US needed about $2.6 trillion in infrastructure investment over a decade. These include nonvehicle transportation projects such as pedestrian bridges and urban bike paths and neighborhood-level projects like park improvements. Inflation, worker shortages, and other obstaclesAcross the country, there are some key practical challenges to implementing infrastructure projects. Overcoming barriersLocal governments and employers across the country recognize many of the challenges to building and maintaining major projects. Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act alone, 72 programs "emphasize or allow some type of workforce development activity," a Brookings report found.

Persons: —, Joe Biden, Joseph Kane, Charles Marohn, Marohn, Kane, Drew Angerer, it's, Biden, It's, Greg Gianforte Organizations: Service, American Society of Civil Engineers, Infrastructure Investment, Jobs, Business, Transportation, Brookings Institution, Rail, Potomac, White House, Texas Department, US Department of Transportation, Michigan's, Grant, they're, Biden, Builders and Contractors, Congress, Jobs Act, Brookings Locations: Washington, Strong, Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Long, New York, Austin, Austinites, America, Detroit, Brookings, Montana

☆ Does ambition die in Austin? These tech workers don't think so.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementAn aerial view of a Union Pacific train entering downtown on April 21, 2023 in Austin, Texas. "Now it seems like there's a ton of really, really impressive people," Entwistle told Insider in July. Austinites still feel connected to the tech scene, but aren't ruled by it. AdvertisementAdvertisement"One of the things that we were so grateful for is access to outdoor activities," she told Insider. "Austin was one of the last places towards the end of my time traveling around that I had visited," he told Insider.

Persons: —, Brandon Bell, Hailey Eustace, Evan Baehr, Austin, Alicia Teagle, Austin —, Teagle, it's, John Andrew Entwistle, John Andrew Entwistle John Andrew Entwistle, talent's, Entwistle, Eustace, Austinites, aren't, San Francisco who've, Austin wasn't oversold, White, Sarah Hollingsworth, Robert Johnson, Robert Johnson Robert Johnson Organizations: Service, Austin Chamber, Union Pacific, Health, Learn, Apple, Google, Austin, Austin —, Lone Star State Locations: Austin, San Francisco, New York, Texas, Austin ., Austin , Texas, Francisco, Germany, Miami, Savannah, New York City, San Antonio, Lake Austin

☆ An Oasis in the Middle of a Scorching Texas Summer
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( David Montgomery | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was six o’clock on Friday morning, at least 15 minutes before dawn over Texas’ capital city, and scores of vehicles had already crowded into the parking lot at Barton Springs Pool, a few miles — and in some ways, an entire world — from the lighted skyscrapers of downtown. Jeremy Baumann, a local health care worker, had already been in the water for an hour, getting in his daily laps. When Austinites talk about Barton Springs, they do so in almost spiritual terms. “It’s very much a sacred place,” said Kim McKnight, manager of historic preservation and tourism for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. “I recognize not everybody goes there, but for those who do they can’t imagine life without it.”

Persons: Jeremy Baumann, ”, Kim McKnight, “ Organizations: city’s, Recreation Department Locations: Texas, Barton Springs, city’s Parks

☆ People of color and low-income residents bear the brunt of extreme weather. To fight it, America's fastest-growing city is investing in cleaner air and affordable housing.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Indeed, these residents have borne the brunt of Austin's extreme weather events, from heat waves to cold snaps, over the past 10 years. Certain communities are affected the most by extreme heat, flooding, and freezesMore often than not, extreme heat and flooding wreak the most havoc on marginalized communities in Austin. Then there's the extreme heat: Swaths of this area are paved and lacking in green space, which makes them even hotter than the rest of the city, Llanes said. With a goal to build 135,000 new housing units — nearly half within the affordable range — by 2027, the Austin Housing Finance Corporation has already funded "several thousand" of that total, according to the tracker. "The reality is that plans tend to be repositories in the city of Austin for complaints and suggestions and then we sit on them."

☆ Advocates want to spend $11 billion to fix Austin's crappy public-transit system. But many critics say the price tag is too high for a system hardly anyone will use.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Officials say an $11 billion public-transit plan could make Austin safer, greener, and more affordable. Austinites voted to approve Project Connect in 2020 when its total price tag was $7.1 billion. However, nearly 50% of the riders of MetroRail — the city's current rail system — earn more than $60,000 a year. Public-transit advocates say the plan is worth the costSupporters of Project Connect are open to lowering its price tag. But on a larger scale, Project Connect supporters say that public transportation provides better access to healthcare, education, employment, and affordable housing.

☆ A 24-year-old Black tattoo artist explains why she and many others are fleeing Austin: 'The soul of the city has changed'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Imani Tatum is leaving Austin after living there for the past three years. "I wanted to create a place where specifically marginalized people could be tattooed, while being safe and enjoying themselves," Tatum told Insider. Tatum said she's done: she's closing Nana's Prayers, packing her bags and heading to a new city in May. But affordable housing remains scarce in the city, and that's driving out many minority residents, like Tatum. While price growth has slowed in Austin, the city's median home price still sits at a staggering $525,000, $140,000 above the US median sale price, according to real estate brokerage Redfin.

☆ I perform vasectomies in Texas. I've had a huge increase in patients post-Roe — and a lot of them are young and childless.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Cari Shane | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade earlier this year, there's been an uptick in the number of vasectomy requests at my clinic. In the two days immediately following the overturning of Roe, we received 150 vasectomy appointment requests. We were averaging five or six electronic appointment requests for vasectomy consultations per day before the overturning of Roe. I tell my patients that the vasectomy is meant to be permanent sterilizationWhile I love doing reversals, they're not 100%. I think vasectomies are fertility medicineThis is a procedure that I like to do and I think I'm good at.

☆ Housing affordability is so bad that it's the only thing liberal and conservative voters can agree on
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

On Tuesday, millions of voters nationwide casted ballots in favor of affordable housing measures. "It's especially heartening to see many ballot measures that support affordable housing pass this year with a clear majority of votes." Austinites aren't the only voters desperate for affordable housing. Kansas City voters gave the green light to a $50 million affordable housing bond that will create 2,000 units in the city. This year, lawmakers brought forward proposed affordable housing bonds via Measure U in Oakland, Measure L in Berkeley and Measure ULA in Los Angeles.

☆ Austin, Texas locals have been priced out by wealthy out-of-state tech workers. Now the government is stepping in.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A new $350 million housing bond is intended to help Austinites struggling with the high cost of living. The tax-supported housing bond, named Proposition A — which will cost the typical homeowner an additional $45 a year in property taxes — is the city's largest housing bond to date. According to Austin eligibility guidelines, families earning 80% or less of the area median income are considered low-income. However, in 2023 most of the fund has nearly dried up — at a time in which the city's cost of living has risen to astronomical levels. "This is the third housing bond that this city has passed in the last eight years, 10 years," Adler told KXAN News.

☆ I moved my family from California to Austin, Texas, and regretted it. Here are 10 things to consider before making an expensive mistake.
▼ + stars: | 2021-01-20 | by ( Brett Alder | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

Brett Alder moved to Austin, Texas, for work and regrets the choice. A lot of people, including myself, move from California to Austin because of the hype and the perception that California and Austin are reasonably comparable in lifestyle. Water: Water is also shockingly expensive. Expensive pool maintenance, expensive landscaping services, expensive home repairs, expensive dining and movies. Expensive pool maintenance, expensive landscaping services, expensive home repairs, expensive dining and movies.

Persons: Brett Alder, Alder, Austin, Austin it's, you've, We've, I've, It's, We're, Yelp, Matthew McConaughey, Travis, There's, …, Monoculture, California we've, Uber, I'd, Austinites Organizations: Energy, Soaring Sierra, Yosemite, Texans Locations: Austin , Texas, California, Austin, Texas, San Diego, Travis County, Lake, Jose, San Jose, Portland , Oregon, Nevada, Utah, West Coast, West, Montana, Tennessee, crosswalks, Belterra, Bay, San Jose , CA

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