In December, the City of Austin Watershed Department released a memo that looks at the impervious surface impacts of two alternatives: keeping current zoning or switching to the draft CodeNEXT V.2. They looked at the expected impervious surface in the full buildout scenario – meaning that every entitlement would be used up – something that …
Read more “The high impervious surface costs of Austin’s current zoning scheme”
Parking is expensive, but not where it matters. While “free” parking is ubiquitous across Texas, we are all paying something for each spot. In the City of Austin, the City Council actually requires for most people building a home to also build some parking for cars – even though we are in a generally acknowledged …
Read more “Current Austin compromise means $2.6B of housing expense for parking”
During the last decade, the six-county Austin region has generally met its rapid growth expectations, adding over 50,000 people annually. Over the next ten years, this is expected to pick up slightly with the region expected to add about 57,620 people every year, according to the 2000-2010 trend scenario projections from Texas State Demographer’s office. Today …