Home › News ›

Austin, Texas Forming Affordable Housing Task Force

Posted by: Alex Pearlstein

31 July 2006 - 5:00am

With its economy humming and housing prices rising, the city of Austin has joined other U.S. cities in looking for affordable housing solutions.

"The 14-member group of developers, housing advocates and neighborhood leaders has four months to recommend incentives the city should offer developers, such as height bonuses or waived fees, to encourage them to build more affordable units. Several cities, including Chicago, Denver and Seattle, have affordability incentives or requirements."

"Critics say (Austin) has lacked a broader, more aggressive approach despite the $55 million earmarked for affordable housing in November's bond vote. The task force effort evolved after city leaders realized that, though developers increasingly asked for extra height and density on downtown projects, Austin had no program to ask for affordable units in return."

Full Story: City-appointed group's goal: More affordable housing
Source: Austin American-Statesman, July 30, 2006
»

Comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Austin Media Justice Blogs

Submitted by carlwebb on Mon, 08/07/2006 - 01:45.

Short interview with Susana from PODER

Interview with Susana Almanza
http://blip.tv/file/55294

This is a short video interview with Susana Almanza of PODER speaking on July 29, 2006, at the Victory Grill as part of "Using the Grassroots Media to Stimulate Social Change"

Susana urges people to vote for the Affordable Housing bond initiative that's on the November ballot in Austin.

Go to http://www.austinmediajustice.org and you can make comments on the entry to the Austin Media Justice Blogs

Austin, Texas Forming Affordable Housing Task Force

Submitted by gmhendo on Tue, 08/01/2006 - 03:07.

Great goal. Maybe as another comment sort of suggested, a little ambitious, but I think it's a really good starting point. Housing affordability is not just an American problem. Here in Australia it is even worse than in US. Most of our capital cities rank in the top 20 least affordable in the world. We have been trying to address the problem for decades, but with little result. My wife & I are Planning students, and the topic is discussed at length as part of our course.
We look forward to seeing how well your schemes work out.
Regards to all, Geoff & Michelle

Affordability

Submitted by Kevin Dickson on Mon, 07/31/2006 - 12:20.

"A single parent earning minimum wage should be able to own a decent two-bedroom home in Austin."

That statement is patently ridiculous. $1050/month gross income will only just put food on the table of a single parent with one or two kids.

Bookmark and Share
“
As it becomes increasingly clear that the "speed" of the self-park garage is more a matter of perception than reality, a mechanized approach begins to look just as efficient and reliable, if designed properly.
”