Elsewhere in the city, developers can pay into a city bank account for affordable housing rather than providing the required affordable units within their projects.
Developers looking to build larger projects than usually permitted near Austin’s future light rail stations will have to include affordable housing on site under new rules unanimously approved by the Austin City Council on Sept. 10.
“The change tightens the recently approved citywide density bonus program, a zoning tool that allows developers to build larger, taller projects than would normally be permitted in exchange for community benefits, such as affordable housing. Elsewhere in the city, developers using the program can pay into Austin’s Housing Trust Fund — a city bank account for affordable housing — instead of providing the required affordable units within their projects. For future projects near Project Connect light rail stations, that option is now off the table,” Sam Stark writes for Austin Current.
Some housing advocates in Austin believe mandating affordable housing on such projects will hinder development, while others fear that without affordable housing mandates, such housing will continue to be concentrated in specific parts of the city.
Read the full story: Austin edits development rules to encourage affordable housing near transit
Austin opens city's first carless, affordable condo community
The Ivory building is all-electric and offers residents transit passes to encourage car-free living.
Austin's Project Connect has shrunk to less than half its proposed length — at a higher cost
A highly anticipated light rail project is quickly diminishing in scope as costs soar.
Austin's building boom fails to reach the poorest residents
Although the city has built thousands of new homes, few of them are available to the lowest-earning households.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority