Austin Mayor Proposes New Bond To Address Housing Crisis

The mayor of Austin is calling for a bond sale of $300 to $500 million to fund efforts to build affordable housing in the increasingly unaffordable city. With major employers like Tesla and Oracle relocating to the Austin area, the city is experiencing a historic influx of new residents that are driving up housing costs and demand. As Shelly Hagan writes, the city has seen median home prices rise by 20 percent in the last year, along with the fastest population increase in the nation.

Mayor Steve Adler wants to encourage the creation of "middle-skill jobs" and housing affordable to middle-income families that are being pushed out of the city by soaring costs. According to the article, Adler doesn't want to curb the city's growth, but does hope to ensure that the  creatives and low- and middle-income families that have built the city's unique character aren't displaced by rampant new development.

Planetizen previously cited KUT's story on the growing pressure faced by Austin's musicians, one-fifth of whom live below the poverty line. Many are now forced to consider relocating to more affordable communities, with the median Austin home price now twice what it was in 2011. Last year, the city hired its first 'displacement officer' to address rising rates of displacement and homelessness among its residents.